Apparently the rest of the country has finally accepted what Chicagoans have known all along.
Chicago has once again been named the Best Big City in the United States by Condé Nast Traveler, marking an incredible 10 consecutive years at the top of the list.
The honor comes as part of the magazine’s annual Readers’ Choice Awards, with travelers once again choosing Chicago over every other major city in the country.
And honestly, after 10 years, can we even call this a surprise anymore?
A decade at No. 1
Chicago first claimed the title in 2017 and hasn’t given it up since.
That means through changing travel trends, a global pandemic, restaurant openings and closings, massive downtown development and the continued evolution of neighborhoods across the city, visitors have consistently placed Chicago at the top.
It’s an impressive streak for a city competing with destinations including New York, Boston, San Francisco, New Orleans and Washington, D.C.
But Chicago has something that can be difficult to replicate: the amenities of a world-class city combined with neighborhoods that still feel distinctly local.
You can spend the morning along the lakefront, wander through a neighborhood shopping district in the afternoon, have dinner at one of the country’s best restaurants and finish the night at a neighborhood bar, theater, music venue or Cubs game.
Sometimes all without getting back in a car.
The neighborhoods are a big part of the story
For those of us who live here, Chicago isn’t really one city.
It’s dozens of neighborhoods, each with its own restaurants, businesses, parks, architecture and personality.
And places like Lakeview, Wrigleyville and the Southport Corridor are exactly why visitors often experience a Chicago that extends far beyond downtown.
On Southport, a visitor can grab coffee, shop independently owned boutiques and national brands, catch a movie at the Music Box Theatre, have dinner along the corridor and then walk a few blocks east toward Wrigley Field.
Add the lakefront, neighborhood festivals, the CTA, Chicago’s architecture and one of the deepest restaurant scenes in the country, and the appeal starts to make a lot of sense.
Ten years and counting
Chicago has never been particularly shy about its hometown pride.
But being selected by travelers as America’s best big city 10 years in a row is something worth celebrating.
We’ll complain about the traffic. We’ll complain about construction. We’ll definitely complain about the weather.
And then a perfect summer night arrives, the neighborhood patios fill up, the skyline lights up along the lake and we remember exactly why we live here.
Ten years as America’s Best Big City.
Not a bad run, Chicago.
Here’s to No. 11.
