11 Reasons We Like Chicago, IL

1. Chicago is the third largest city in the United States with a population of nearly 3 million people1 and a larger metropolitan area population of over 7 million people ⁶

2. Chicago headquarters many Fortune 500 companies, including Boeing, Motorola Solutions, Archer Daniels Midland, United Continental Holdings, Exelon, AbbVie, LKQ, Conagra Brands, Old Republic International and more. ⁴

3. Chicago houses Google’s Midwest headquarters with over 800 employees, and plans for expansion.²

4. Chicago is one of 20 locations in contention for Amazon’s HQ2, where it plans to hire as many as 50,000 highly paid workers. ²

5. Chicago has many universities including the University of Chicago, Loyola University Chicago, DePaul University, Northwestern University, Wheaton College, Columbia College Chicago and many more. ⁵

6. Chicago was one of just four US cities to be named one of PricewaterhouseCooper’s “Cities of Opportunity,” in its periodic report on cities that foster economic innovation and common wellbeing in 2016.³

7. Chicago is home to 8 major league sports teams, including MLB teams the Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Cubs, and is home to the famous Wrigley Field. ¹

8. Affordability and new facilities and vendors have made Chicago popular spot for film and television with over 40 annual film festivals. Notable studios include Cinespace Studios, the largest North American soundstage outside of LA and Music Box Films, one of the leading distributors of foreign language films documentaries in the US. ¹

9. Chicago is the theatre capital of the US with 250-plus theatre companies and more than 200 theatres. It is the birthplace of storefront theatre and improv comedy, home to long-running Broadway hits and boasting more world premieres than any other city in the country. ¹

10. Chicago has 600 parks, 500 playgrounds, 307 fields for soccer, football, lacrosse and more, 8,300 acres of green spaces, making it an ideal city for families and those who enjoy outdoor recreation. ¹

11. Chicago is a biking city with the second-highest percentage of commuters riding their bikes to work and with an average bicycle commute time of only 23 minutes. ¹[/cs_text]