TO A 1955 Chicagoan, this spectacular skyline would be as amazing as the everyday lives of the people inside these cars on LAKE SHORE DRIVE. Chugging diet pop (introduced in 1958) and yapping on cell phones (1982), perhaps remarking to their friends that the new Soldier Field (2003), home of the Bears (1971), looks as though a spacecraft had landed on it as they head to the condo (1970s) to watch their favorite Fox (1986) reality show, today’s Chicagoans lead lives that their ’50s counterparts could hardly have imagined. Except, of course, for the name of the guy they keep sending to City Hall.
City’s tallest skyscraper in 1955: PRUDENTIAL BUILDING, 601 FEET. Number of buildings over 1,000 feet in Chicago in 2005: 4.
Miles of Chicago-area expressway in 1950: 5. In 2000: 250.
Percentage of city population made up of foreign-born residents in 1950: 14.8. In 2000: 21.7.
City population in 1950: 3,620,962. In 2000: 2,896,016.
Population growth in the suburbs from 1990-2000: 16.2 PERCENT. In the city: 4 PERCENT.
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“We have had a lot of dishonest newspapermen in this town. I could spit on some from here.” -MAYOR RICHARD J. DALEY
“Go scrutinize yourself! I get scrootened every day . . . from each and every one of you.” -MAYOR RICHARD M. DALEY
