Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Forgotten Chicago

I've just spent the last ten minutes starting to peruse a website called Forgotten Chicago.

I never knew this site existed until this morning, when I looked at today's Chicago Tribune; it gets front-page treatment in the Tempo section — well deserved, I might add.

If I don't blog for a while, it's probably becuase I'm continuing to peruse it.

I'm a total nerd when it comes to the history of big cities and their neighborhoods, industries, streets, architecture, signage, etc. — the sorts of things Forgotten Chicago highlights.

At the site, I feel like a kid in a candy store: there's so much great stuff, I scarcely know where to begin.

As I was reading the Tribune article, I was wondering if Forgotten Chicago had some connection to the website Forgotten New York, which I had first heard about a while ago — via Dawn Eden's blog, I think. (Upon first learning of that site, I was similarly agog, as not only am I an urbanophile, if you will, but I am also a Gothamophile. Although I've never lived in New York myself, I've thrice visited, and find the city utterly fascinating.)

Later, the article explains:

The site took some of its inspiration from Forgotten New York, probably the granddaddy of such city sites. It conducts occasional flesh-and-blood tours in good weather, something Forgotten Chicago also hopes to do this year. (They'd also like to do a Forgotten Chicago book.)

Would that they do!

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