Chicago Information Guide [ 5 HOW to USE THIS G UIDE
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More than just car insurance. GEICO can insure your motorcycle, ATV, and RV. And the GEICO Insurance Agency can help you fi nd homeowners, renters, boat insurance, and more! ® Motorcycle and ATV coverages are underwritten by GEICO Indemnity Company. Homeowners, renters, boat and PWC coverages are written through non-affi liated insurance companies and are secured through the GEICO Insurance Agency, Inc. Some discounts, coverages, payment plans and features are not available in all states or all GEICO companies. Government Employees Insurance Co. • GEICO General Insurance Co. • GEICO Indemnity Co. • GEICO Casualty Co. These companies are subsidiaries of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. GEICO: Washington, DC 20076. GEICO Gecko image © 1999-2010. © 2010 GEICO NEWMARKET SERVICES ublisher of 95 U.S. and 32 International Relocation Guides, NewMarket PServices, Inc., is proud to introduce our online version. Now you may easily access the same information you find in each one of our 127 Relocation Guides at www.NewMarketServices.com. In addition to the content of our 127 professional written City Relocation Guides, the NewMarket Web Site allows us to assist movers in more than 20 countries by encouraging you and your family to share your moving experiences in our NewMarket Web Site Forums. You may share numerous moving tips and information of interest to help others settle into their new location and ease the entire transition process. We invite everyone to visit and add helpful www.NewMarketServices.com information through our many available forums. Share with others your knowledge of your new location or perhaps your former location. If you ever need to research a city for any reason, from considering a move to just checking where somebody you know is staying, this is the site for you. NewMarket Services looks forward to cooperating with everyone to continually add to our base of City Specific Information along with our various moving topics to help many of the 40 million people who have the opportunity to relocate each year. Please do not hesitate to contact our customer service department to speak to a live representative if we can provide any assistance. Our toll free number is (866) 595-3792. Chicago Information Guide [ 5 HOW TO USE THIS G UIDE The NewMarket Services Information Guide is designed as a valuable resource tool for you, the newcomer to Chicago. It is our intent in producing this publication to standardize important and helpful information on your new community in a format that is most useful to you. Stores and services are listed by category in the business directory. Listings Chicago Welcomes You! are keyed to the NewMarket Services map of Chicago that appears on the page preceding the business directory. Important telephone numbers, packing and moving suggestions, and much, much more useful information is found throughout the Guide pages. Selected area businesses, many offering significant savings are found in the Business Directory Section, sorted by category. Also in this Guide you will find a sampling of demographics and price ranges of real estate in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs, along with several condominiums and new construction single family home developments. The Guide can save you both time and money while providing you a continuous resource tool as you become more familiar with the metroplex. We do hope you find our Relocation Guide to be of assistance to you. If you do not find something you need, or if you have any suggestions for future issues of the Guide, please give us a call. We will be happy to assist in any way. (866) 595-3792 Toll Free From everyone at NewMarket Services Welcome to Chicago! 6 ] Chicago Information Guide www.newmarketservices.com Chicago Information Guide [ Volume 11 [ Numbers 5 LOCAL INFORMATION The State of Illinois 8 Important Phone Numbers 13-14 Travel Information 16-17 About Chicago 9, 11 The Chicago Loop Map 15 The Arts 21-24 Publisher: NewMarket Services, Inc. Fun Things To Do 26 President: Patrick Morgan Radio & Television 27 Sports 31-32 Managing Editor: Rebecca Wallace Executive Editor: Jason Gerali MOVING Smooth Transitions 35, 36 Contributing Writer: Amy Tennant Choosing a Moving Company 35 Executive VP Sales & Marketing: Robert Fischer Packing Tips 35, 36 Regional Sales Manager: Beth Hurley Staying Organized 36 Art Department: Sprague Design Settling Into Your New Home 36 What’s All The Talk About? 39 Graphic Designer: Dean Sprague Pre-Move Checklist 40-41 NewMarket On-Line: Total Web Design, Inc. MOVING WITH CHILDREN & PETS IT and Web Development: Larry Bongiovi Reinforce The Positives 44-45 Research Assistant: Stephanie Cooper, Lora Price Choosing a School 44-45 Circulation: Little Drummer Boy Dist., Inc. Selecting Childcare 46-47 Chicago Board of Education Information 48-49 Phoenix Office: The Archdiocese of Chicago 50-51 PO Box 30534 Education 52-57 Phoenix, AZ 85046-0534 Relocating Your Pet 57 Phone: (602) 923-3415 Fax: (602) 923-0774 FITNESS & HEALTH Toll Free: (866) 595-3791 In the Kitchen 58 Physical and Mental Well Being 59-62 Chicago Office: Volunteering 64 902 North Ashland Chicago, IL 60622 HOUSING Phone: (312) 226-6288 Making the Right Choice 66-67 Fax: (312) 226-6290 Choosing the Right Home 68 Toll Free: (866) 595-3792 Average Neighborhood Rents 69 Home Inspection Checklist 70 NewMarket currently publishes Information Homecare Basics for New Homeowners 71 Guides for 95 North American and 32 International Markets. To order your Take Control of Your Energy Costs 72 NewMarket Information Guides for $3.50 Security 73 each, please contact NewMarket Services Home Buyer’s Glossary 74-75 toll free at (866) 595-3792. Who’s Who in Building 76 In preparing this publication, every effort Selecting a Builder 77 has been made to assure the accuracy of Selecting a Contractor 78 the information contained herein, but Banking & Mortgage Information 79-83 authenticity cannot be guaranteed. Listings are subject to omission, error or change Chicago Area Communitues 84-85 without notice. Locator Code Map 86 Community Index (with Locator Codes) 87 All material in this publication is copyright protected and can only be reprinted with BUSINESS DIRECTORY permission of the publisher. Business Directory Index 88 Business Directory Listings 89-147 Chicago Information Guide [ 7 THE STATE OF ILLINOIS Rich land, adequate rainfall (32-36 in. annually), and a long Milwaukee WI growing season make Illinois an important agricultural state. Madison Illinois's agricultural outputs are corn, soybeans, hogs, cattle, dairy MI products, and wheat. In most years Illinois is the leading state for the production of soybeans, with a harvest of 500 million bushels in Chicago IA 2004. Illinois is ranked second in total corn production. Illinois's universities are actively researching alternative agricultural products as alternative crops. IN Illinois stands high in manufacturing, coal mining, agriculture, and oil production. The state's manufactures include food and IL Indianapolis agricultural products, transportation equipment, chemicals, industrial machinery, and computer equipment. The sprawling Chicago district (including a slice of Indiana) is a great iron and steel producer, meat packer, grain exchange, and railroad center. Chicago is also famous as a Great Lakes port. Central Illinois is noted for shrines and memorials associated with Louisville the life of Abraham Lincoln. In Springfield are the Lincoln Home, the St. Louis Lincoln Tomb, and the restored Old State Capitol. Other points of Lexington interest are the home of Mormon leader Joseph Smith in Nauvoo MO and, in Chicago: the Art Institute, Field Museum, Museum of KY Science and Industry, Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium, Merchandise Mart, and Chicago Portage National Historic Site. llinois is the most populous state in the Midwest and the fifth most populous in the nation, and has a large and cosmopolitan Ipopulation. Its balance of vast suburbs and the great metropolis Fast Facts of Chicago in the northeast, rural areas, small industrial cities, and POPULATION: (2005 est.) 12,763,371 renowned agricultural productivity in central and western Illinois, CAPITAL: Springfield and the coal mines of the south give it a highly diverse economic base. Its central location, connecting the Great Lakes to the LARGEST CITIES: Chicago and Aurora Mississippi River via the Illinois River, made it a transportation hub AREA: 57,918 sq mi for 150 years. It is this mixture of factory and farm, of urban and MEDIAN INCOME: $45,787 rural that makes Illinois a microcosm of the United States. French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet, in 1673, Charles Mound 1,235 ft were the first Europeans of record to visit the region. French HIGHEST POINT: explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet, in 1673, were the LOWEST POINT: Mississippi River 279 ft first Europeans of record to visit the region. Significant episodes in TIME ZONE: Central: UTC-6/-5 the state's early history include the influx of settlers following the WEB SITE: www.illinois.gov opening of the Erie Canal in 1825; the Black Hawk War, which virtually ended the Indian troubles in the area; and the rise of Abraham Lincoln from farm laborer to president. Illinois's state income tax is calculated by multiplying net income by a flat rate, currently 3%. There are two rates for state sales tax: 6.25% for general merchandise and 1% for qualifying food, drugs and medical appliances. The property tax is the largest single tax in Illinois, and is the major source of tax revenue for local government taxing districts. The property tax is a local-not state-tax, imposed by local government taxing districts which include counties, townships, municipalities, school districts, and special taxing districts. The property tax in Illinois is imposed only on real property 8 ] Chicago Information Guide ABOUT CHICAGO THE CITY THAT WORKS hicago is one of the most stimulating and well-rounded cities in the USA, boasting diversity in everything from its population to its cuisine to the recreational activities Cit affords its denizens.