StreetmapChicago's Magnificent Mile looking south
The Magnificent Mile is the portion of Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois extending from the Chicago River to Oak Street in the Near North Side community area. The district is located adjacent to downtown; it is also one block east of Rush Street, which is known for its nightlife. The Magnificent Mile serves as the main thoroughfare between Chicago's Loop business district and its Gold Coast. It also serves as the western boundary of the Streeterville neighborhood.
Real estate developer Arthur Rubloff of Rubloff Company gave the nickname to one of the city's most prestigious residential and commercial thoroughfares in the 1940s. It includes fine restaurants, hotels, and stores and several of the tallest buildings in the United States. In addition, numerous prestigious buildings are located along the Magnificent Mile, such as the Wrigley Building and the John Hancock Center, places listed on the National Register of Historic Places such as The Old Chicago Water Tower District and Chicago Landmarks such as Tribune Tower and the Allerton Hotel. Formerly, the headquarters for Bebe was located here as well.
History
After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, State Street (anchored by Marshall Field's) in the downtown Loop, especially the Loop Retail Historic District, was the city's retailing center. The convenience of mass transit including streetcars and elevated trains, supported a retail corridor along State Street from Lake Street to Van Buren Street. By the 1920s, commuter suburbs began to have significant retail districts. Prior to the bascule bridge construction, swing bridges across the river were open for ship traffic during half the daylight hours. The Rush Street Bridge was the swing bridge for this area. The opening of the Michigan Avenue Bridge in 1920 created a new commercial district. After 1950, suburban development reduced the role of the Loop's daily significance to many Chicagoans as downtown retail sales slipped. However, the Magnificent Mile kept a luxury shopping district close to the central business district.
The concept for the Magnificent Mile was actually part of Daniel Burnham's Plan of Chicago. It was constructed during the 1920s to replace Pine Street, which had formerly been lined with factory and warehouses near the river and fine mansion and rowhouse residences farther north. The earliest building constructions varied in style, but challenged new heights in construction. The name the "Magnificent Mile" is a registered trademark of the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association (GNMAA).
After the Great Depression and World War II, Arthur Rubloff and William Zeckendorf bought or controlled most of the property along this stretch of the avenue and supported a plan by Holabird & Root to construct new buildings and renovation of old ones that took advantage of new zoning laws. Soon the property values driven by the luxury shopping districts were pricing out the nearby artists of Towertown, just south west of the Chicago Water Tower. Having acquired most of the rights to property along the Magnificent Mile at Depression-level prices, Rubloff and Zeckendorf successfully developed and promoted the area until it became one of the most prestigious addresses of the city. That distinction continues to hold today, and spurred the continuing erection of more high-rise apartments and new investment along the Magnificent Mile and throughout the Near North Side.
The opening of the 74-story Water Tower Place in 1975 marked the return of Chicago to retailing prominence. By 1979, the State Street commercial corridor had lost its commercial vitality and was closed to street traffic for renovation including sidewalk widening until 1996.
Today
Overview
Today, the Magnificent Mile contains a mixture of upscale department stores, restaurants, luxury retailers, residential and commercial buildings, financial services companies and hotels, and caters primarily to tourists and the affluent. The area also has a high concentration of the city's major media firms, such as the Chicago Tribune newspaper, and advertising agencies. The Magnificent Mile includes 3,100,000 sq ft (288,000 m 2 ) of retail space, 460 stores, 275 restaurants, 51 hotels, and a host of sightseeing and entertainment attractions to more than 22 million visitors annually. The American Planning Association selected the Magnificent Mile as one of the 10 Great Streets for 2007 through its Great Places in America program. In recent years, the Magnificent Mile has added trees and flower-filled medians to reflect the changing seasons. Many of the world's leading retail stores populate the Magnificent Mile, including department stores such as Bloomingdale's, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Barneys New York, and Macy's. In addition, some of the finest luxury boutiques such as Cartier, Escada, Bulgari, Van Cleef & Arpels, Chanel, Max Mara, Vera Wang, Jimmy Choo, Georg Jensen, Harry Winston, Gianni Versace, Lacoste, Mango, Yves Saint Laurent, Tory Burch, St. John, Loro Piana, Jil Sander, Givenchy, Aritzia, Stuart Weitzman, Prada, Paul Stuart, Betsey Johnson, Rolex, Montblanc, United Colors of Benetton, Anne Fontaine, Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren, Bottega Veneta, Hermès, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Cole Haan, Charles David, Giorgio Armani, Kenneth Cole, Salvatore Ferragamo, Ermenegildo Zegna, Burberry, Hugo Boss, La Perla and Tiffany & Co. are located along the Magnificent Mile. In fact, in its book The 10 Best of Everything: An Ultimate Guide for Travelers , the National Geographic named the Magnificent Mile along with Rodeo Drive and Fifth Avenue as one of the ten best shopping avenues in the world. Renowned and critically-acclaimed restaurants such as The Signature Room at The 95th, Spiaggia, Tru, The Pump Room, Lawry's, The Grand Lux, The Park Hyatt Room, The Prime Rib, and Spago provide a variety of dining options. All three of the 5-star hotels located in the midwest (The Peninsula Chicago, Four Seasons Hotel Chicago, and Ritz-Carlton Chicago) and Illinois' only 4-star hotel (Park Hyatt) are located within about five blocks along the Magnificent Mile. Other hotels such as Intercontinental, Westin, Drake Hotel and Le Meridien Chicago offer convenient luxurious accommodations as well. Selected hotels are shown below:
The largest banks have branches along the strip including the three largest banks in the nation: Bank of America, Citibank, and JPMorgan Chase's Chase Bank. Additionally, the largest banks in Chicago are present, such as LaSalle Bank and Harris Bank, which is technically across the street from the Magnificent Mile. American Express has a Magnificent Mile address for one of its two Chicago service offices. Fidelity Investments has an office at the foot of Magnificent Mile.
Historic and landmark presences are shown in the table below, which lists Chicago Landmarks, National Register of Historic Places locations, and National Historic Landmarks along the Magnificent Mile. At the northern edge of this district on the west, one finds the exclusive One Magnificent Mile building and Oak Street running to the west. Also, at the northern edge of the district one finds the Chicago Landmark East Lake Shore Drive District, an extremely expensive and exclusive one-block area of real estate running east from N. Michigan Ave. and facing directly onto Lake Michigan. At the southern edge of the district, the Michigan Avenue Bridge sits among four majestic 1920s skyscrapers, two of which are on the Magnificent Mile (Tribune Tower and the Wrigley Building), and two of which are not (333 North Michigan and London Guarantee Building). These buildings are contributing properties to the Michigan–Wacker Historic District.
Four of the 85 tallest buildings in the world are located along the Magnificent Mile. In fact, four of the ten Tallest buildings in Chicago, six of the top 18, and eight of the top 50 are located within a few blocks here. These buildings are:
Seasonal events
With each season, the ambiance of the Magnificent Mile changes. This change is signaled by several official events:
Median planters were constructed as part of a streetscape improvement project in 1994. In the spring, Tulip Days occurs from mid April until the end of May. Hundreds of thousands of tulips bloom on The Magnificent Mile. Typically, they bloom between April 16 and May 7. In 2008, a public art installation of kinetic sculptures designed by international architects will be placed in the garden beds.
During the summer, the "Gardens of Magnificent Mile" festival event occurs. It is a self-guided landscape display walking tour. The flora from around the world are identified with horticultural signage in each of the gardens and planters. In 2007 and 2008, fashion dress forms graced the garden beds. The forms were designed by students from the Illinois Institute of Art – Chicago and the International Academy of Design and Technology, as wel
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