Illinois

They call Chicago the windy city. I have always disagreed with that statement, I think Boston is much windier. Instead, I think they should call it the Parking Garage City because I was in total awe of the parking garage the last time I visited.

Millennium Park is situated right at the bottom of lake Michigan. Driving around it, I was impressed by its well manicured gardens, walkways, and outdoor amplitheaters. It seemed like a very nice place to have in the city during summer months.

So you can understand my shock when I realized that this well-maintained park was actually just there to cover up a giant parking garage that lurked underneath it. When my family went to park there to go to the art museum, I was amazed by how well the city of Chicago had hidden a monstrosity of a parking garage.

I think parking garages, while necessary are horribly ugly, and take space that could be put to better use. But this idea made sense. The parking structure was five stories at some places, more at others and it stretched for at least six city blocks and was four city blocks wide. We started driving around and after 10 minutes we still hadn't found the end.

But even though it was probably the biggest parking garage I had ever been in, at street level you wouldn't know it was there if there weren't signs. Somebody did so really good city planning.

The rest of my time in Chicago wasn't very memorable. I was tired and cranky that day from an early flight. The one thing I do remember was the parking garage. I'm not sure if that's what the city of Chicago wants to be known for, but I say keep up the good work.