Chicago Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Parks and greenspace== {{Main|Parks in Chicago|Chicago Boulevard System|Cook County Forest Preserves}} {{Multiple image |align = right |direction = vertical |width = 220 |image1 = Buckingham Fountain in Chicago at night.jpg |width1 = |caption1 = [[Buckingham Fountain]] is located in [[Grant Park (Chicago)|Grant Park]] in the [[Chicago Loop|Loop]] |image2 = Lincoln Park 2018.jpg |width2 = |caption2 = [[Lincoln Park]], in the North Side, is the city's largest public park}} When Chicago was incorporated in 1837, it chose the motto ''Urbs in Horto'', a [[Latin]] phrase which means "City in a Garden". Today, the [[Chicago Park District]] consists of more than 570 parks with over {{convert|8000|acre}} of [[municipal park]]land. There are 31 sand [[List of beaches in Chicago, Illinois|beaches]], a plethora of museums, two world-class conservatories, and 50 nature areas.<ref>{{cite web |title=History |url=http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/about-us/history/ |publisher=Chicago Park District |access-date=September 23, 2014 |archive-date=December 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161219142505/http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/about-us/history/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Lincoln Park, the largest of the city's parks, covers {{convert|1200|acre}} and has over 20 million visitors each year, making it third in the number of visitors after [[Central Park]] in [[New York City]], and the [[National Mall and Memorial Parks]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref>{{cite web |title=City Park Facts Report |url=http://www.tpl.org/sites/default/files/files_upload/2014_CityParkFacts.pdf |publisher=[[The Trust for Public Land]] |access-date=September 23, 2014 |page=30 |date=February 2014 |archive-date=September 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920120721/http://www.tpl.org/sites/default/files/files_upload/2014_CityParkFacts.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> There is a historic [[Chicago boulevard system|boulevard system]],<ref>[http://www.cityofchicago.org/content/dam/city/depts/zlup/Historic_Preservation/Publications/ParkBlvdsHD_NR_map_14July2011.pdf "Chicago Park Boulevard System Historic District" map] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928161117/http://www.cityofchicago.org/content/dam/city/depts/zlup/Historic_Preservation/Publications/ParkBlvdsHD_NR_map_14July2011.pdf |date=September 28, 2015 }}, City of Chicago. Retrieved March 31, 2016.</ref> a network of wide, tree-lined [[boulevard]]s which connect a number of Chicago [[parks in Chicago|parks]].<ref name=WTTW>{{cite web |website=WTTW |url=http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?p=74,3 |title=Biking the Boulevards with Geoffrey Baer |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322071810/http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?p=74%2C3 |archive-date=March 22, 2016 |access-date=March 31, 2016}}</ref> The boulevards and the parks were authorized by the Illinois legislature in 1869.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bledstein |first=Burton J. |url=http://tigger.uic.edu/depts/hist/hull-maxwell/vicinity/nws1/urban_slum/maps/IndMaps-Docs/1880parks.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612212814/http://tigger.uic.edu/depts/hist/hull-maxwell/vicinity/nws1/urban_slum/maps/IndMaps-Docs/1880parks.pdf |archive-date=June 12, 2010 |url-status=dead |title=Chicago's Park & Boulevard System |publisher=University of Illinois at Chicago |access-date=April 7, 2016}}</ref> A number of [[neighborhoods of Chicago|Chicago neighborhoods]] emerged along these roadways in the 19th century.<ref name=WTTW/> The building of the boulevard system continued intermittently until 1942. It includes nineteen boulevards, eight parks, and six [[town square|squares]], along twenty-six miles of interconnected streets.<ref>[https://tclf.org/landscapes/chicago-park-boulevard-system-historic-district "Chicago Park Boulevard System Historic District"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322070826/http://tclf.org/landscapes/chicago-park-boulevard-system-historic-district |date=March 22, 2016 }}, The Cultural Landscape Foundation. Retrieved March 31, 2016.</ref> The ''Chicago Park Boulevard System Historic District'' was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 2018.<ref name=weekly>{{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/weekly-list-20190208.htm |title=Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 02/01/2019 Through 2/7/2019 |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=February 17, 2019 |archive-date=February 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190210044359/https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/weekly-list-20190208.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=NR2018>{{Cite web |title=National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Chicago Park Boulevard System Historic District |url=http://gis.hpa.state.il.us/pdfs/803178.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190218202015/http://gis.hpa.state.il.us/pdfs/803178.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 18, 2019 |date=November 9, 2018 |website=gis.hpa.state.il.us |access-date=February 18, 2019}}</ref> With berths for more than 6,000 boats, the Chicago Park District operates the nation's largest municipal harbor system.<ref>{{cite web |title=Harbors |url=http://www.chicagoharbors.info/slip-information/ |work=Chicago Park District |access-date=October 9, 2013 |archive-date=June 6, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160606111045/http://www.chicagoharbors.info/slip-information/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In addition to ongoing beautification and renewal projects for the existing parks, a number of new parks have been added in recent years, such as the [[Ping Tom Memorial Park]] in Chinatown, [[DuSable Park (Chicago)|DuSable Park]] on the Near North Side, and most notably, Millennium Park, which is in the northwestern corner of one of Chicago's oldest parks, Grant Park in the Chicago Loop.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}} The wealth of greenspace afforded by Chicago's parks is further augmented by the [[Cook County Forest Preserves]], a network of open spaces containing forest, [[prairie]], [[wetland]], streams, and lakes that are set aside as natural areas which lie along the city's outskirts,<ref>{{cite web |title=Forest Preserve District of Cook County |url=http://library.uic.edu/collections/fpdcc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120505022445/http://library.uic.edu/collections/fpdcc |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 5, 2012 |work=University of Illinois at Chicago |access-date=August 28, 2013}}</ref> including both the [[Chicago Botanic Garden]] in [[Glencoe, Illinois|Glencoe]] and the [[Brookfield Zoo]] in [[Brookfield, Illinois|Brookfield]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Affiliates |url=http://fpdcc.com/about/affiliates/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308144514/http://fpdcc.com/about/affiliates/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 8, 2012 |work=[[Forest Preserve District of Cook County]] |access-date=August 28, 2013}}</ref> Washington Park is also one of the city's biggest parks; covering nearly {{convert|400|acres|-1|abbr=on}}. The park is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places listings in South Side Chicago]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=National Park Service |date=2004 |title=National Register of Historic Places |url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/04000871 |access-date=May 24, 2023 |archive-date=May 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230509121638/https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/04000871 |url-status=live }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page