From Portland Afoot

Chicago is a large city on a lake. It's home to the 'L', one of the few U.S. rail services that operates around the clock. (As of 2011, the other three are in the New York City and Philadelphia areas.)

Chicago's metro area is one of the few that has more public transit trips per capita than Portland.

Chicago's Union Station is the eastern terminus of the Empire Builder, an Amtrak route whose western end is either Portland's Union Station or Seattle's King Street Station.

Chicago is also a former home of Bicycle Transportation Alliance Executive Director Rob Sadowsky and, for that matter, Portland Afoot Editor Michael Andersen.