The Great Chicago Block Count: A Mystery More Baffling Than Deep Dish Filling
Ah, Chicago. City of wind, broad shoulders, and... an oddly unquantifiable number of blocks? You'd think this would be a simple question, like "how many slices are on a Chicago-style pizza?" (Sixteen, for the record, because eight just isn't enough for this glorious culinary giant). But my friends, the true number of Chicago blocks has become a question that has vexed urban planners, trivia night champions, and probably bored cab drivers for decades.
Facing the Factual Fog: Our Investigative Journey Begins
We embarked on this intrepid quest for knowledge with the confidence of a tourist lost in Millennium Park. Surely, a quick Google search would yield the answer. But instead, we found ourselves wading through a swamp of conflicting information. Some sources claimed a measly 271 blocks, a number that would leave even the most directionally challenged Chicagoan scratching their head. Others threw out figures as high as 32,200, which sounds like enough blocks to build a moat around the entire state of Illinois.
Enter: The Hero We Neither Needed Nor Deserved: The Department of Planning and Development
Just when we were about to throw in the towel and declare Chicago a city perpetually under construction (because let's be honest, there's always some kind of construction going on), a glimmer of hope emerged. The Chicago Department of Planning and Development, those unsung heroes of urban organization, swooped in with a definitive answer: approximately 20,800 blocks.
There you have it, folks! The not-so-neat, not-so-round number that represents the beating heart of Chicago's grid system. But wait, there's more!
The Plot Thickens: Why Counting Chicago's Blocks is Like Counting Pigeons (Spoiler Alert: It's Not Easy)
It turns out, dear reader, that counting Chicago's blocks is about as easy as wrangling a group of toddlers into a deep dish pizzeria. Here's why:
- Diagonal Streets: Party Crashers of the Grid System - Chicago's not all neat little squares, folks. Those pesky diagonal streets throw a wrench into the whole "four-sided block" business, creating triangular oddities that defy easy categorization.
- The River Runs Through It (and Makes Block Boundaries Blurry) - The mighty Chicago River cuts a path through the city, creating a natural (and sometimes not-so-natural) barrier that makes defining block boundaries a bit of a headache.
- Railroad Tracks: The Great Dividers - Those train tracks snaking through the city? They like to play a game of block-interrupting Tetris, further complicating the whole counting business.
So, while we may have a number, it's important to remember that Chicago's blocks are a quirky bunch, defying rigid definitions and revelling in a little geometric chaos.
The Final Verdict: So, How Many Blocks Are There in Chicago?
Enough to get you delightfully lost, pleasantly surprised by hidden alleys, and maybe even bond with a fellow Chicagoan over a shared sense of directionlessness. In other words, there are enough blocks to make Chicago, Chicago.
Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a date with a deep dish pizza and a good map (because, let's be real, we'll probably need it).
