The Burning Question: How Big is Chicago? Asking for a Friend (Probably a Deep-Dish Pizza)
Ever looked at a map of Chicago and thought, "Dang, that's a lot of city"? You're not wrong, my friend. But just how much "a lot" are we talking about? Here's where things get interesting, because depending on how you measure "bigness," Chicago can wear a few different hats (or should we say deep-dish pans?).
The City That Could Swallow Your Fitbit: Let's get down to brass tacks. The actual city limits of Chicago sprawl across a cool 228 square miles (or 591 square kilometers for our metric system friends). That's enough space to fit roughly 27 Disneys Worlds inside (don't worry, Mickey ain't taking over Cloud Gate anytime soon).
Hold My Malort, We're Going Bigger: But wait! Chicago's got a magnetic personality. The suburbs kind of cling to it like a remora on a shark (except way less creepy, hopefully). This whole metropolitan area, fondly nicknamed "Chicagoland," stretches across a whopping 9,600 square miles. That's almost three times the size of Chicago proper!
So, How Big is a Windy City Anyway? Here's the truth: it depends on what you mean by "big." If you're talking about city limits, Chicago's a hefty contender. But if you consider the whole Chicagoland vibe, well, that's a sprawl-y beast of its own.
But Here's the Real Question: How many deep-dish pizzas can you devour in one sitting before admitting defeat (and maybe needing a nap)? That, my friends, is a question for the ages.
