A resident of Chicago is referred to as a Chicagoan. There is some ambiguity regarding the suburbs - some residents call themselves "Chicagoans" and identify with the central city, while others rarely deal with or visit the central city. Typically, residents of Chicago will identify themselves with one of the many neighborhoods of Chicago. About one-third of central-city Chicagoans are Caucasian, another third African American, around a quarter Hispanic and one-twentieth Asian, with small amounts of other groups filling in the remainder. Chicago also has several dozen distinct neighborhoods to match its ethnic diversity; the city is divided into 77 official community areas.

The city’s urban context is organized within a grid pattern. It is modified by the shoreline, the three branches of the river, the system of active/inactive rail lines, several diagonal streets (including Clybourn Street, Milwaukee, Lincoln, and Ogden Avenues), the expressways (which are generally sunken below ground level), and hundreds of bridges and viaducts.

Since the first steel-framed high-rise building was constructed in the city in 1885, Chicago has been known for the skyscraper. Today, many high-rise buildings are located in the downtown area, notably in the Loop and along the lakefront and the Chicago River. The three tallest buildings in the city are the Sears Tower (also the tallest building in North America), the Aon Center, and the John Hancock Center. The rest of the city consists of low-rise buildings and single-family homes. There are clusters of industrialized areas, including the lakefront near the Indiana border, the area south of Midway Airport, and the banks of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

Along Lake Shore Drive, parks line the lakefront. The most notable of these parks are Grant Park, which borders the east end of the Loop, the north side Lincoln Park, and the south side Jackson Park in the Hyde Park neighborhood. Interspersed within this system of parks are beaches, a zoo and several bird sanctuaries, McCormick Place Convention Center, Navy Pier, Soldier Field, the Museum Campus, and a water treatment plant.

Information provided by Wikipedia 

CLICK HERE for helpful links to Chicago community websites.