CHICAGO — There are charms and revelations to each of Chicago’s neighborhoods and many of them stay hidden in the past, barely a whisper. The West Loop with its buildings (small and tall) and its stories (touching and terrifying) and the thousands of people (good and evil) who have lived and loved and prowled there do more than whisper to Connie Fairbanks. They shout.
“There is just so much to learn, to explore, to hear,” she says.
She has spent years exploring and listening. The result is a deeply researched, artfully written and marvelously illustrated new book, “Chicago’s West Loop, Then and Now: People, Businesses, Buildings.” It is much larger and grander than many of the books published about specific neighborhoods but Fairbanks understands this and advises readers to “discover your own neighborhood’s stories.”
