Chicago's Loop is a bustling mecca of commerce, shopping, and tourism. An increasing amount of residential buildings are popping up, but the overwhelming majority of the buildings are devoted to commercial and business purposes. This is also the center of transportation as the city trains (El) all come together in one place to assist commuters in their route. Within this area, elevated trains run along a rectangular "loop" of tracks 5 blocks wide and 7 blocks long.

The famed Chicago skyline originates in the Loop, giving a grand and beautiful view to the entire city. The intersection of State and Madison streets are the heart of the Loop. Madison, which runs east and west, divides the north and south street numbers. State, a north-south street, divides east and west numbers. LaSalle Street is Chicago's financial district, with many banks and the Chicago Stock Exchange.

The most impressive of the buildings in Chicago is the 110-story Sears Tower. It has the tallest top floor of any building in the world at 1,450 feet tall.

Printers' Row, which extends south of Congress along Dearborn, is another part of the downtown area which has luxury housing and top notch restaurants and is growing rapidly to fill unused and vacant areas.

The Loop is also home to an astonishing array of cultural destinations. It is contains a museum's worth of outdoor contemporary art, the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as Broadway in Chicago, a strip of theaters in which Broadway shows are performed either by travelling companies or local troupes.

Recent years have seen a boom of residential development around the periphery of the Loop. Transportation here, as mentioned, is a non-issue; one can reach nearly any point in the city from here.