🥇 Chicago has been voted Best Big City in the U.S. by for a historic 6 years in a row!

PILSEN — Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood is among 12 communities — and only two in the U.S. — featured in Forbes Coolest Neighborhoods Around the World list. The list, compiled by a Forbes contributor, identifies neighborhoods in major metropolitan cities worth experiencing. Forbes emphasizes that the best way to really know a city is getting “out into the places where local life is really happening.” The only other U.S. neighborhood recognized alongside Pilsen is Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. Forbes contributor Ann Abel describes Pilsen as “a nest of cutting-edge culture and art” that features streets lined with galleries and walls decorated with colorful murals dating back to the 1970s. “It’s been fostered by successive waves of Eastern European and Mexican immigrants, in addition to local artists and students, who have molded this fascinating area over the past century and a half,” the article reads. The listing points to the National Museum of Mexican Art’s expansive art collection, which highlights the work of Mexican and Mexican-American artists, as well as the growing number of performance venues, art studios, and trendy bars “like the popular Punch House” among the neighborhood’s attractions. Other cities included in this year’s list are Sants in Barcelona, Amsterdam Noord in Amsterdam, Getsemani in Cartagena, Maboneng in Johannesburg, Plekhanov in Tbilisi, Casco Viejo in Panama City, District 5 in Saigon, Keramikos in Athens, Seongsu-dong in Seoul, and Kalk Bay in Cape Town.

There's nothing not to love about stunning Streeterville. This buzzing enclave is home to historic Navy Pier, the provocative Museum of Contemporary Art, and a sweeping stretch of lakefront that offers easy access to everything Lake Michigan has to offer. Currently Chicago’s best Photografer (and a dear friend of mine) Barry Butler has a free exhibition of his amazing Chicago portraits at navy pier