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The City of Chicago or The Windy City has most number of residents in Illinois, the Midwest at 2,722,389 (as of 2014). Takes third place as the most populous city in the whole of the US. The center of the city, or Chicagoland, houses about 10 million people.
Chicago is truly a melting pot of many cultures. As of 2015, the number of whites (32.3%), African Americans (30.7%), and Hispanics (28.9%) are virtually equal. Asians (6.1) lagging behind but still more than 166,000, and these are not homogenous groups. This makes for an interesting place in which to live, for sure.
It is really no wonder why so many people are living in Chicago. The city incorporated in 1837, and experienced rapid growth shortly thereafter. Today, it has the most number of highways in the US, the second busiest airport (O’Hare International Airport). It is in the center of many diverse local, international businesses and industries, including transportation, finance, technology, and telecommunications. In 2012, it included in the list of top global cities by both the Global Cities Index and the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.
That said, the economic hustle and bustle made Chicago a rather expensive place in which to live. With a cost of living index of 107.3, and median housing prices are at $238,500. At the same time, the median household income is $50,702, less than the state median.
Notable people associated with Chicago is numerous. Well-known actors born in Chicago include Gillian Anderson, Patricia Arquette, Adam Baldwin, James and John Belushi, Jack Benny, Tom Bosley, Steve Carrell, Stephen Colbert, Tom Berenger, and a host of others that were either born or live in Chicago. However. the city has also bred some of the most notorious criminals in US history. Including serial killers John Wayne Gacy, also known as the Killer Clown, and H. H. Holmes.
Things to Do Around Chicago
With such a big city and so many different kinds of people living in it. Trying to figure out what to do around Chicago would need the expertise of a professional travel agent. Chicago is a popular spot for local and foreign tourists, and had more than 54 million visitors in 2016.
When in Chicago, you can take your pick of cultural experiences from comedy improv to gospel music. It is not one of the top three largest media market in North America for nothing. If you want to simply stroll around and see the sights, you can do so comfortably. Chicago voted the fourth most walkable of the 50 big city, Walk Score in a 2011 study. Stroll on over to the Chicago Cultural Center to get the lowdown from the Visitor Information Center. Enumerating all the must-visits here would be an exercise in long-windedness. Make sure you try the deep-dish pizza in any of the local pizzerias for which Chicago is famous.
Zombie house revived
The client is a professional house flipper, and had acquired a 921 square foot foreclosed bungalow that unoccupied for more than two years. He was able to purchase it at half the market value because of its poor condition, and embarked on fixing it up to eventually resell it at the going rate, It was a brick house built in 1922 and has three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The floor was parquet and in reasonable condition, but everything else in the home refinished or replaced. The client had already stripped the house of what needed to replaced, and was looking at renovation completion in five weeks. It seemed clear from the work done so far that he was well on his way in transforming the zombie house into a desirable property. One of the things he needed to complete the transformation were RTA cabinets for the kitchen and bathrooms, and semi-custom cabinets for the bedrooms. He called us in for an estimate.
Estimate
The project was a straightforward one. The client already trashed all the old cabinets so demolition was not necessary. He wanted the same style of cabinets in the home for simplicity’s sake, so it was just a matter of taking the measurements based on the existing layout of each room. He had already drawn up a list of cabinets he needed, and chose Elston shaker style oak cabinets and drawers with soft close features from Schrock. The company offered semi-custom cabinets in this style, so use in the bedrooms would not be a problem. We provided him with a cost estimate for all the cabinets he needed, and his only concern was how quickly we could deliver it. We consulted with the manufacturer, and given a timeline of four to six weeks for the semi-custom cabinets, and two to four weeks for the RTA cabinets. It was little longer than he wanted, but we promised to do what we could to shorten the waiting time. He made a 50% down payment so we could order the cabinets.
Delivery
Schrock has always a reliable partner of Cabinets City, so the timeline they gave probably the realistic one. However, we still followed up the order a couple of times to see if it delivered earlier, and our persistence paid off. Schrock delivered the RTA cabinets to us in two weeks, and the semi-custom ones a week ahead of schedule. After we had inspected the cabinets for any damages and made sure all the components were present, we called the client to inform him that we were ready to deliver his cabinets. He was very pleased, as he had just a few days left in his renovation. We delivered it to the site the same day.
On time, every time
At Cabinets City, we maintain excellent relationships with our partner manufacturers so we could negotiate for better terms for our clients. We understand that time is money, and slack time during a renovation is a major cost. We give realistic delivery times to our clients to avoid dashing expectations, but strive to improve on it whenever possible.
If you need realistic and reasonable projections from your cabinet supplier, Cabinets City is your best bet. Call us for a free estimate of your project needs. We are always up to 40% less than big box stores, so you will not be wasting your time or money.
