Essential People

Population

Five most commonly held Chicago occupations

Average highest annual salaries by occupation

Average lowest annual salaries by occupation

Income vs. average home price

Chicago religions

Top Chicago quotes not from politicians

Top Chicago quotes from local politicians

Five best Daley pet projects

Five questionable Daley pet projects

Five reasons to vote for South-Sider Barack Obama

Five reasons to vote for Park Ridge–native Hillary Rodham Clinton

Pivotal nonsports sports moments in Chicago history

Our five favorite Chicago gangster nicknames

Five most commonly held Chicago occupations*

1. Retail salesperson

2. Manual laborer

3. Cashier

4. Office clerk

5. Janitor and cleaner

*U.S. Census

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Average highest annual salaries by occupation*

1.Oral and maxillofacial surgeon

2.Anesthesiologist

3.Surgeon

4.Judge, magistrate judge and magistrate

5.CEO

*U.S. Department of Labor statistics for Chicago area, as of May 2005

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Average lowest annual salaries by occupation*

1.Gaming dealer

2.Fast-food cook

3.Usher, ticket taker, lobby attendant

4.Food-prep worker

5.Dishwasher

*U.S. Department of Labor statistics for Chicago area, as of May 2005

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*U.S. Census

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Chicago religions*

1906

a) Protestant 53.4 %

b) Catholic 44.9 %

c) Other 1.2 %

d) Jewish 0.3 %

e) Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) 0.1 %

f) Quaker 0.1 %

n/a) Muslim None reported

2000

a) Unreported 44 %

b) Catholic 37 %

c) Protestant 14 %

d) Jewish 3 %

e) Muslim 1.3 %

f) Other 0.5 %

g) Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) 0.2%

n/a) Quaker 0.008 %

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Top Chicago quotes not from politicians

“I give you Chicago.... It is American in every chitling and sparerib. It is alive from snout to tail.”—H.L. Mencken

“Chicago is not the most corrupt American city. It’s the most theatrically corrupt.”—Studs Terkel

“Loving Chicago is like loving a woman with a broken nose.”—Nelson Algren

“Chicago is the product of modern capitalism, and, like other great commercial centers, is unfit for human habitation.”—Eugene Debs

“It is wonderful to be here in the great state of Chicago.”—Vice President Dan Quayle—JM

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Top Chicago quotes from local politicians

“The policeman isn’t there to create disorder, the policeman is there to preserve disorder.”—Mayor Richard J. Daley (September 23, 1968)

“Most aldermen, most politicians are hos.”—Arenda Troutman, 20th Ward alderman (January 8, 2007, transcribed from an undercover FBI tape)

“Chicago ain’t no sissy town.”—Hinky Dink Kenna, 1st Ward alderman (December 9, 1908)

“Chicago is unique. It is the only completely corrupt city in America.”—Charles Merriam, advisor to Herbert Hoover and FDR, and failed mayoral candidate in 1911

“They have vilified me, they have crucified me. Yes, they have even criticized me.”—Mayor Richard J. Daley (August 1968)—Jonathan Messinger

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Five best Daley pet projects

1. Millennium Park—it’s shiny and pretty!

2. Northerly Island, summer concert nirvana

3. Bike 2015 Plan, which proposes a 500-mile

bikeway network

4. Downtown Theater District revitalization

5. Greening initiatives—CW

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Five questionable Daley pet projects

1. Millennium Park—four years late and $350 million over budget!

2. Tearing up Miegs Field in the middle of the night in 2003 (he replied: “People want you to make decisions. They didn’t elect me to be a lover boy.”)

3. Block 37

4. Blue Bag Recycling program

5. $681 million redesign of Soldier Field (which got it

bumped from the list of National Historic Landmarks)—CW

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Five reasons to vote for South-Sider Barack Obama

1  He introduced legislation to pull troops out of Iraq by March 2008, and since he wasn’t in Congress in 2002, he hasn’t had to explain his Iraq vote to America, like Hillary has.

2  He’s pledged to quit smoking cigarettes, and has been open about using cocaine and pot when he was younger. Finally, a candidate who’s not afraid to show he’s a real person.

3  His talk of bipartisanship isn’t just empty blather: As a state senator, he passed legislation that benefited the working poor and uninsured. As a U.S. senator, he sponsored the Fuel Economy Reform Act and fought for a compromise of the Patriot Act, which preserved an individual’s right to hire an attorney if fingered by the FBI.

4  He’s a damn fine public speaker and comes across as accessible—two talents which John Kerry really could’ve used in the last presidential race (and which aren’t Hillary’s strong suits, either).

5  Three-syllable name makes for easy cheering: O-BA-MA!

—LP

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Five reasons to vote for Park Ridge–native Hillary Rodham Clinton

1  Some may doubt her ability to run a country during a war, but the former flower child has gotten to know the ins and outs of Washington for eight years as first lady, and for almost the same amount of time as a U.S. senator.

2  She doesn’t just want to be seen as the candidate who could make history as the nation’s first woman leader, so she’s also pushing issues like improved access to health care and education. The fact that 54 percent of voters in 2004 were women could help tip the scales in favor of the Democrats. While she’s pro-choice, she’s also Christian and a mother, which could also pull some voters from the right.

3  After September 11, she made homeland security a priority and helped to secure more than $20 million for cleanup, recovery and redevelopment efforts at Ground Zero.

4  Her husband is Bill. They’re controversial, sure, but remember when the country—not to mention the world—seemed better off when Billary was in the White House? Don’t think she wasn’t there working behind the scenes, as Bill most likely will be if she’s wearing the presidential pants.

5 Three-syllable name makes for easy cheering: HIL-LA-RY!

—LP

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Pivotal nonsports sports moments in Chicago history

September 22, 1959

Some North Side residents seek shelter as Hizzoner Mayor Richard J. Daley sets off the city’s air-raid sirens when the White Sox clinch the AL pennant.

July 12, 1979

Riot cops are called in at old Comiskey Park when thousands of fans storm the field during Steve Dahl’s “Anti-Disco Night” at a doubleheader between the Sox and Detroit Tigers.

January 15, 1997

After attempting to corral a loose ball, Bulls resident loon Dennis Rodman kicks cameraman Eugene Amosin in his man parts. Rodman ultimately settles with the cameraman for $200,000 and is suspended by the league for 11 games.

May 16, 2000

One minute, Los Angeles Dodger Chad Kreuter is chilling in the Wrigley bullpen. The next, someone steals his hat. Kreuter chases, his teammates follow, punches are thrown between Dodgers and undoubtedly sober fans, and the game is delayed.

September 19, 2002

The shirtless duo of William Ligue Jr. and his 15-year-old son bum-rushes Kansas City Royals 54-year-old first-base coach, Tom Gamboa. “He got what he deserved,” the elder Ligue said afterward.

June 3, 2003

Slugger Sammy Sosa is booted from a game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for using a corked bat. But that would be cheating, and we’re sure Sosa has never, ever done that.

June 19, 2003

Jay Williams, a guard from Duke University whom the Bulls nabbed with the No. 2 pick in the draft, is seriously injured after he steers his Yamaha motorcycle into a pole on the North Side. Sadly, he has yet to make a return to the NBA after the Bulls generously bought out his contract.

October 14, 2003

With the Cubs just five outs away from the World Series in the National League Championship Series, nerdius maximus Steve Bartman tries to grab a Luis Castillo foul ball down the left-field line. Bartman’s efforts prevent Cub Moises Alou from catching the ball. We could go on, but it’s just too depressing.

October 14, 2003

With the Cubs just five outs away from the World Series in the National League Championship Series, nerdius maximus Steve Bartman tries to grab a Luis Castillo foul ball down the left-field line. Bartman’s efforts prevent Cub Moises Alou from catching the ball. We could go on, but it’s just too depressing.

November 25, 2006

Recently acquired center Ben Wallace is forced to leave a game against the New York Knicks for sporting a headband, a uniform infraction

according to coach Scott Skiles and GM John Paxson, despite the fact that much of the Bulls promotional materials, including pocket schedules, have images of Big Ben with a headband.

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Our five favorite Chicago gangster nicknames

1. Ralph “Bottles” Capone

Your younger brother’s nickname is “Scarface,” but you get saddled with “Bottles”? That’s gotta hurt. Ralphie was for the most part a legitimate businessman. Brother Al, however, who set him up with a soda-bottling operation—hence the name—made sure that besides Coca-Cola, Ralphie’s beverages were the only ones sold at the 1933 World’s Fair.

2. Jake “The Barber” Factor

This sobriquet supposedly referred to his days as a chore boy in a shop on Halsted Street—owned, not coincidentally, by his now-legendary brother, beauty magnate Max Factor.

3. Joey “The Clown” Lombardo (a.k.a. Lumpy)

 “Lumpy” for the lumps this 1970s and ’80s mob boss left on the heads of his enemies; “The Clown” for his penchant for corny jokes. Among the zingers he’s quoted as delivering during his 2005 indictment: He told baffled reporters that a piece of his jewelry was made of “canarly” stone—“You ‘canarly’ see it!”

4. Sam “Teets” Battaglia

No, “Teets” did not boast voluminous manboobs. Rather, this high-ranking Chicago Outfit member once told a fellow mobster to “Shaddup, or I’ll bust ya in da teets!” Ouch.

5. Sam “Golf Bag” Hunt

One of Capone’s best shooters, “Golf Bag” valued the element of surprise. Rather than tote his machine gun around strapped to his shoulder, this mobster concealed his weapon in an innocuous-looking duffer’s bag.

—Martina Sheehan

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