2017.07.01 North Michigan Avenue

North Michigan Avenue has been known as the 'Magnificent Mile' since 1947. By the early 1900’s  the city continued to rebuild  from the great fire with development extendjng beyond the river. In 1910 an urban development plan for North Michigan starting with the construction of the Michigan Avenue Bridge and widening for increasing auto traffic. The Burnham Plan included wide sidewalks and public plazas to attract shoppers. Stores did good business as shoppers preferred the pedestrian friendly open spaces of North Michigan over the congested loop area. By the time of the great depression, North Michigan Avenue had become Chicago's most fashionable street. In 1947 real estate developer Arthur Rubloff re-energized development efforts and dubbed North Michigan Avenue the 'Magnificent Mile'. The name stuck and the Magnificent Mile is currently know for it’s high end stores, high rent and real estate prices, high pedestrian traffic (50,000 per day), and five star hotels.