Virtual Tours of Chicago

Chicago has hundreds of ways to tour the city – bus, walking, trolley, Segway, bicycle. And any tour might highlight any category of them – history, architecture, theater, food, film, pizza, cemeteries, etc.While doing research for another of my writing projects (Street Advisor reviews), I've found links to many sites where you can actually take a virtual tour from the comfort of your computer! The tours include a set of MP3 audio files along with an annotated map of the locations on the tour. The idea is to download and print the map, and to download the audio files to your favorite listening device. With those two items, you are fully prepared to walk (or in some cases take a taxi or public transportation) to each location. However as part of my research, I used the interactive map (when available) to travel to and listen to each audio clip from my laptop. I highly recommend doing a virtual tour in preparation for your own in-person tour. When you do it virtually, you'll see a small photo of each location and its address, so that you'll know where you're going and what you're looking for when you go in-person. You can also design your own tour – albeit manually – by visiting locations that are close to each other but on different audio tour tracks. (See notes in the list below.)

All the audio clips are narrated by professionals and include commentary by local subject matter experts such as Tim Samuelson (Chicago Historian), Ed Uhlir (Millennium Park planning expert), and Buddy Guy (Blues legend).

I have yet to find a central website for all these tours, so in I'm in the process of building my own, starting with this list. Stay tuned. I'm sure I'll find more as my research continues!

Source: Chicago Loop Alliance
All three of these tours are in Chicago's “Loop”/Downtown area, and they are the easiest to combine since they cover the same basic area.

1 Public Art Tour
http://www.chicagoloopalliance.com/loopthe loop/artloop/

17 stops; approximately 2 miles.

Full review at http://www.streetadvisor.com/illinois/forums/loop-public-art-audiovirtual-tour

2 Landmarks Tour
http://www.chicagoloopalliance.com/loopthe loop/landmarkloop/

23 stops; approximately 2 miles.

Full review at: http://www.streetadvisor.com/illinois/forums/loop-landmark-architecture-audio-tour

3 Theater Tour
http://www.chicagoloopalliance.com/loopthe loop/theaterloop/

10 stops; approximately 2 miles.

Full review at http://www.streetadvisor.com/illinois/forums/loop-theater-audio-tour

Source: Enjoy Illinois “Onscreen Ilinois”

This is a FABULOUS site for movies made in Chicago and throughout the state of Illinois. The Chicago film tour is narrated by Bill Kurtis (famous newscaster, and narrator of TV and Cable documentary shows). Site includes info and photos scattered throughout the state (Peoria, Galesburg, Galena).

Chicago Film Tour
http://www.enjoyillinois.com/movies/home.a spx

15 stops; about 10 miles between Uptown (North) and Bridgeport (South).

Full review at: http://www.streetadvisor.com/illinois/forums/chicago-film-tour-podcast2

Source: Explore Chicago (www.downloadchicagotours.com)

These tours are available from the Explore Chicago website.

1 Millennium Park Tour

Gives you the “backstory” and history of this jewel on Michigan Avenue, and its infamous icons.
http://www.antennaaudio.com/millenniumpark.shtml

Full review at: http://www.streetadvisor.com/illinois/forums/explore-chicago-audio-tours-millennium-park

2 Chicago Blues History Tour

Best to take this tour virtually or with a knowledgeable tour guide as the locations are in a “dicey” neighborhood. Narrated by blues legend, Buddy Guy himself!
http://64.78.16.63/citytours/chicago/blues.html

Full review at: http://www.streetadvisor.com/illinois/forums/explore-chicago-audio-tours-history-of-chicago-blues

3 Chicago For Kids Tour
Yes, there is even a tour designed for the young (and the young at heart)! Narrated by a “tween”, this was a fun tour even for this “pre-senior”. The website also has 8 interactive, low-tech, Chicago-centric games.
http://www.chicagoforkids.org/ChicagoKids/
Full review at: http://www.streetadvisor.com/illinois/forums/explore-chicago-audio-tours-chicago-for-kids


Source: Macy's/Marshall Field's
An inside and outside tour of this iconic State Street landmark. So much more than a retail store!
http://www.visitmacyschicago.com/tours.cfm
Full review at: http://www.streetadvisor.com/illinois/forums/macysmarshall-fields-virtualaudio-tour2

New Street Advisor Reviews!

Chicago neighborhood reviews posted last week: Goose Island, Bronzeville, Chinatown, and Hyde Park. Stay tuned!

Street Advisor Neighborhood Reviews

I have my own "Local Expert" page on this site! It contains my reviews of Chicago neighborhoods. Did you know there are 77 different neighborhoods in Chicago? Listed below are the reviews I have written so far.

Week Ending 6/26/2010: West Loop, Central Loop, Magnificent Mile, New Eastside

Week Ending 7/3/2010: Streeterville, Near North, Gold Coast, Near South

Stay tuned!

New Portal on Street Advisor!

My newest writing gig: writing reviews of Chicago Neighborhoods, starting with the Chicago Loop/Downtown area! Here is the link to my first post, West Loop Review.

New Post on Chicago Examiner!

My 4th article: "Temping for a living as a trade show staffer"

Another Article Completed for the "Tech Guy"

This one is about using Web Typography in designing a web page. I'm getting quite an education from writing these "web design" articles!

New Post on Chicago Examiner!

This is my 3rd post as a Chicago Career Transitions Examiner/Internet Columnist, hot off the keyboard: "WAH Gig: Scoring Exams".

Rosie Knows LLC

"RosieKnows" is an online learning center that caters to the new internet user. This was my very first freelance technical writing assignments. The owner of the company (Rosemary Blandford) hired me to write the "storyboard content" for 4 video lessons on the website. The written content was used as the script for narration of the lessons, and for the PDF companion documents which can be downloaded for reference. This is a "Members Only" site so you must be a member to view the lessons and documents. Membership is FREE.

Profile: Since this is a private client, I do not have a profile on the site.

My Content:

• Using the NIH Senior Health Website (9/2008)
• Using the USA.gov Website (10/2008)
• Introduction to Mozilla Firefox (11/2008)
• Introduction to LinkedIn (1/2009)

New Hub Page!

Posted yesterday: "Won a Trip, Made a Friend". A memoir of winning a trip to England and making a lifelong friend!

New Post on Chicago Examiner!

Posted yesterday: "Creative Transitions". Read and share!

Writng-dot-com

I've forgotten how I found this site. It was back in 2005, after winning a contest to write an essay for the company that managed my apartment building. They had a resident newsletter, and the winning essay (Mine) was published in it. The prize was a $500 AMEX gift card. Anyway, winning the contest inspired me to test the waters of creative writing. I posted several articles and lived to read the feedback from other members. It was mostly good/positive, but I didn't stick with it - got distracted by the pursuit of a "regular" job. Long story short - I still have the account, still post items there occasionally to get feedback, and refer other budding writers there to test their mettle.

My Profile and Portfolio/Content Page

My Recent Content

• Back to My Roots
• The Epiphany

Tech Guy Web Solutions

I was hired for this client through oDesk.com - a site where you can sign up as a provider of a service, and bid on various virtual gigs. As a former/sometime Tech Writer, I focused on the writing gigs. I heard about the site a year or so ago from an Eons member. I signed up but didn't pursue any gigs - until a month ago. I saw an interesting gig to rewrite some tech articles so I placed a bid on it. The buyer (Brad Traversy, owner of TechGuyWebSolutions) hired me to rewrite 3 articles to be posted on his website. I completed those, he posted them on his website, and he has already hired me to write 3 more articles for his site.

Since this is a "private client" I don't have a profile page on his site, but you can find my articles (with photo and bio) on his website under "Miscellaneous Web Design Articles" Stay tuned. This client has already said that he's interested in a long-term working relationship to write content for his site!

My Content

1	Web Typography
2	Designing a Website for All Screen Resolutions
3	How to Communicate Your Needs to Your Web Designer
4	Tips for Designing a Profitable Webpage
5	Hire a Web Designer or Build it Yourself?
6	An Introduction to Ecommerce

HubPages

This is an interesting site for a Blogger at heart, in my opinion. "Say what you want, how ever you wanna say it". Very few restrictions on content and how it's written. Most of the other sites where I have content posted require at least "good English" (including spelling, grammar and usage).


My Profile/Content Page

My Content

• My Mother The Chatterbox (posted 5/24/2010)
• Won a Trip, Made a Friend (posted 5/26/2010) 
• A Woman on the Edge (posted 5/31/2010)
• The Time Bank (posted 6/22/2010; moved from Triond portfolio)

AllVoices

One of my newest content sites. I joined and posted my first item on 5/23/10. I think I found them from an ad on my Facebook page. They seemed to be just the right place for a piece I wrote about applying for Public Aid (Constant Content rejected it; Associated Content offered me $5 for it - I declined.) Already, 91 people have viewed it and I have 6 fans! Stay tuned!

My Profile Page and Content

My Content

CityGal226's  News

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Chicago Career Transition Examiner

On 5/18/2010 I was accepted as a freelance contributor to this site, as their newest "Chicago Career Transitions Examiner". My first article was the one I submitted with my application. They gave me my very own web page! Now I just have to add more content. Earnings are based on readership (as usual).

My Home Page and Content on Chicago Examiner

My Content

• Volunteering to Find Paid Work 
• Creative Transitions (posted 5/26/2010) 
• WAH Gig: Scoring Exams (posted 5/30/2010) 
• Temping for a living as a trade show staffer (6/8/2010) 
• WAH Gig: Freelance Writing (posted 6/26/2010)

Triond

This is a site for freelance writers. You submit your content to them and (if accepted), they distribute it to their partner sites, based on the topic of your item. My items have been posted to sites I'd never have found on my own! I posted my first article here in 6/2008 and have 6 articles there so far - 5 in the past month! They also accept photos so I've posted 5 from my personal collection. Earnings are based on number of readers.

My Profile and Content Page 

My Content

• My Fabulous Year
• Holiday Orphans
• Volunteering to Find Paid Work
• Free Walking Tours in Chicago
• Explore a Hidden Gem (Chicago Cultural Center)
• Memories of Charley

Helium - "Where Knowledge Rules"

Started posting content here in August 2008 and have 6 items there so far. (One was rejected as being too generic, but I found another home for it.) Earnings are based on reader reviews but someone did purchase an article for use on their site.

My Profile Page

My Content

• Alternative Holiday Traditions (Holiday Orphans)
• Aging in Modern America (a variation of Miss to Ma'am)
• Cats That Have Changed Our Lives (Memories of Charley)
• Public Transportation in Chicago (sold as "stock content" in 09/2008)
• Walking Tours of Chicago
• How to Create a Custom Photo Calendar for Free

Demand Studios

Demand Studios is a site for freelance writers. You pick a title from their vast list of categories and write an article about for a flat fee. If you don't find a title you can write about, you can submit one of your own on a "revenue share" basis. Once your item is accepted, they find a home for it on one or more of their partner sites.

I've written 4 articles so far and all have been posted on eHow.com: 2 earned a flat fee of $15 each; another 2 are earning a revenue share based on readership.

My Profile Page

My Content on eHow

• How to create a customized cable Channel guide
• How to copy a Voice Mail to your PC as a WAV file
• How to get a Free Greeter Tour
• How to Recycle a Swiffer Mop

Constant Content

Posted my first (and only) article here in March 2005. I've submitted other items but they are pretty darn stringent about what they accept for publication! They've rejected the last 5 of my submissions. So I posted them somewhere else.

My Page and Profile

My Content

• From Miss to Ma'am (This piece has actually been sold to 2 different content buyers.)

   

Original Articles. Constant-Content.

Associated Content

I started posting here in March 2005. Main page is at My page and profile

Titles:

• My Fabulous Year (2004)
• Ethnic Hair
• From Miss to Ma'am
• Uncommon Sense (sold as "stock content")

Introduction

About a month ago I decided to re-launch my writing career. So far it's been more successful than the past 3 months of looking for a traditional job. At least I'm making a few dollars here and there from several articles instead of making nothing from the various iterations of my resume.

I'm setting up this blog to a) try to keep track of where all my works are published, b) so my friends and followers will have a "one-stop shop" to read my articles, and c) to make some money from it (of course).

Stay tuned!