Scenic Chicago (photo by Dave Cameron, courtesy of morguefile.com)

Chicago’s Mayor Richard Daly has pledged to make the Windy City the most environmentally friendly city in the world. The city is putting up some of the most energy-efficient buildings in the country and will grant a building permit a lot faster if the developer will agree to build “green”.

New residents are flowing into Chicago’s downtown neighborhoods. Abandoned buildings and parking lots have been transformed into new businesses, parks and community gardens. Scores of new jobs have been created. The city’s population has grown by 100,000 within the last 10 years; a boom it hasn’t seen since the 1940s.

Now Chicago’s becoming a leader in the organic food movement. The city so well known for its sausage specialties and superb steak houses is also home to the Bleeding Heart Bakery on Chicago Avenue, one of the country’s only retail bakeries to be organically certified. Chicago also boasts one of the few organic pizza restaurants in the U.S., Crust on West Division. The company Busypeople delivers organic meals and provides organic lunch programs for several private schools.

If you’d like to read an article from the Chicago Sun-Times on organic trends in the City of Big Shoulders go to: Embracing organics