Chicago's lakefront makes Chicago unique.

​Chicago's lakefront spans 30 miles. Along that expanse are 154 beaches and parklands including nature areas, playgrounds, peninsulas, docks, dunes, dog parks, a butterfly garden and South Shore Nature Sanctuary.

Chicago's lakefront makes Chicago a unique tourist destination.

 Chicago had nearly 48.9 million visitors in 2022, 60% more than the prior year (Chicago Suntimes, 2023). Tourists and conventions are attracted to Chicago because of its lakefront, its downtown Grant Park and Millennium Park, and its Lakefront Trail, a 19 mile route winding its way alongside Chicago’s beaches and parks on Lake Michigan’s shorelines.

Chicago's lakefront, and its public lands and park lands adjacent to Lake Michigan, provides a unique opportunity to promote climate conservancy for all Illinoisans. 

Conserving our green spaces, especially our parks and their mature tree canopies, are especially important during this time of increasing temperatures as a result of climate change. Chicago is included in an analysis of nine US cities that had at least 1 million people exposed to an UHI index of 8°F or higher—meaning that on a day when temperatures in a park inside the city are 90°F, it feels like 98°F or higher for at least 1 million people in the city. 52% of Chicago's population (2,098,100 people) live in urban heat islands in Chicago (ClimateCentral.Org, 2023).