Government regulation beginning in the 1960s helped curtail that earlier scene. The Wrigley Building is now again a blazing white and folks can breathe in the air deeply while enjoying the lakefront.
And, the debate over costs and benefits of clean air is again in the news as the judges of the Supreme Court rule on whether the Environmental Protection Agency overstepped its authority in setting more stringent mercury emission rules.
But, Chicago for much of the 19th and 20th centuries was not a very healthy place to live.
The smoke nuisance, as they called it, was invasive. Just think of all the factory smokestacks and people burning coal and wood for heat.. "It ruined belongings, blackened and eroded architecture, spoiled food and caused incalculable health problems for residents. It turned day onto night...."
As early as 1974, as the city was being rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1871, the Tribune warned that the huge increase in factories andhotels and the new skyscrapers with their steam-powered elevators, was a serious problem. "So dense is the volume of smoke that, unless there is a brisk, stirring breeze, the whole of it settles down in the central part of the city and leaves its dirty imprint," the editorial said.
Dirty, Dirty Chicago. --DaCoot
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