The Perfect Illusion

Reading the first three chapters of Gilbert's Perfect Cities was a fun experience in the creation of illusion.  I felt as if Chicago's rise as a city of tourism and modern commercialism sprang from its representation as a city of the future, rather than a city of reality.  To address some of the questions posed by DeAne, I found connections between this reading and our study of the Great Awakening as well as Ragtime and Trains.   In particular, I felt that one could tie the study of the Great Awakening into the beginnings of tourism and a leisure class.  The book talked specifically about the influence of the Great Awakening on "major players" such as Marshall Field, but I saw a strong connection between the fact that many of Chicago's residents came from a protestant background and the creation of tourism based in cultural experiences for the individual.  We had discussed last semester the influence Protestantism and the Second Great Awakening had on developing a stronger sense of individualism in American culture,and I found that this concept ties directly into the reading on Chicago.  I also found connections to Ragtime in relation to morality.  Pages 7 and 13 discuss attempts to control the urban environment through traditional Victorian values, which reminded me of Father, attempting to control his modernizing environment through traditionalism.  Finally, the fact that Chicago was marketed partially by the arrival into the city on trains reminded me of our study of trains in which we read about Chicago, and how it was the invention of trains that first allowed a city so far from the coast to become a major commercial center. 
There were also many connections between Chicago and New York of the 19th Century. One such connection can be found on page 14 in which Gilbert describes the effects of popular culture institutions in bringing together members of different classes and backgrounds despite efforts to reserve such activities for a more elite group.  This is similar to the effects of drag balls, saloons, and clubs in New York, which fostered the Gay community through intersections of race, class, and sexual preference.  
Finally, I am interested in seeing more of how specific popular institutions such as the theater altered the culture of Chicago and oriented it towards a Utopian ideal.  I am also interested in perhaps discovering comparisons between Chicago and other cities of the time period (not just New York.) For example, I know that Milwaukee was involved in a fair amount of Urban Planning.  How did the efforts of other cities compare to the utopian efforts of Chicago in the 19th century?