O'Hare International Airport: What It Means to Chicago

This paper shows how an “Airport City”, Chicago-O'Hare International Airport, has acted as a magnet and catalyst for industrial, commercial and residential growth in the Chicago area. Land surrounding the airport has appreciated 250 times the 1942 rate. O'Hare is the sixth leading employer in the Chicago area, though Chicago is the second most populated consolidated area in the U.S. Only three of fourteen communities near O'Hare had greater disposable incomes than those generated by air transportation at O'Hare in 1970.