Obama thrusts Chicago onto global stage

The Chicago Tribune reports:

Consider the power of the Barack Obama brand. Almost overnight, he has exploded as a global phenomenon, lauded by average people and those in power.

Then look at Chicago. Still haunted by images of factory soot, stockyards and gangsters, the city's international identity is trapped in the past.

That's why the city's boosters are rubbing their hands together. They are excited by the prospect of using brand Obama to sell Chicago as a destination for corporate offices, tourists and the 2016 Olympics.

"We couldn't pay for the marketing we're getting," said Rita Athas, executive director of World Business Chicago, a city-funded agency charged with attracting and retaining businesses. "I hope this finally makes Al Capone dead. … The buzz is now about the history-making president we have here."

or this one from Robert Cooley and Hillel Levin:

Most cities have one overriding claim to fame. Say Los Angeles and you think about the movies; say Paris you think art; and Detroit, cars. But when people, the world over, say Chicago, they think of something less marketable: Organized Crime. It is a stain that no amount of accomplishment or image-boosting will ever wipe clean.

The city’s grim reputation is rooted back in the Roaring Twenties when Al Capone emerged victorious from gang warfare and went on to become a household name.

Chicago.