Chicago voted 'Best Big City in the U.S.' for the seventh consecutive year

CHICAGO - The readers have spoken and Chicago is the "Best Big City in the U.S." for the seventh straight year.

More than half a million readers of Conde Nast Traveler, who participated in the Reader's Choice Awards, put Chicago in the top spot.

So, this wasn't just voted on by a panel of so-called travel experts. This distinction came from the readers themselves.

Chicago now becomes the only city in the 36-year history of the awards to be named Best Big City.

Choose Chicago credits the historic streak with Chicago's weather, variety of neighborhoods, restaurants, live music and theater scene, along with its cultural attractions.

"We are absolutely thrilled. Nobody expected that we could actually keep this running for seven years in a row. That's 520,000 people that read Conde Nast voted for us," said Lynn Osmond of Choose Chicago.

Choose Chicago also points out that Chicago had a mega-comeback in terms of summer tourism.

Hotel revenue broke an all-time record for revenue, raking in $825 million from June through September, which pads the city budget by some $40 million.