But that gawking, out-of-town amazement — gee, there really is a city here! — has long outlived its currency. Well before Mr. Obama was elected as the nation’s 44th president — a fact that was proudly amplified by Mayor Richard M. Daley, who ordered up banners with a sketch of the president-elect to hang throughout the city — Chicago was experiencing one of its most blossoming periods in food, fashion and the arts.

Now, people around the country and the world are simply noticing.

The NYT's perpetual rediscovering of Chicago never fails to be condescending.

Adding: When Zeleny writes "In 1952, when an article in The New Yorker derisively referred to Chicago as the Second City, little offense was taken," my memory from the recently reprinted edition of Liebling's articles (don't have it handy) is that he got raked over the coals for it.