Chicago: poster child for what a city should be?

Putting aside any of those toxic "greatest city" threads, let me plow in a different direction. Is Chicago the poster child for what an American city should be? I suspect the answer is a resounding "YES!". My impression, on and off this board, is that if you are looking for a model of what you want your city to become, Chicago is the place that is offered up as the example. The term a Chicago (as in "becoming a Chicago) has taken on the meaning of creating a vibrant and successful urban core (as sadly the term a Detroit conveys the opposite). Do others see the same use of language, the same way of holding up Chicago to show what could be, or what should be? I honestly have never seen any other city used in this sense and I suspect I am right here.>