Chicago: Image builders

What are some of the "Chicago image builders" that are out there...and if they happen, the city looks a heckuva lot better? A whole long thread here asks will Chicago ever have 3.5 million people again? Is that one an image builder? And, if so, is 3.5 million the correct number? Is population a huge image builder, or does San Francisco prove that a huge population is not necessary? What about the Fordham Spire? How about is that "WTB" title? If we keep Marshall Field's Marshall Field's, how big is that? Does that show clout that other cities don't have? How big an image builder is McCormick Place's expansion, putting back in first place among the world's convention/exhibition centers? How much of an image builder would gettng the 2016 Olympics be...just be gettng them (not even waiting for construction to start!) Would a blockbuster bank HQ'd in Chicago's Loop, one of the largest and most important in the world be a huge image maker for a city rich in all aspects of global economy save for a bank like the one described? How about the Circle Line and futher CTA expansion...does that project Chicago's interconnectively and accessible transit to the nation and the world? How important is an expanded O'Hare and moving forward in Peotone to Chicago's image building? If UIC became a public university in the mode of other public urban powerhouses (i.e. UCLA, Univ of Minn, Univ of Wash, Ga Tech), what effect would that have on Chicago's status? Would WGN attempting to expand its already impressive service into another CNN have an enormous effect on the city's status, in the same way that CNN aided Atlanta? Should the high profile clothing industry in Chicago take a step up to the competition in places like NYC, LA, Dallas...and thus provide another image builder? Chicago is totally impressive in the area of theatre, shopping, and restaurants...but can the image be tweaked even here? How important is it for the Chicago Tribune to be talked about in the terms of, let's say, the NY Times, Wash Post, perhaps even its own LA Times, for Chicago's image Have public works....i.e. Navy Pier, Millennium Pk, Museum Campus...given Chgo a leg up on other cities...and would more be warranted to clearly define the city as place where the public sector pushes the amenities of life? In an age when people love baseball parks, would a Cell replacement that created two ball park gems in Chicago be considered an image booster? and while on sports, how about a second NFL team (AFC, of course) doing the same job? And what other "Chicago image builders" do you see out there?>