Please don't compare Detroit to Chicago. Typhoid, those are exceptionally unflattering pictures of Chicago compared to the quite luxurious pictures of Miami and New York.
Chicago:
Chicago has one of the best skylines in the country, and between Lake Michigan, the sailboats, Lake Shore Drive, Willis (formerly the Sears) Tower, the Hancock, Trump Towers, the gritty and urban South Side, and the trendy and hip North Side, Wrigley Field, Soldier Field, US Cellular Field, the Chicago River, Michigan Avenue, and the L...I would say Chicago is much more elegant than any city in Florida, and easily recognizable to most tourists.
The river:
The L:
Grant park and the sailboats:
The stupid fucking bean:
And Michigan avenue:
Chicago CONSISTENTLY beats out New York, Miami, LA, and San Fransisco for best skyline in the world. CONSISTENTLY. Find me a more gorgeous skyline in the United States, I dare you.
Sources:
http://necromanc.blogspot.com/2006/0...-in-world.html
http://www.diserio.com/top15-skylines.html
http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-city-skylines.php
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0...title=Chicago_
http://citynoise.org/article/3432
It's not America's fault that Chicago is our best kept secret... But please, please, please don't compare Chicago to Detroit.
Now, having said all that (Chicago love, baby), I totally agree that from a geographical standpoint, Chicago would
not be a good choice for a Grand Theft Auto game. Chicago is a gorgeous city, but the central city area is concentrated, with a sprawling north and south side that is much more suburban. Coasts give you oceans, cool scenery...and Miami is just fucking cool thanks to years of TV. Chicago is gritty, and the main city is compacted.
Also, the Midwest isn't very exciting for the big gangster crime. The Midwest excels at Meth and gritty crime, so something like Breaking Bad is perfect for this region...but Mafia drug lords dealing coke? keep that shit on the coasts.
Personally, I would love to see the game in Honk Kong or London.