While Chicago’s grid system is useful at the ground level, it’s something to admire from above. Once you understand Chicago’s grid system, it’s entirely possible to navigate your way through the city without the help of a map or GPS-people have been doing so for decades. Chicago’s grid system makes it easier to get around the city as it provides an accurate understanding of direction based on block numbers and geographic distance from the Loop. Chicago is known for being the birthplace of the skyscraper and home to some of the world’s tallest towers, but the city’s street grid system and master plan is equally as innovative and impressive as the tall steel structures that helped launch the Windy City onto the global radar.