Author Larry Bennett tackles some of our commonly held ideas about the “Windy City” with the goal of better understanding modern-day Chicago.

Bennett, a professor of political science at DePaul University, calls contemporary Chicago “the third city” to distinguish it from its two predecessors: “the first city,” a sprawling industrial center whose historical arc ran from the Civil War to the Great Depression; and “the second city,” the Rustbelt exemplar of the period from around 1950 to 1990.

The third city features a revitalized urban core, a shifting population mix, and a growing number of middle-class professionals working in new economy sectors.