One of the most common nick names for the city of Chicago is the windy city. There are many stories for how it came around, but my informant said there is one that he said he is partial to. He  told me the story of how Chicago is notorious for having lying and crooked politicians for almost all the history of the city. When Chicago started booming people gave it the name windy city because all its politicians did was blow hot air with their promises. The politicians words were as worthless as wind to the people after all the broken promises. He learned this story from his AP US history teacher.

This story is a formative myth for the identity of the city because the windy city is used very commonly to refer to Chicago. Part of the identity of the city is tied into the phrase windy city. This also expresses the dissatisfaction that the citizens had with their leaders in the past, but currently as the legend is told they hold a certain pride in how their politicians were so crooked or they wouldn’t retell the story. It was become part of the foundation of the city itself.