My producer, Andrew, has a solemn look on his face right now. If only someone had told him that the circus is in town then he might have been able to see elephants march down the streets of Chicago. The circus is in town every year, and that means the elephants have to get from their train to the United Center somehow.

But not a lot of Chicagoans pay attention to this event each year. On the other hand, when the elephants traverse New York City, onlookers line the streets. So what gives? Do Chicagoans just not care about elephants, or is the spectacle less impressive here?

In New York City, the elephant march isn’t  just a 10a.m. event on a Monday like it is in Chicago. It’s an exciting late night affair that people prepare for. Robert Smith has reported about the event before for All Things Considered. Hundreds of people pour out of bars to see elephants take to the streets of Manhattan.

What might have began as a simple practicality in New York City draws, as the Gothamist points out, both  “hardcore” spectators and upset protestors. But how is it that it came to be so huge? How did it become a pasttime that people look forward to every year?

I think it has a lot to do with the distance they travel. And where in the city they travel. For Chicagoans who really feel the need to go see the elephants march down streets of Chicago, they have to go to the near west side to watch the elephants walk a whopping three quarters of a mile.

How does the circus expect that to draw anyone with that?

In New York City, the elephants are unloaded off of a train in Queens, marched into and through the Queens Midtown Tunnel, into Manhattan to Madison Square Gardens.

For those of you unfamiliar with New York City, Queens is a burrough east of Manhattan island. That means the elephants get off their train, walk through a concentrated residential area, go through an underwater tunnel, and through the downtown area of New York City.

The near west side of Chicago has nothing on that. Bear in mind that while I’m not certain where the elephants get off the train, the elephants are still on parade for at least 10 miles. Chicago’s way might be more practical in this case, but it’s definitely not as fun.

This is my idea:

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What do you think? Would you go see the elephants if they got off the train in Millenium Park and marched down Monroe across the loop, crossing the river, and going all the way to the United Center?

Want an idea of what Chicago’s missing out on? Then look below to see a path from Queens to Madison Square Garden(remember that this is 10+ miles):

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