Blair Kamin, architecture critic for the Chicago Tribune, turns his sights on his hometown for this month's Conde Nast Traveler.

The sidebar on Mayor Daley sounds familiar. Kamen writes that biggest thing on the desk "of one of the most powerful mayors in America" is not stacks of briefing papers or budget books but a big fat picture book on Barcelona. Mayor Daley had recently visited there to learn how to boost his city's bid for the 2016 Olympics. Kamen notes that the book was filled with yellow stickies.

On my first visit with the Mayor, I observed the same thing. Except on that visit, he was deep into books showcasing architects then being considered for the Art Institute's expansion.

Seeing all the yellow notes sticking out of the book, I assumed his staff was trying to make his reading go more quickly. When I asked him about it, he surprised me by saying, no, that it was he who had filled the book with notes that he intended to distribute to his staff for consideration and action.

Kamen learned the same thing. Daley told him "almost innocently," "What I do is, I go through all these books, and then I start sending people notes and letters. And then I try to get people interested in how we look at the city."

Kamen wrote that he's heard that when you receive a note from Daley, "You don't ask whether you're going to jump; you ask how high."

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