The shock and terror of an attempted assassination of Donald Trump and another weekend of gun violence in Chicago. I’m trying to find something good to think and feel about. How about the 20th birthday of Millennium Park, also known as Millennium Campus? It’s been 20 years since it all began and has now become one of the ten most popular tourist attractions in the United States. 24 acres of a stunningly beautiful, educationally enlightening, and fun place to be. An on-campus ice rink, a 40 foot climbing wall, a magnificent outdoor theatre presenting symphony music to hear. For children, a fantasy land in the spirit of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” including a tube slide and a big ship to explore. For mom and dad, a masterpiece of botanical landscaping to stroll through alongside the largest beer garden in Chicago next to a variety of open-air art galleries and the amazing Bean to selfie. And the star of it all, Chicago’s Art Institute, one of the world’s most celebrated art museums. Not to mention those famous Crown Fountains. The open-air photo gallery showers for all people of all ages to splash around in. Millennium Park and Campus, a $490 million treat. In our difficult world right now, it’s hard to be thinking or feeling anything that’s better, or even as good as, Millennium Park and Campus, almost all of which, for all of us, is for free.

Walter Jacobson gives his Perspective: