Get out the crying towels. Chicago is finally catching up to the burbs, which is anathema to city residents who derive some status from their residential area code or even their ZIP codes. Beginning ...

When Robert Bensko was growing up in the 1950s, all Chicago phone numbers came with the 312 area code. "Back then, an area code meant a specific area – Chicago was 312, all of central Illinois was 217 ...

A large swath of west suburban Chicago will dial an extra four digits to make local phone calls when state regulators add a second area code this fall. The 630 area code was “exhausted” at the end of ...