Time to crack open your "to-do" list, Chicago dwellers, because the Reader has got a fresh influx of sights and stories you don't want to miss while you're here. The annual Best of Chicago list returns for another year, and it's filled to the brim with all the finest experiences the city has to offer.

The Chicago Reader allows their readers to write in votes for each of their many best-of categories. The list is thorough and covers shopping, dining, nightlife, music, art, literature, sports, and more. There are even fringe categories like "best dog walker" and "best dentist", because hey, why not? Over in the critics' picks, it gets even more specific: "best place to buy a vintage scary clown jar", "best bar that's 15 feet wide", "best urinal". The critics' blurbs on the many quirks of the Windy City are delightful; after all, I'll probably never get to experience the greatest urinal in Chicago firsthand.

Many of the Best Of categories boast fairly obvious winners. Kuma's Corner still has the best burgers in the city, and Reckless is still the best place to pick up the latest indie record release. The top "restaurant with a view" is, of course, the one that lies atop the John Hancock Tower: the Signature Room at the 95th (floor, that is). But Chicago and its citizens' favorites are always evolving, and the Reader's list has some entries I wasn't expecting. Logan Square seems to be a hit with the kids these days, coming in ahead of the rest of the city as best overall neighborhood. I was under the impression that Logan Square was an "up and coming" sort of place, but Reader voters seem to think it's already come. I was also pleased to see that I'm not the only one who thinks Hyde Park needs a damn El stop. Sometimes the 55 bus's owl service just doesn't cut it, and it's time enough that Chicago be friendlier to its neighborhoods south of the loop. 

Another neat surprise was the number of blogging categories that made the enormous list. There's even a "best person to follow on Twitter" category. Virtual spaces mix seamlessly with physical ones in the Reader's Best Of '11. While the internet is technically without location, area-specific bloggers are able to shape the cultural landscape of a city as much as a small business owner or local band. The inclusion of websites and blogs in the list dispels the myth that the internet is taking us all away from the activity of the "real" world. The web and the city have a symbiotic relationship; urban dwellers use the internet to inform their activity out there in the world, not to replace it. Sure, we're a lot more plugged in than we used to be, but let's not forget that technology has the capability to enhance our unplugged time. After all, without the internet, we'd never know which photo booth most Chicagoans prefer to make out in. And that there is some valuable data.