I think I may have jumped the conclusion gun on this one.  I did a brief check online and couldn’t find another Chicago president.  As you alluded to, you could argue Lincoln was from Illinois, (though he was born in Kentucky), but not as much case for Chicago.  Thanks for pointing that out.  However, I think we can be fairly certain Obama is the first Hawaiian-born president.  I’d also say it’s a pretty safe bet he’s the first president who grew up in Indonesia as well.  Here’s some more fun presidential-first food for thought.  Was this the first election in which both candidates (if not one of them) were born outside of the continental United States?  Any history buffs out there?
@Jiang

The tickets were free. But you had to sign up for one on Obama’s website, and they sold out quickly. Tickets were sent via e-mail and would come with the holder’s on it. To get in to the event, an ID had to be presented (to prevent scalping), and each person with a ticket could bring one guest. I got in as somebody’s guest.

@Tourist

Chicago is an extremely segregated city. There are areas which are very high in crime and areas which are very low in crime. There are areas which are nearly 100% black, and areas which are nearly 100% white, or Mexican, or Polish, or Russian, or Indian, or Chinese, for that matter. Chicago is like Detroit in the sense that they are both industrial cities, which since the 50’s have seen a good portion of their jobs go overseas, thus leaving a hole of poverty (and thus crime) behind. The difference is that Chicago has seen widespread gentrification of many of its neighborhoods over the past few decades. Other Rust Belt cities (especially Detroit) have not been so fortunate.

The neighborhood I live in is called Wicker Park. Fifteen years ago, Wicker Park was where you would go to buy crack or pick up a cheap hooker off the street. Now Wicker Park is where you go to eat out at overpriced sushi restaurants and buy designer brand baby strollers. There are still many areas of Chicago which you could describe as “ghetto” but also many others which are more desirable places to live.