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Holding down the proverbial fort for the mid-west, Chicago, the Windy City, is the third largest city in the U.S. and the most populous city that doesn't sit on an ocean coast. The city, which does, however, rest on the shore of Lake Michigan, is home to a unique culture of nearly 3 million people and countless numbers of Fortune 500 companies condensed into its 234 square miles of city. Though the city is often passed over for Silicon Valley and New York in terms of startup cultures, Chicago has a expanding repertoire of companies, entrepreneurs, investors and organizations helping put the city on the startup map.

Travel comparison site Kayak just opened access to its search data. Best known for aggregating travel deals on roundtrip flights, hotels and rental cars, Kayak is now offering the public a peek under the hood. The company is laying bare its most popular destinations and searches via a new trends page. The site offers users a look at what people are searching for, where they're searching from and the most searched hotels in the company's top 50 most popular cities. With the travel industry slowly recovering from what has been a tough two years, this data can go a long way towards reinvigorating businesses.