The effects of the World’s Columbian Exposition were both immediate and far-reaching. The fair grounds affectionately nicknamed “The White City” laid the groundwork for what soon became known as the City Beautiful movement. Inspired by the Neoclassical harmony of the Exposition’s main buildings set against the backdrop of Olmsted’s manicured parks and waterways architects like Burnham would soon set out to transform what they saw as dirty unsightly industrial cities into elegant and orderly successors to the White City. The movement gained traction not only in Chicago but across the entire United States from San Francisco in the west to Washington D.C. in the east. It was a design philosophy which captured the imagination of a generation of architects and urban planners – one which long outlasted the temporary structures of the Exposition that proved its first—and most successful—example.[17