I don't know about the other three cities, but you can concealed carry in Chicago and that has been the case for almost three years now.
-Take a 16 hour course. There are only a handful of companies that can offer the course and they're fully booked year-round
-Pay $150, one of the highest CCW permit fees in the nation
-Hope that you aren't one of the 800 applicants/year that are inexplicably denied (http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-07-04/news/ct-concea...)
So yes, you can technically get a CCW in Illinois. It's also obvious that the state has thrown as many roadblocks as they legally could in the way, ironically bolstering the NRA's argument that any "common sense" requirements around gun ownership will be used as de facto restrictions