Like Chicago?

never been there...i am looking for a recreational lake, maybe a little more on the small city size

Traverse City, MI

I know someone who works in an office overlooking the beautiful shores of Lake Bemidji, Minnesota

You should check out coeur d alene, ID - absolutely beautiful

Or maybe Madsion, WI.
Notice newly built Frank Llyod Wright convention center in foreground.

Or how about Rotorua, NZ if you're thinking outside the US:



or maybe Queenstown, NZ:

or how about Montreal... St Laurence River and Lake St. Louis

Austin.

Lake Austin, Lake Travis, Lake LBJ, Links Lake, Lake Buchanan, Town Lake (only one you can't take a power boat on).

how about Geneva? (if you want to try Europe)

seattle, wa

seattle has a really large lake, tho a bit too salty to call 'brackish'.

salt lake UT?

tahoe? maybe not urban enough.

sacramento, though the delta is not actually a lake.