Abundant Housing Illinois - Housing Articles

The city’s Department of Planning and Development wants to change zoning on a stretch of Broadway to bring more housing and density to the area, but neighbors are divided.

The scariest monsters are the ones you never fully see, so shine a light

Chicago’s zoning rules, combined with substantial variation in market demand for new construction, have created a tale of three cities in terms of housing construction—growth in the downtown, limited access to high-opportunity neighborhoods, and underinvestment in low-income communities.

The vacancy rate in 2023 across the nation’s 50 largest metros was 7.37%, up slightly from 7.22% in 2022.

What 3 new books reveal about where the housing movement goes next.

Last winter, researchers at the University of Chicago distributed a survey that asked residents to define their neighborhood boundaries. The survey got more than 5,500 responses and identified more than 100 unique neighborhoods.

And where should the BLM sell off land generally?

Chicago Cityscape is a real estate information service for residents, developers, architects, and contractors.

By my calculation, 37% of parcels within a half mile of an 'L' stop are zoned for single-family housing. That's pretty embarrassing, but some lines are much worse than others. The O'Hare Branch of the Blue Line and the Brown Line are particularly bad.

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The president elect’s housing agenda was light on specifics during the campaign, but his former housing czar’s plans are outlined in Project 2025.

The plan to bring 52 apartments to Sheridan Road would have needed a zoning change. Ald. Maria Hadden turned down the proposal after neighbors balked at its density and lack of parking.

If asked, Evanston residents will likely support affordable housing and combating climate change in the abstract, but propose new infill housing with no parking and ideological consistency completely disappears.

Naperville-based homebuilder Lakewest Custom Homes is marketing the four houses as a subdivision called “The West End.”

“I truly believe in community input,” Ald. Walter Burnett (27th Ward) said. “I want the people to have a voice. I don’t know every nook and cranny of every neighborhood. And when I say the people, I mean the alderman.”

As the cost of living rises, innovative strategies to reduce costs and boost incomes are crucial.

In large swaths of Illinois’ towns and cities, exclusionary zoning laws block the construction of affordable multifamily housing.

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For most Americans, housing is their largest regular expense, but an acute housing shortage of an estimated 4 million to 7 million homes and resulting skyrocketing rents and home prices mean millions more households are struggling to afford housing than in the recent past. Policymakers at all levels are looking at ways to help expand the supply.

Every proposed project devolves into an argument about parking even a ZBA board member is suggesting maybe the parking reduction the applicant is asking for is too much — Steven Housing Abundance (@stevevance)

After a classic Rogers Park courtyard building was sold this year, tenants were given rent hikes that even the new landlord admitted were "steep." It's a textbook example of how Chicago has landed in a housing affordability crisis, experts say.

Preserving historic buildings and existing affordable housing stock has the potential to ease America’s dire affordable housing crisis and promote equity, inclusion, and justice.

Montreal is the latest city to eliminate mandatory parking minimums, and the largest North American city to have done so.