Cityscape’s Top 12 stories of 2020

The theme of 🏘 accessory dwelling units dominated the year. I’m looking forward to seeing what backyard house designs are built, how many vacant lots are developed with backyard houses, and how many basement units are upgraded or “legalized”.

January 2020

Let’s keep ADUs in the news

We kept track of all the press about accessory dwelling units in Chicago. And we helped out journalists with quotes and data. The mission to “keep ADUs in the news” will continue through 2021.

February 2020

The one Chicago guidebook you need to read this year

I kept riding the bus to work in order to keep reading “The Chicago Neighborhood Guidebook”, edited by Martha Bayne, even if the roads were clear of snow and I could have biked to work.

I love reading about places and locations in Chicago that I know. I like reading about the businesses I never got to patronize before they closed down, and I look forward to spontaneously visiting the blocks and parks I haven’t seen.

The relevant theme, though, and why I’m sharing my enthusiasm for the Guidebook, is how every story includes some bit about real estate. Little of the stories within the articles are about real estate, but the collection of references to houses, buildings, building styles, blocks, corners, businesses, and institutions make it difficult to not think about who contributes to how a neighborhood changes and develops.

March 2020

New data: How many Airbnbs are in your neighborhood

Using data from a third-party Airbnb tracking service, we added a map of Airbnbs to our Place Snapshot. Look up a community area or ward and see approximately the quantity of short-term and vacation rental housing.

However, the blog post was popular but the functionality hasn’t been used much, so we haven’t updated or improved it.

P.S. March was also our sixth birthday. That blog post wasn’t that popular.

April 2020

Prefab “starter home” is under construction, destined for a vacant lot in Back of the Yards

Kinexx Modular Construction started building a modular and prefabricated house at their warehouse near the border of Chicago. We followed that story through to its assembly on-site, and then later a tour.

May 2020

Chicago’s ADU ordinance was introduced — see what you could build

We published an FAQ explaining what kinds and sizes and locations of interior ADUs and coach houses (what this blog now call backyard houses).

I guess the blog took a vacation in June so December gets two posts.

July 2020

Chicago’s ADU ordinance gets a hearing date

In this blog post, we analyzed what properties the ADU ordinance would and wouldn’t allow to have an interior ADU or backyard house. Now that the ordinance has been adopted (in December), all of that analysis is moot.

August 2020

The modular “starter house” in Back of the Yards was assembled

Like I said in April, we follow the progress of this prefabricated and modular house. The Resurrection Project (TRP) is the buyer of the house designed and built by Kinexx Modular Construction.

The house has a living room, and a combined kitchen+dining room. It has three bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms, plus a backyard and a two-car parking pad.

September 2020

Commentary: “My parents live with me and my children, and I want an ADU, but the RS-2 exclusion prevents me”

In the ADU ordinance proposed in May, property owners in RS-1 and RS-2 zoning districts would have to jump through additional and costly hoops to be able to build an interior ADU or backyard house. This would have the opposite intention of the policy to allow people to build an extra unit in their own home, and in Carmin’s case it was necessary because her parents lived at home and the family needed more space.

Thankfully, the adopted ordinance got rid of these hoops for property owners in RS-2. As for RS-1, no ADUs are allowed, and there are no exceptions.

October 2020

Is COVID-19 affecting Chicago building permits? 😟

The short answer of COVID-19’s impact on building permits, based purely on the rate of building permits issued, is it’s hard to tell. That’s because the rate of issuing building permits for new construction in Chicago declined by 1.5 percent from 2017 to 2018, by 10.4 percent from 2018 to 2019, and we don’t have enough information to know if would have continued through 2020. (So far, though, the decline is 44.7 percent from 2019 to 2020.)

November 2020

Chicago readies two North Lawndale sites for sale and redevelopment

Chicago’s planning department continues to roll out new Requests For Proposals for redeveloping city-owned land in the INVEST South/West areas. On Monday, City Hall planners dropped four new RFPs for lots with a mixture of city-owned and private property in New City, Bronzeville, South Chicago, and North Lawndale.

December 2020

Take a tour: Chicago’s first modular house is move-in ready

“Josh and Paul opened the tour by describing how they believe the modular house doesn’t look like a modular house. I agree — it’s next to impossible to see clues that the house was built from eight pieces assembled at an offsite warehouse near the southwest border of Chicago.”

Chicago will allow ADUs starting in May — Read our new FAQ

The ADU ordinance was adopted on December 16, 2020, and the first building permit applications for an interior unit or backyard house can be submitted on May 1, 2021. Since that’s a Saturday, review and issuance may have to wait until May 3.

Cityscape’s Top 12 stories of 2020 was originally published in Chicago Cityscape on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.