Knowledge Base
Tutorials, guides, and videos to using Chicago Cityscape
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Researching a property
Look up flood zones in Illinois
Chicago Cityscape has three flooding-related datasets: Flood hazard areas defined by FEMA, the MWRD indundation area administered by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, and the flood susceptibility index calculated by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning for the Chicago region.
Property research, Address Snapshot, Due diligence - Last updated 05/05/2021
Address Snapshot overview video
Address Snapshot is the primary feature on Chicago Cityscape, which brings together all of the maps and data about a single address in Illinois.
Property research, Due diligence, Address Snapshot - Last updated 05/05/2021
Finding properties in bulk
Find vacant property near CTA 'L' lines
This tutorial will demonstrate how to use Property Finder in a Place Snapshot (for any of CTA's eight 'L' lines) to find vacant property, especially those that are in the "Transit-Served Location" (TSL) areas. The Transit-Served Location ordinance is commonly known as "TOD", for "Transit-Oriented Development".
Property Finder, Transit - Last updated 06/29/2021
Use Property Finder to identify specific property types in a Place
This guide will instruct you to view and download a map and spreadsheet of properties of a specific type within a given Place in Cook County.
article also has a videoProperty Finder - Last updated 05/05/2021
Generating leads
Find Proposed Projects video
If your job is find leads, then knowing what new construction and renovation projects are being proposed several months ahead of permitting can help you get ahead. Have you ever wandered about Chicago wondering how you didn't know about projects under construction? Then you need Chicago Cityscape's Proposed Projects.
Leads - Last updated 05/05/2021
All articles 22 articles
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Address Snapshot (7)
Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) (2)
Cannabis (1)
Due diligence (5)
Buying a home (1)
Leads (1)
Mapping (3)
Property Finder (5)
Research (1)
Resource (1)
Transit (1)
Zoning (4)
Use the homepage map to find a specific address video
The search bar in the top-right corner of the map can be used to search for addresses, and re-center the map.
Mapping, Address Snapshot - Last updated 05/05/2021
Download a map of historic resources in a Place
Find and downloaded historic resources in a Chicago-based Place and explore that data on your own computer using Google Earth or a GIS application.
Research - Last updated 05/05/2021
Chicago Cityscape usage guidelines
Chicago Cityscape, LLC, encourages members to use its real estate information platform frequently to find and extract information about properties in Cook County. The platform, which operates as a website, a database, and an API, is used by hundreds of people each day and we ask that members abide by these guidelines to keep the platform performing well for everyone.
About Chicago Cityscape - Last updated 05/20/2021
Find Proposed Projects video
If your job is find leads, then knowing what new construction and renovation projects are being proposed several months ahead of permitting can help you get ahead. Have you ever wandered about Chicago wondering how you didn't know about projects under construction? Then you need Chicago Cityscape's Proposed Projects.
Leads - Last updated 05/05/2021
Research a home you want to buy
This guide is for people who are actively looking at specific homes they are interested in purchasing, as part of the essential research you should do before putting an offer in.
Due diligence, Buying a home, Address Snapshot - Last updated 05/05/2021
Draw a Personal Place video
When one of our thousands of Places doesn't show you the right area of analysis, draw your own. This 1-minute video shows you how easy it is to draw a Personal Place and get information and data there.
Property research - Last updated 05/05/2021
Learn about Cook County property classes
All Cook County properties are assigned one of these property classes by the Cook County Assessor's Office. This is a list of them.
Property research - Last updated 05/05/2021
Compare Chicago Cityscape and CoStar
Many of our members use both Chicago Cityscape and CoStar to get the full depth of information they need to be successful. This guide compares and contrasts Chicago Cityscape and CoStar.
Property research - Last updated 05/05/2021
All of the service providers in this directory are interested in designing and building ADUs in Chicago, and have relevant experience. Chicago Cityscape does not endorse or qualify any person or company listed here. We've asked each interested service provider to provide examples of relevant work.
Resource, Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) - Last updated 05/05/2021
Locate properties in Chicago based on type and zoning district video
Many people use Chicago Cityscape to locate properties in specific community areas and ZIP codes that are of a given type (say, vacant or two-flat) and in a given zoning district (say, RT-4, which allows a three-flat on most lots). This video demonstrates how to use our tools to find those properties in less than 3 minutes.
Property Finder, Zoning - Last updated 05/05/2021
Finding MLS & MRED boundaries video
The Chicago-area MLS – MRED – uses numbers to refer to Chicago community areas. Here\'s how to find the connection between, for example, "8008" and its corresponding community area, "Near North Side".
Mapping - Last updated 05/05/2021
Address Snapshot overview video
Address Snapshot is the primary feature on Chicago Cityscape, which brings together all of the maps and data about a single address in Illinois.
Property research, Due diligence, Address Snapshot - Last updated 05/05/2021
Transit-served location and TOD explained
Chicago's zoning code has provisions to reduce parking requirements and increase density allowance in certain areas based on proximity to transit.
Due diligence, Property research, Zoning, Address Snapshot - Last updated 05/05/2021
Find building permits at a specific Chicago address video
Look up historical building permits, back to 2006, at a particular address in Chicago.
Property research, Address Snapshot - Last updated 05/05/2021
Chicago Cityscape's Address Snapshot is a key tool for valuing any property in Cook County prior to purchase. Specifically, you can find comps and nearby property sales, understand the value-add opportunity, identify financial & development incentives, locate nearby development, and see where amenities & community assets are.
Property research, Address Snapshot, Due diligence - Last updated 05/05/2021
Look up flood zones in Illinois
Chicago Cityscape has three flooding-related datasets: Flood hazard areas defined by FEMA, the MWRD indundation area administered by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, and the flood susceptibility index calculated by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning for the Chicago region.
Property research, Address Snapshot, Due diligence - Last updated 05/05/2021
Use Property Finder to identify specific property types in a Place
This guide will instruct you to view and download a map and spreadsheet of properties of a specific type within a given Place in Cook County.
article also has a videoProperty Finder - Last updated 05/05/2021
How our value add filters work
Chicago Cityscape has two filters that locate properties in Chicago that may be "value add" opportunities for adding more apartments: A multi-family building has enough zoning capacity for one or more units to be added, and a single-detached house is in a multi-family zoning district and can be converted, expanded, or replaced.
Property Finder, Zoning - Last updated 06/02/2021
How to build an ADU outside a Chicago pilot area
Even if your property is not within a pilot area, it may still be possible to build an ADU through the normal zoning channel. This article will also discuss "unused zoning capacity", which is the combination of zoning regulations that allows additional dwelling units to be built on a property.
Property research, Zoning, Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) - Last updated 05/05/2021
Find vacant property near CTA 'L' lines
This tutorial will demonstrate how to use Property Finder in a Place Snapshot (for any of CTA's eight 'L' lines) to find vacant property, especially those that are in the "Transit-Served Location" (TSL) areas. The Transit-Served Location ordinance is commonly known as "TOD", for "Transit-Oriented Development".
Property Finder, Transit - Last updated 06/29/2021
Find property that's potentially eligible for a cannabis business establishment
Chicago Cityscape has three ways to find property eligible for a cannabis business establishment: (1) through the typical Property Finder in an Address Snapshot, (2) through the typical Property Finder in a Place Snapshot, and (3) the Cannabis add-on in Address Snapshot. This article will demonstrate all three methods, but only method #3 will be useful for locations outside of the City of Chicago.
Property Finder, Cannabis - Last updated 07/10/2021
Exporting Cityscape data to use in a GIS application
Nearly all of the maps on Chicago Cityscape can be downloaded and exported for use in a GIS application. Common GIS applications are QGIS and ArcGIS, both of which support the GIS files that can be downloaded any time you see the "GIS" and "GIS map" buttons.
Mapping - Last updated 07/15/2021