Knowledge Base
Tutorials, guides, and videos to using Chicago Cityscape
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Researching a property
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. Look up an address now.
Property research, Due diligence, 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 12/13/2021
Finding properties in bulk
Understanding parcel & property identification
This article will explain how properties in Cook County are uniquely identified using PINs and how we source and manage the PINs that appear in Property Finder and Address Snapshot reports.
Property Finder
Last updated 04/06/2022
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, Vacant properties
Last updated 11/10/2021
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
Get notified when a company gets a new building permit
Contractor Profiles can notify you via email when a company you've "faved" receives a building permit in Chicago. Companies include specific architects, general contractors, expeditors, and subcontractors. Each company you fave will be checked daily and you will receive an email if a permit their name is on is issued the previous day.
Notifications, Leads
Last updated 12/28/2021
All articles 49 articles
Data Equity Cohort member success story - Christa Hunt
Christa Hunt is a housing resource specialist at the Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation (GAGDC) where her task is to support homeowners and potential homeowners in renovating, updating, or purchasing a home. The GAGDC has five pillars of their vision: housing and development, economic development, senior services, education, health and wellness, and community engagement. Christa’s work, she said, is primarily focused on providing resources to residents who own or wish to purchase a home as a means toward meeting GAGDC’s goal of stabilizing the neighborhood.
Data Equity Cohort
Last updated 05/18/2022
Data Equity Cohort member success story - Felicia Slaton-Young
For Felicia Slaton-Young, executive director and co-founder of the Greater Englewood Chamber of Commerce, neighborhood development means more than looking at the future. She has been examining the neighborhood’s past and present to better understand how disinvestment occurs. And, using Chicago Cityscape as a tool, she is more equipped than ever to make the case for equity.
Data Equity Cohort
Last updated 05/18/2022
Data Equity Cohort member success story - Carlos Robles-Shanahan
Facing a city where big-name developers are planning swaths of land, Duo Development stands as a force for change. Led by Carlos Robles-Shanahan and his brother, Rafael Robles, Duo works with community-based organizations that are looking to bring changes to their neighborhoods through consulting on design projects, real estate development, and education, with an explicit focus on five core values: Ethics, culture, technology, economics, and ecology.
Data Equity Cohort
Last updated 05/18/2022
Data Equity Cohort member success story - Cassandra Sneed
By the time real estate agent Cassandra Sneed – who is best known to her clients and peers as Ms. Cass – arrives into the office every morning, she is already knee-deep in research.
Data Equity Cohort
Last updated 05/18/2022
Finding property sales nearby and anywhere in Cook County
Every quarter, Chicago Cityscape adds tens of thousands of property sale records for all property types in Cook County. It's easy to count and summarize the number of property transactions in any given municipality, Chicago community area, personally-drawn place, or near a specific address.
Property research, Address Snapshot, Place Snapshot
Last updated 05/09/2022
Understanding parcel & property identification
This article will explain how properties in Cook County are uniquely identified using PINs and how we source and manage the PINs that appear in Property Finder and Address Snapshot reports.
Property Finder
Last updated 04/06/2022
Understanding the features in Businesses Snapshot
The Businesses Snapshot has four features to learn about businesses in specific areas of Chicago: (1) New business licenses issued since a specific time, (2) business types compared to similar places, (3) all business licenses, and (4) all businesses regardless of type and number of licenses.
Site Selector
Last updated 03/24/2022
Use Property Finder to identify specific properties 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. Filters include: Chicago-owned property, proximity to transit, and tax-exempt properties.
article also has a video
Property Finder, Taxes, Proposed Projects
Last updated 03/12/2022
Finding properties available through the Cook County Land Bank Authority
This Knowledge Base article gives a brief overview of the Cook County Land Bank Authority, describes their involvement in the disposition of certain properties, and demonstrates how to use Chicago Cityscape to find properties that can be acquired.
Property Finder, Property research, Taxes
Last updated 03/12/2022
History of ADU zoning changes since 2021
Chicago Cityscape is attempting to track zoning changes for ADUs, especially backyard houses. (This article requires a Cityscape Real Estate Pro membership.)
Property research, Zoning
Last updated 03/09/2022
What color coding means in the Property Finder map
Chicago Cityscape's Property Finder maps shows properties in different colors based on their property classification.
Property Finder
Last updated 03/09/2022
Determine historic status of a building in Chicago
Chicago Cityscape incorporates three maps that help researchers identify the historic status of a building in Chicago. (1) City Council-designated landmarks and landmark districts, (2) Chicago Historic Resources Survey buildings, and (3) National Register of Historic Places locations.
Due diligence, Buying a home, Address Snapshot, Historic districts & buildings
Last updated 03/08/2022
Research the history of a property
Being connected to so many data sources, Chicago Cityscape is a good place to learn the history of a Chicago property. The data is best if you're looking to learn about changes since the early 2000s, but we have pointers to older data as well.
Property research, Zoning, Environmental Snapshot, Historic districts & buildings
Last updated 03/08/2022
Sharing select Snapshot reports with others
Chicago Cityscape created ShareLinks based on feedback from Data Equity Cohort (2021-2022) members who wanted the option to share our exclusive content with their colleagues and constituents who are not members.
Property research
Last updated 03/07/2022
Researching two and three-flats
Chicago Cityscape has a database of every two and three-flat in Chicago and Cook County (we actually can show you everything with 2-6 units). These "flat" houses are classified as residential property in the Cook County property tax classification system. Buildings with seven or more units are classified as commercial property and are assessed differently.
Property Finder
Last updated 03/07/2022
How to find potential financial & development incentives for a property or place
Chicago Cityscape has assembled the single largest database of financial & development incentives in Illinois. At the time of publication we have 32 incentives that are based on geography (the location of a business or property). Incentives Checker is our exclusive tool to determine if an Address or a Place is potentially eligible for these incentives.
Property research, Address Snapshot, Place Snapshot
Last updated 03/02/2022
How to share content with team members
Chicago Cityscape provides teams (people associated with the same company or other organization) some useful features for sharing information amongst members: sharing Lists and Personal Places. Cityscape users can be part of the same team when they have multiple memberships, one membership per team member.
Teams, Notifications
Last updated 02/23/2022
Find homeownership assistance programs
Chicago Cityscape's determines automatically if any Address Snapshot is potentially eligible for any of 32 (at time of publication) financial and development incentives due to geography. Incentives Checker does not include information about programs for helping people buy a house. This article points to resources to find assistance to become a homeowner.
Property research, Resource
Last updated 02/20/2022
Efficiently find and prospect Scavenger Sale properties
Chicago Cityscape has created a Scavenger Sale Portal to help anyone and everyone find properties that are going to be auctioned in the sale. The Portal's map and table — free for everyone to use — show 31,209 properties that have three or more years of unpaid taxes and they are easy to discover using the Portal’s search and filter features.
Property Finder, Taxes
Last updated 02/07/2022
Find potentially vacant properties
Chicago Cityscape integrates various datasets that help members assess the likelihood that a property is vacant. Members may want to know if a property is vacant so they can target it to reduce blight in an area, redevelop it, or point new businesses to its location for potential occupation.
Property research, Property Finder, Vacant properties
Last updated 01/18/2022
How to read zoning assessments
Chicago Cityscape's Address Snapshot reports offer automatically-generated zoning assessments for properties **in Chicago**. Zoning assessments compile all zoning rules and land use policies
Address Snapshot, Zoning
Last updated 12/30/2021
Find Chicago building permits with a unique scope
Sometimes it's useful to see what is being built in Chicago, or who's involved in certain kinds of projects. For example, you may be looking for the owners of digital billboards or where cellular antennas are installed. Building Permits Browser makes it easy to keyword search hundreds of thousands of projects in Chicago going back to 2006.
Research, Building permits
Last updated 12/28/2021
Find "value add" opportunities in Property Finder
Chicago Cityscape has three unique 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 12/28/2021
Get notified when a company gets a new building permit
Contractor Profiles can notify you via email when a company you've "faved" receives a building permit in Chicago. Companies include specific architects, general contractors, expeditors, and subcontractors. Each company you fave will be checked daily and you will receive an email if a permit their name is on is issued the previous day.
Notifications, Leads
Last updated 12/28/2021
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, Site Selector
Last updated 12/23/2021
Determining how many people live near a train station
This Knowledge Base article answers the question, "Is there a way to find out how many people live within 1/4 mile of a CTA or Metra station using Cityscape?"
Mapping, Resource
Last updated 12/20/2021
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 12/13/2021
Use Property Finder to send notice letters
Many zoning and building code regulations require that property owners provide notice to nearby property owners. In the case of a zoning change, the applicant must send a letter to all property owners within 250 feet.
Zoning, Property research, Property Finder
Last updated 11/23/2021
Find properties that are in Cook County's annual tax sale
The Cook County Treasurer is in charge of collecting properties taxes from all owners of taxable properties. When owners don't pay their property taxes, the taxes are "sold" in the annual tax sale, nine months after the second installment is due. (This is separate from the scavenger sale, which is for properties that have three or more years of unpaid taxes.) Chicago Cityscape incorporates the treasurer's list of properties and makes it easy to find these properties.
Resource, Property research, Property Finder, Taxes
Last updated 11/16/2021
How to build more housing with less parking
Building new housing with car parking tends to increase construction costs, increase rental or ownership costs, and adds to local traffic congestion. Yet the City of Chicago's zoning code generally requires one car parking space per new dwelling unit. Chicago Cityscape is aware of six strategies to build less parking.
Resource, Zoning
Last updated 11/15/2021
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, Vacant properties
Last updated 11/10/2021
How to export Cityscape data to a spreadsheet
Cityscape members benefit from being able to download nearly all of our data with the click of a button. Every map and table can be exported to a format usable in spreadsheets and a format usable in map making and GIS software (that would be CSV, or comma-separated values). This tutorial will guide users to get data from Chicago Cityscape into a spreadsheet program.
Resource, Property research, Exporting data
Last updated 11/03/2021
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, Exporting data
Last updated 07/15/2021
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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. Draw your Personal Place.
Property research
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, Vacant properties
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
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
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, Transit
Last updated 05/05/2021
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
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. Look up an address now.
Property research, Due diligence, Address Snapshot
Last updated 05/05/2021
Download a map of historic resources in a Place
Find and download historic resources in a Chicago-based Place and explore that data on your own computer using Google Earth or a GIS application.
Research, Exporting data
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