Plus, building permits across all of Cook County Chicago Cityscape was busy in Q2, too. I continued having hourlong coffee conversations with members. (Schedule your chat using the booking link in My Account & Profile .) The big changes implemented in the second quarter of 2025 include showing m...

Read the post

The Chicago City Council adopted O2025-0015577  — introduced by 1st Ward Alderperson La Spata — today that eliminates parking mandates for a lot more properties than ever before. The ordinance augments the Connected Communities and changes the rules for development in transit-served locations. To...

Read the post

The City of Chicago, CTA, and Chicago Public Schools are offering vacant lots for sale. Watch for the multiple deadlines happening this spring and summer. Chicago Cityscape has integrated these properties to make it easy to for members to identify the lots that fit their development parameters. ...

Read the post

While the cost of everything else goes up, Chicago Cityscape holds the line and improves the product Every quarter I write these articles for two reasons: to advise Chicago Cityscape members of new and updated features, and to say that sometimes products can improve without the price going up. Ch...

Read the post

The Climate Action Museum opened in 2023, and it’s already become a vibrant hub for sustainability-minded Chicagoans. As a proud Chicagoan, one of my favorite vantage points is the Jackson Boulevard bridge over the Chicago River. It’s a perfect spot to appreciate the physical manifestations of ou...

Read the post

Recognizing a housing shortage across Illinois, state legislators have introduced several bills in the General Assembly in their 2025 session to permit more homes to be built, including in municipalities that severely limit residential development by regulatory means. “If we are going to build o...

Read the post

Chicago Cityscape expands beyond Cook County for the first time in our history in 2024 Q4 We added property data for two additional counties in Chicagoland in November and December, respectively: Lake County, Indiana (we wrote a blog post explaining why we chose to expand to Lake County, Indiana...

Read the post

Chicago Cityscape members know that we have the only map and details of proposed zoning changes, updated each month . This month we’re doing something a little extra and previewing municipal code amendments that are related to zoning, land use, and transportation. Would any of these proposed ord...

Read the post

What property will you find in Lake County, Indiana? For the first time in our 10-year history, Chicago Cityscape has parcel and zoning data for an area outside of Cook County. We selected Lake County, Indiana — home to Dyer, Munster, Gary, Hammond, and Whiting— as our first expansion step. Star...

Read the post

Larger lots, to be sold at market rate, have a later deadline The next round of city-owned vacant lots for sale ends this week, on Friday, November 15. The following round ends on January 3. Use Chicago Cityscape to find the best lots to apply for. The Nov. 15th round includes 331 properties ava...

Read the post