We've long included public and non-public schools in Chicago in our Amenities & Social Infrastructure map. Today we're launching our statewide map of schools while also expanding the categories of schools included.
Our new data source is the Illinois State Board of Education's directory of registered schools. These are schools that provide a compulsory elementary or secondary education in one or more grade levels. One caveat is that not all schools that provide this education are required to register.
That's 5,626 schools – including public, non-public (parochial and other faith-based), special education (both public and non-public), charter, and other schools (like IMSA).
How Cityscape uses schools
In Chicago, this helps with our Cannabis Compliance feature, as local zoning rules require a distance of 500 feet between schools and cannabis businesses. Other jurisdictions may have similar rules.
Everywhere in Illinois this helps property developers, LIHTC applicants, and real estate brokers locate the nearest schools in their Address Snapshot lookups.
The new TOD ordinance in 2022 — summarized City Council adopted a new TOD ordinance, called “Connected Communities” on Wednesday, July 20, 2022. This is also the third and largest revision of the TOD density bonus and parking reduction rules originally adopted in 2013.
The ARO Matrix is designed to help decode the rules for Affordable Requirements Ordinance (ARO) in Chicago. We know that the rules can be confusing, especially because there is a different ruleset for each of the five ARO areas, and we want to help make the process of calculating how much affordable housing is required as straightforward as possible.
Access the ARO Matrix directly (this is for Cityscape Real Estate Pro members only), or after looking up an address in Chicago and opening its Zoning Assessment. The 45-second video below walks through how to get there.
