The time is now

Sean Hemenway, architectural designer at GFT and primary organizer of the design competition, noted that the “prompt is loosely based on the legislation introduced in city council,” but that the true inspiration is to solve “for the missing middle that we see so often when we walk our streets.”

For competition sponsor Steven Vance, founder and CEO of Chicago Cityscape, the contest’s timing is perfect. He noted that while Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s BUILD proposal would legalize single stair, “that’s napping for the summer.”

At the local level, there’s a city hall ordinance that would legalize single stair. “We’re probably not going to see movement on that here until after the election in February,” Vance noted, adding that “this competition is a useful way to spend our time [and] develop some excitement” in the meantime.

Seeking diverse perspectives

The decision to encourage teams of four to enter is a deliberate one. As organizers pointed out at the launch event, they’re hoping to see entrants think outside the box.

“As an architect, I love to see people pushing the rules… maybe breaking the rules if they can explain why,” Hemenway told kickoff attendees, encouraging them to include quality of life information and neighborhood narratives alongside their specs. “Any extra information that can give them a leg up.”

For Emily Conner, an interior architect at Corgan Architecture, getting outside the typical “mindset of architects” and working alongside a diverse group of professionals was an exciting prospect. “General architects often think they can do it all themselves. But then you don’t get the diversity of design you’re looking for,” she said.

Contest details

Nowhere but Chicago

None of this would be possible without our sponsors and a foundational grant from The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation. But we’re also lucky to have in-kind support from organizations and companies sharing their spaces with CNU Chicago.

For a design competition so centered on the built environment, it only makes sense to meet in iconic spaces that celebrate Chicago’s unique architectural heritage. From the kickoff at GFT’s headquarters on the 37th floor of the Prudential Building to jury deliberations at the Chicago Architecture Center to the awards ceremony at University of Chicago’s Urbanism Lab, we’re incredibly thankful for these donated spaces.

More to come

Stay tuned for more about the process of reimagining Chicago’s residential building typologies in the coming weeks. And if you have any questions about the competition, please get in touch with us at illinois@cnu.org.

Learn more & register

Do you have strong opinions on tote bags? Maybe you just want to rep CNU Chicago with pride. Well, we’ve got a contest for you!

Design competitions are a celebrated part of the development and architectural industries as well as the new urbanist community. That’s why we’re excited to host one to inspire CNU Chicago’s first swag order (T-shirts, event banners, coozies, etc.). The competition is open to amateurs and professionals alike, and there’s no membership requirement. All we want to see from entrants is a passion for Chicago and new urbanism!

Here are the details:

• Submit your design vector as a file of 100 MB or smaller by midnight on Friday, May 1. We will reach out for a higher-resolution version of the file if you are selected as the winner.

• Please do not include your name or any other personally identifiable information on your file, as the judging process will be blind.

• The winning designer will transfer all IP rights (copyright and design or trademark rights) to CNU Chicago.

• CNU Chicago will only use the one winning design chosen by the judges panel. We will not use or modify rejected entries without explicit permission from the designer. Non-winning submissions remain the property of the designer.

Submit your design

If you’re looking for design inspiration, this document includes our logo, as well as design specs from our parent organization. Our judge’s panel — including CNU members Gary Scott, Olga Handal and Thomas Dietz — is looking forward to seeing your work!

And as we noted in our last post, we’re getting together to formally kick off the competition at Begyle Brewing tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. Come join us for this creative happy hour!

Last week, Illinois lawmakers passed a bill that fills the Regional Transportation Authority’s $202 million budget gap, avoiding massive job and service cuts to the Chicago Transit Authority, Pace and Metra. It also:

• Diverts an additional $200 million to public transit through interest on Illinois’ road fund

• Replaces RTA with the new Northern Illinois Transit Authority, which will have expanded power to unify a disjointed system of fares, service standards and schedules

• Prohibits municipalities from requiring car parking for residential and commercial uses in areas served by transit

Hats off to state representatives Eva-Dina Delgado and Kam Buckner, who sponsored the bill and worked tirelessly to get their fellow lawmakers to understand the importance of transit to our communities! Also, we want to thank our friends at Abundant Housing Illinois, Strong Towns Chicago, Better Streets Chicago, Sierra Club Chicago, and all groups and people who worked to get this legislation passed.

Making Lemonade From New ADU Law

As many new urbanists know, the legalization of accessory dwelling units, also known as coach houses and granny flats, did not go as hoped by many who had been agitating for it. The main problems with the ordinance, which passed 46-0 earlier this fall, are:

• Alderpersons have expanded powers to block ADU construction: capping the number of new units on each block, limiting construction to owner-occupied properties, or even requiring applicants to jump through additional hoops with the city’s planning department.

• All ADU contractors must be enrolled in a federally recognized labor apprenticeship program. According to the nonprofit watchdog Better Government Association, zero Chicago-based residential contractors are currently enrolled in a qualified apprenticeship program, likely because the city doesn’t require it for any other type of housing construction. This means the new legislation will actually restrict ADUs more than they are today, because it will apply to projects in the pilot zones where such requirements do not yet exist.

But in the spirit of not letting perfect be the enemy of good, here are two ways to improve the implementation of the new ADU legislation across Chicago:

1. Ready? File your permit now!

If you want to build a coach house in a pilot area, submit your application now, before new labor requirements take effect on April 1, 2026.

If you’re not sure where your property lies, starting the city’s application process will tell you if its eligible. You can also get in touch with one of the professionals on Chicago Cityscape’s list of providers with experience and/or interest in designing and building ADUs in Chicago.

2. Contact your alderperson

There’s still time to encourage more areas to opt into ADUs! Call your alderperson and engage them in conversation about gentle density and vibrant neighborhoods. For more information, check out Abundant Housing Illinois’ frequently asked questions about ADUs in Chicago.

Plus: An APA-IL State Conference Round-Up

As mentioned in our last newsletter, CNU Chicago participated in the American Planning Association’s annual conference again this year, putting together a panel, several walking tours and a happy hour. It was an energizing affair on both sides, with one village planner telling us that our panel “was probably the most mentally helpful for me in the whole conference to know real people are actually pushing us in the right direction.”

Thanks to the APA and everyone who participated! We look forward to collaborating again soon.

Now, Let’s Get Together for Better Streets in 2026!

We’re heading to Better Streets Chicago’s 3rd annual fundraiser this Wednesday, November 5, and we would love to see you there! What better way to ramp up to the holiday season than an evening of community where we can share wins and losses and discuss navigating and responding to the challenges ahead?

Get your tickets

Joe Schwieterman, DePaul professor and director of the institute, referred to the event as a kind of homecoming in that it represented just what Chicago’s former director of zoning, Harry Chaddick, had in mind when founding the forum bearing his name. “That’s exactly why he wanted to start the institute,” Schwieterman told attendees. “He would be really excited.”

‘Tough Decisions’ Ahead

Schwieterman kicked off the evening on an optimistic note, reflecting on the growing interest in novel solutions to our housing crisis from everyday Chicagoans. “Now we have groups that are teaching me about zoning,” he said, generating “thoughtful ways to come up with good development.”

For Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois’ fifth district, the outlook on the national front was less rosy. As a senior member of the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, he’s concerned that President Donald Trump’s proposed cuts to federal housing initiatives will make new projects and improvements even more difficult than before.

“You're going to have fewer resources … More and more people will become homeless,” he told Housing-a-Thon attendees. “We’re going to have to make really tough decisions, and you're the best and brightest.”

Recognizing that it’s going to take more than a single event to make real progress on these issues, Schwieterman suggested trademarking the “housing-a-thon” terminology and committing to more events dedicated to “citizens that really study zoning and want to make their community better.”

Homegrown Housing Solutions

CNU Chicago, Strong Towns Chicago, Parking Reform Network, and Abundant Housing Illinois designed the Housing-a-Thon to foster small-group discussions examining root causes and finding solutions to the city’s housing issues. But the event also championed the elements that make Chicago an affordable bulwark against issues that plague cities across the country, such as our stock of missing-middle housing types.

Chicagoans are rightfully proud of the architectural heritage of their city, including the role 2-, 3- and 4-flats played in providing affordable, sustainable housing options for immigrants and the working class in the early days of its expansion. While these buildings are visible in every neighborhood of the city, many of them have fallen victim to single-family home conversions. Others have seen their basement units become illegal due to new zoning rules.

“We made an architectural icon of our city illegal in the vast majority of its areas,” said Chloe Groome, a founding board member of Strong Towns Chicago. Her organization partnered with others organizing the Housing-a-Thon to draft an ordinance to allow property owners across all residential zones to construct homes in this classic, sustainable style by right, without having to get an exemption or upzone the entire surrounding district.

Another housing type that historically offered gentle density across Chicago is known as the accessory dwelling unit, often seen in coach houses or atop garages. Though similarly sidelined by mid-century zoning changes, pending legislation may soon change that. Despite passing out of subcommittee in a 13-to-7 vote, Chicago’s City Council delayed a vote on extending the city’s pilot making it legal to build ADUs — also known as granny flats and cottages — across the city until later this fall. Currently, it’s only legal to build this type of housing in five select areas across the city.

Garnering Support Across the Board

Group discussions also focused on how barriers to this type of housing turn off developers who would otherwise be excited about infill and small-scale projects. Some participants from the architecture and development communities estimated that zoning variances can take six months to a year to resolve, and cost tens of thousands of dollars.

CNU Chicago co-chair Gary Scott noted that the city can make it easier for developers and builders to navigate the permitting process by releasing a set of preapproved housing plans, like South Bend, Indiana did recently. “It doesn’t have to be cookie-cutter, either,” he added.

Participants also brainstormed ways to win over neighbors, other groups, and elected officials who may be concerned about adding density to certain neighborhoods. Groome noted the wide variety of suggestions when it came to looking for like-minded organizations: One participant suggested reaching out to the Libertarian Party and another suggested the Democratic Socialist Party. “That's the beauty of housing: It crosses political lines,” she said.

Scott also underlined the need to get more ordinary Chicagoans involved, using both events like the Housing-a-Thon and time-tested activations like temporary empty lot takeovers and block parties. “Tactical urbanism has been around for centuries,” he said. “We have all these great organizations” that can organize “events to bring the community on board.”

Examining Less Common Intersections

Another surprising cross section investigated during the event was the relationship between free parking and high housing costs. Not only do parking minimums increase the cost of creating new housing, but also cars take up valuable space that could house people.

“Two parking spaces is the size of a studio apartment,” said Jane Wilberding, parking reform advocate and senior mobility manager at civil engineering firm HNTB. “Housing for cars — what are we doing here?”

Some of the solutions proposed by participants included increasing mixed-use commercial developments to encourage more shared parking spots, land value per acre visualizations that demonstrate the true cost of parking, reevaluating the difference between commercial and residential land value, removing built-in subsidies for big box stores, and suggesting parking maximums for new developments.

Wilberding noted that many of these solutions could be incredible economic drivers for the city, if only citizens and activists can help officials and business owners see the potential. “Why are there parking lots that are empty that are right on the river?” she asked. “Those are prime pieces of real estate.”

New Structures That Support Traditional Living

But the conversation didn’t end with structures that are holding Chicago back. One breakout explored the many new housing types that can not only bring more affordable housing onto the market, but also improve connectivity and community.

For example, simply reducing minimum lot requirements can allow for more integrated communities like pocket neighborhoods to develop. These tend to be smaller homes that face each other and share green space, creating a greater sense of neighborhood.

“How do we become less isolated and more community oriented?” asked Olga Handal, an urban designer with Chicago architectural firm YARD & Company. “By removing some of these laws we can have more lively cities… You can really allow for more exciting types to occur.”

Lesser known structures, often called single-stair buildings, are also illegal to build in Chicago thanks to building code restrictions that reflect an earlier era of fire safety. But activists say allowing developers to build three- to five-story residential structures with only one stairwell would lower the overall footprint, allowing for more infill construction at lower costs.

Standing Up for Housing Solutions

Community connection also turned out to be a potential solution in and of itself. Groome noted that she’s forged friendships and made allies by simply staying involved in the development proposals in her own neighborhood. “Sign up for your ward newsletter. Go to zoning meetings,” she advised. “You too can be the voice of reason in a Zoom room.”

Schwieterman agreed that much of the change we want to see will start at the hyperlocal level because of the outsized influence that Chicago City Council has on development. “The more people get in the game [the more it becomes] a reckoning of the aldermanic prerogative,” he said. “An informed citizenry keeps alderpeople honest.”

Ready to Get Involved?

Here’s a list of easy ways to support this movement and raise your hand as a supporter of sustainable housing solutions in Chicago:

• Sign the 4-flats by right petition

• Sign the legalize ADUs petition

• Join CNU Chicago’s Slack workspace and subscribe to our Substack

• Get involved with Abundant Housing Illinois, Parking Reform Network, and Strong Towns Chicago

Subscribe now