Shape Chicago
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See how Chicago works. Then try changing it.

Daily news on housing, transit and the budget. Your ward's votes, rezonings and permits. Plain-English explainers. And simulators that show what a change would really do, with every number sourced.

HousingZone for more homes TransitDraw a new line BudgetClose the $919M gap PensionsPay down the debt Zoning and rulesWhat can you build on your lot? Your wardVotes and rezonings
Chicago planning newsThe newest stories on housing, transit and the budget, in one list.
–homes permitted so far this year –next City Council meeting $919M2027 budget gap to close

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Lots stepping up from a bungalow to a three-flat, six-flat, mid-rise and high-rise, with a crane on the tallest.

Fix Chicago Housing

Simulation

Let more homes go up near the L, vote on real policies, then watch 15 years of building. See what happens to the shortage and to rent.

Shortage · rent · jobs and taxesOpen the simulation
The L with a Red Line train and a station, and a new line in blue curving off with its own train.

Expand Chicago Transit

New

Switch on real proposals like the Red Line Extension, or draw your own subway, streetcar or BRT line. See riders, cost, car trips and CO₂.

Riders · cost · cars · CO₂Open the simulation
A balance beam with stacks of gold coins on one side and a little city block with a bus on the other.

Balance the Chicago Budget

New

The 2027 budget starts $918.5 million short. Pick real taxes, cuts and one-time fixes to close it, see who pays, and compare with past years and the Mayor's plan.

Taxes · cuts · pensions · past yearsBalance it
Four stacks of gold coins, one per city pension fund, each well short of a blue ring marking 90% funded.

Pay Down Chicago's Pensions

New

Chicago's four city pension funds hold about a quarter of what they owe. Choose how much the city pays, what investments earn and whether to borrow. See when each fund gets to 90%, and the bill.

Funded ratio · yearly payments · bonds · crashesRun the numbers
A row of two- and three-flats with one lot marked by a red pin and a glass outline of the bigger building its zoning would allow.

What can I build on my lot?

New

Type any Chicago address. See its zoning, how many homes the rules allow, whether today's building could even be built today, and what would change that.

Zoning · homes allowed · what would change itLook up a lot
A plain white domed stadium on old industrial land, a train at a station beside it, a parking lot of cars and a red star marking the spot.

Where Should the Bears Play?

New

Hammond, Arlington Park, South Works or the lakefront? Compare every proposed site the same way, or drop your own pin, then run game day.

Trains · parking · hotels · neighborsPick a site
Chicago's 50 wards as raised tiles, each as tall as the homes it permitted in the last year; the tallest has a red star.

Your ward's housing record

Updated daily

How your alderperson voted on the big housing laws, every zoning change in your ward since 2013, and the homes it's permitting.

Votes · rezonings · permitsFind your ward
An empty lot being staked out, a building going up under a crane and a finished one with a red star, beside a yardstick filled in a bit past halfway.

Progress

Updated daily

What Chicago built, rezoned and ran, counted from public records: homes permitted against the pace, what followed each zoning vote, rents, transit rides and street safety.

Homes · zoning · rents · transit · streetsSee the numbers
Newspaper boxes and a reader on a bench in front of two flats and a new mid-rise.

Chicago planning news

Every 3 hours

Every new story on Chicago housing, development, zoning, transit and the budget from local newsrooms, in one list.

Block Club · Sun-Times · WBEZ · WTTW · moreRead the news

New to this? Start with the basics

All topics
Zoning, in plain EnglishWhat can go on a lot, and who decides How big is the shortage?The region's gap, and Chicago's share Do new apartments lower rents?What the studies find Who pays for a new line?Federal grants, the state and NITA