Blog

This analysis examines how household incomes have shifted at the neighborhood level between 2010 and 2016 and describes what different trends tell us about the challenges facing different neighborhoods in Chicago.

In December of last year, the Institute for Housing Studies released a new tool that helps neighborhoods in Chicago plan for change. We heard quickly from community groups about how helpful the data and planning tools were to their efforts to plan for and respond to gentrification or its counterpart,...

Creative solutions to the housing affordability crisis are popping up all over the country. Micro-apartments—the Tiny Houses of apartment rentals—are at the forefront, but they aren’t the only ones. A Norwegian architect/engineer living in New York City is attaching apartment pods to the unused sides of tall buildings. A designer...

Rentals in Cook County remain unaffordable for the majority of low- and moderate-income households. Our latest report on the state of renting in Cook County finds a continued affordability crunch as more people became renters in the past ten years while the affordable supply declined. This year’s report finds that the...

Finding a home that is affordable is getting a lot harder. Since 2005, the country has seen the largest increase of renters on record at the very moment that more than 10 percent of its affordable housing stock has been lost. And wages, especially for low-wage workers, have not kept...

In December, we released an analysis and interactive map to help Chicago communities better understand gentrification pressures and the risk of displacement in their neighborhood. The tool identifies areas where home prices have appreciated faster than citywide averages and where a significant share of residents is vulnerable to displacement. We recently...

The recently launched web-based mapping tool for Regional Housing Solutions allows local government and policymakers to see how a range of housing issues play out across the region, beyond municipal boundaries, and sets the stage for intergovernmental cooperation and advocacy. Cities across the nation are using data and analysis to understand...

Cities are turning to community land trusts in response to the affordable housing crisis.  As cities across the nation struggle to build and sustain housing that is affordable to low- and modest-income families, an often overlooked option is gaining new traction. Community land trusts, also called shared equity programs, first...

The two-flat has been a stepping stone to the middle class and a source of affordable housing for more than a century. But for how much longer? It’s been called a “workingman’s palace.” The humble two-flat is often named as one of Chicagoans favorite things about their hometown—along with hot jazz,...

HUD’s prospects under Ben Carson and ways to build more affordable housing despite it all Finding an affordable apartment is nearly impossible for those living on the margins, thanks in part to the shortfall of about 7.4 million affordable units nationally. And if the pundits are right, things may get worse...