Abundant Housing Illinois

Link to full article in the Chicago Tribune

How do we stop the alarming flight of young Chicago families to the suburbs? By building European-style courtyard blocks — starting with the U.S. Postal Service site in the 2500 block of West Lawrence Avenue.

A recent analysis of census data shows that the number of young families in large urban metros is in a free fall, with the under-age-5 population falling by 15% in Cook County since 2020, according to the Economic Innovation Group. Yes, some of the decline is due to lower fertility since 2020. However, birth rates in urban counties are declining at twice the rate that they are in rural counties. In the famously family-friendly Lincoln Square neighborhood of Chicago, between 2010 and 2022, the under-5 population fell by more than 1,300, despite gains in total population and housing units. Why are cities losing children?

The increasing costs of single-family homes are outpacing the increase in other housing types, suggesting that an unmet demand for family-sized housing in the city is pushing young millennials to the suburbs. Without abundant family-sized housing, cities cannot compete with the suburbs, which seemingly can easily expand to accommodate growing families and their tax dollars. This is a problem for families, which lose access to the conveniences and opportunities that are concentrated in cities. It is also a problem for Chicago, which loses these families’ spending power, productivity and tax dollars, as well as its connection to the members of the next generation of citizens who will grow up in the suburbs, alienated from urban culture and values.

To compete with the suburbs, American cities should try an urban typology that has kept families in European city centers for millennia. With traditional courtyard urbanism, wall-to-wall buildings frame a city block so that the interior courtyard is closed off to the streets. The buildings are midrise, usually four to six stories tall and built to the property line. Because the buildings are high and wall-to-wall, the interior courtyards are safe and sound-insulated. Courtyard blocks are ideal for families because they provide residents convenient access to car-free green space where children can play safely.

Families also benefit from the walkability that arises from dense and mixed-use courtyard urbanism. The parent who needs to pick up groceries, a coffee, an antibiotic for a sick child or a six-pack can run down the stairs to the bodega, pharmacy and cafe on the ground floor. By collocating business and residential life, courtyard block neighborhoods are the most walkable and least car-dependent urban areas. They are also the greenest: Their walkability and density lead to greater energy efficiency and lower per-capita carbon emissions when compared with mono-zoned, car-dependent areas.