Link to full article in Crain's Chicago Business
Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) have arrived at a pivotal moment for the Bungalow Belt. As living costs rise, innovative strategies to reduce costs and boost incomes are crucial. Working people, who best understand these rising costs, disproportionally feel the strain of the housing shortage. In Chicago, almost half of renters spend over 30% of their income on rent and utilities, a historic high. This burden falls heaviest on working-class, immigrant, Black, and senior citizen communities—the core residents of the Bungalow Belt. Fortunately, ADUs offer an innovative solution to the city’s housing crisis, tailor-made for this area.
The Bungalow
The Bungalow Belt represents a growing Chicago, originally designed as a region of affordable homes for aspiring home-owning, working-class families. Designed as flexible, multi-generational spaces, bungalows provide a comfortable living environment and foster a sense of community. With spacious basements and attics, many bungalows already house extended families or serve as rental units. However, rising housing prices undermine this character, detaching bungalows from their role as affordable options for the middle class.
ADUs can effectively restore bungalows to their historical role by reviving their multi-generational and rental aspects. ADUs allow families to live together while maintaining privacy, aligning with the bungalows’ original purpose. This especially empowers the 63% of Hispanic multi-generational households where home buying is a family affair. Moreover, adding ADUs provides rental opportunities within properties, echoing early 20th-century practices when bungalows were affordable housing solutions for diverse populations—a crucial feature in a city grappling with affordability issues.
Addressing the Housing Shortage, Bungalow-Style
Permitting ADUs by right is as much a matter of justice as affordability. The Bungalow Belt, being more working-class, multiracial, immigrant, and senior than areas like the Loop or northeast side, stands to gain the most. ADUs fit perfectly in single-family wards like the Bungalow Belt, where many potential ADUs already exist within the architectural style of bungalows. On my block alone, I count about half the homes likely to include a future ADU. Concerns about design or adverse impacts are simply less relevant in these areas.
Chicago might have outlawed ADUs in 1957, but the bungalow ADUs of the 1910s and 20s did not simply disappear. People are already here. The traffic already exists. The level of parking wouldn't change. And the cost of housing wouldn't rise. Permitting ADUs citywide would re-legitimize these residential units, providing revenue for underserved communities. Not permitting ADUs puts the Bungalow Belt and its residents at an economic disadvantage and at risk of displacement if the city discovers unpermitted ADU violations, limiting the mobility bungalows were intended to offer.
For seniors, ADUs can provide independence and financial stability. ADUs would allow seniors to remain in our communities while opening space for new families to move in. This builds generational ties and reduces isolation, enhancing social engagement, mentorship, and support for younger generations and new families. The value of aging in place strengthens community bonds while increasing the quality of life and life expectancy for seniors.
The Path Forward
Some suggest special-use approval for ADUs in single-family wards as a compromise. However, requiring homeowners to obtain special use from the Zoning Board of Appeals would make ADUs prohibitively expensive due to consultant and city application fees. This undermines their benefits and would disproportionately impact working families and seniors. To maximize the ordinance’s impact and encourage ADU development, clear guidelines and incentives for homeowners, particularly in the Bungalow Belt, are essential.
Revitalizing the Bungalow Belt through ADUs goes beyond practicality; it is about preserving the cultural and historical fabric of our neighborhoods. Allowing ADUs citywide without special-use approval addresses the housing shortage while fostering economic stability and community resilience. Resurfacing and integrating existing ADUs can stimulate local economies by creating construction jobs, increasing property values, and providing additional income for homeowners. This aligns with sustainable development goals, utilizing existing urban spaces and minimizing the need for new infrastructure.
ADUs would improve residents’ quality of life. This is a solution for the old as much as the young. It’s about creating vibrant, inclusive communities where families and seniors can thrive. Bringing ADUs back to Chicago moves us towards a more equitable and sustainable future. The Bungalow Belt, with its rich history and diverse population, exemplifies community-driven solutions. By adopting ADUs citywide, we can transform today's challenges into opportunities, ensuring a better tomorrow for all residents.
Daniel Villalobos is urban planning & policy graduate student, member of Urban Environmentalists Illinois, and Vittum Park resident