Chicago Politics and Urbanism Daily
Chicago’s Reform Test: Stairs, Schools and a $7B West Side Build
Friday, June 5, 2026 · 8 min
Chicago City Hall is weighing single-stair apartment buildings to lower construction costs, while Illinois’ budget adds $350 million for K-12 and the school board ballot faces signature challenges. On the West Side, the $7 billion 1901 Project has officially broken ground.
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Show notes
Chicago City Hall is weighing single-stair apartment buildings to lower construction costs, while Illinois’ budget adds $350 million for K-12 and the school board ballot faces signature challenges. On the West Side, the $7 billion 1901 Project has officially broken ground.
In this episode
- Is One Way Out Enough? City Considers Building Code Change To Address Housing Shortage — Block Club Chicago
# Is One Way Out Enough? City Considers Building Code Change To Address Housing Shortage Author: Quinn Myers Published: 2026-06-04T21:57:26+00:00 Source: blockclubchicago.org (blockclubchicago.org) Language: en ## Story Is One Way Out Enough? City Considers Building Code Change To Address Housing Shortage A row of two- and three-flat homes in Chicago's Austin neighborhood. Credit: Colin…
- Step Back — Wait — how can a rule about whether an apartment building needs one stairwell or two make or break Chicago’s ability to build more housing? What’s the real safety-versus-affordability tradeoff here, and how have other cities handled it?
Background sources
- Is One Way Out Enough? City Considers Building Code Change To Address Housing Shortage — Quinn Myers
- Single-stair rule change could boost housing: op-ed - Crain's Chicago Business — Chicagobusiness
- Expanding Single-Stair Housing Can Improve Housing Supply, Quality, and Safety | Mercatus Center — Mercatus Center
- How a Single Stairway Can Take Affordable Housing to a New Level — Planning
- One Stair Or Two?: The Building Codes Shaping Cost, Safety, And Housing Supply | ACE — ACE
- CT lawmakers to repeal 2024 single-stair building code change — Ginny Monk
- California’s “single stair” report is out. Regulators don’t love the idea - CalMatters — Ben Christopher
- Illinois’ state budget is out. How did public schools fare? - Chalkbeat — Chalkbeat
# Illinois’ state budget is out. How did public schools fare? - Chalkbeat Author: By Makiya Seminera | June 4, 2026, 9:17pm UTC Published: 2026-06-04T21:17:09.194000+00:00 Source: chalkbeat.org (chalkbeat.org) Language: en ## Story Illinois’ state budget is out. How did public schools fare? - Chalkbeat Skip to main content # Here’s how much education funding is in Illinois’ FY27 state…
- Petition signatures for 28 Chicago school board candidates face scrutiny - Chalkbeat — Chalkbeat
# Petition signatures for 28 Chicago school board candidates face scrutiny - Chalkbeat Author: | June 4, 2026, 4:31pm UTC Published: 2026-06-04T16:31:47.028000+00:00 Source: chalkbeat.org (chalkbeat.org) Language: en ## Story Petition signatures for 28 Chicago school board candidates face scrutiny - Chalkbeat Skip to main content # Dozens of Chicago school board candidates could get knocked…
- 1901 Project breaks ground, promising West Side neighborhood transformation - AOL — WGN-TV
1901 Project breaks ground, promising West Side neighborhood transformation - AOL Wed, June 3, 2026 at 10:54 PM UTC 0 CHICAGO (WGN) — Developers broke ground on the new 1901 Project on Wedneday as work now rolls full speed ahead. It's a move that could transform the neighborhood surrounding the United Center on the city's West Side. With golden shovels in hand, Wednesday's groundbreaking for…