Residential

The primary purpose of Residential Districts is to develop housing for Chicago residents. There are a variety of housing designations based on the type of housing and the size of the units and/or lots.  There are three primary Residential Districts – RS, RT and RM.  Each district is further defined by the size of the building, how the building is situated on the lot, the number of units in a building, the size of the units in a building, etc.

It is important to review the section on the Home Occupation Ordinance to get an idea of any restrictions that may affect your in-house studio or other art-related business endeavors.

The primary purpose of the RS - Residential Single-Unit District is to accommodate the development of detached houses on individual lots.  This is essentially a traditional single-family home with its own front and back yard. There are three types of RS districts- RS1, RS2 and RS3.  These Districts are further differentiated primarily on the basis of lot requirements and square footage of the property, as well as intensity of use (how many buildings allowed in the District).

The primary purpose of the RT - Residential Two-Flat, Townhouse and Multi-Unit Districts is for the creation of detached houses, two-flats, townhouses and low-density, multi-unit residential buildings with 4 or less units. These districts normally have a mix of housing types and are used as transitions between RS Districts to the densely populated RM Districts.  The District can be further defined by intensity of use.

The primary purpose of the RM - Residential Multi-Unit Districts is to accommodate detached houses, two-flats, townhouses and multi-unit residential buildings. Although these areas contain a mixture of housing types, they are largely intended to accommodate moderate- to high-density multi-unit residential properties such as high-rises. There are five types of RM districts - RM4.5, RM5, RM5.5, RM6 and RM6.5, with the distinction being based primarily on the intensity of use. These districts are differentiated primarily on the basis of allowed density requirements (lot area per unit), square footage of units and building heights.