Chicago's Empty Homes: A Spooky (But Not Haunted) Mystery
Ah, Chicago. City of wind, deep dish pizza, and...a surprising number of vacant homes? That's right, folks, there are more empty houses in Chicago than you can shake a deep-fried Twinkie at. But just how many is the real head-scratcher.
The Census Says...Hold on, Not So Fast
According to the trusty Census Bureau, there are around 128,796 vacant units in Chicago, which is roughly 10.2% of all dwelling units. That's a lot of empty bedrooms for ghosts to haunt...if ghosts were into social distancing, that is. But here's the thing, the Census counts everything from a temporarily empty apartment to a full-on abandoned mansion.
Enter the Great Chicago Vacant Home Ghost Hunt (Not Really, But It Sounds Fun)
So, if we want to get to the bottom of this spooky situation, we need to look beyond the Census. Here's where things get a little wild. The City of Chicago has a Vacant Building Registry. Sounds thrilling, right? This registry tracks buildings reported as vacant, but that number (around 6,500) is likely much lower than reality. Why? Because let's face it, filling out forms is snooze-worthy, and who wants to be a hall monitor for abandoned buildings?
Now We're Cooking With Vacant Lots (Sort Of)
Then there are the vacant lots. Cook County estimates there are over 30,000 of these lonely patches of dirt. While not technically homes, they could be future homes...if only someone would, you know, build something there.
The Big Reveal: So, How Many Empty Homes Are There Really?
Honestly, who knows? The answer is likely somewhere between the spooky high numbers of the Census and the slightly less spooky numbers of the Vacant Building Registry. But hey, that's part of the fun, right? It's a mystery that keeps Chicago urban planners up at night (though hopefully not haunted by the ghosts of empty houses).
So next time you're walking down a Chicago street and see a boarded-up window, don't be scared. Just remember, it's probably just another resident of the Windy City's vast and slightly enigmatic vacant housing market.
