Chicago bans new Airbnbs in 71 precincts, from Gage Park and West Lawn to Norwood Park

Listing a spare apartment on Airbnb or another short-term rental site is now off the table in much of Gage Park, West Lawn and Norwood Park.

On Sept. 23, the City Council passed 71 ordinances in a few quick motions. Each one makes a voting precinct a "Restricted Residential Zone," which bars new or additional shared housing units, the City's term for short-term rentals booked through sites like Airbnb, inside its boundaries. The 71 were spread across four wards: 19 in the 15th, 19 in the 23rd, 2 in the 29th and 31 in the 41st. Together they cover nearly all of two wards on opposite sides of the city.

What does the short-term rental ban do?

Chapter 4-17 of Chicago's Municipal Code lets the Council close a precinct, by ordinance, to new shared housing units, the City's term for the kind of short-term rentals people book through sites like Airbnb and Vrbo. The precincts are ordinary election precincts, usually a few blocks each.

Our summary of the 23rd Ward's 18th Precinct ordinance sets out the terms: no new or additional shared housing units are allowed inside the precinct, and the rule takes effect once the ordinance is passed and published. It lasts four years. Like the others, the ordinance went through the Committee on License and Consumer Protection, which recommended it on Sept. 9.

The ordinances bar new or additional units. For how that applies to a unit that's already operating, ask the City's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, which regulates shared housing.

Which precincts are closed to new Airbnbs?

We matched each precinct named in the ordinances to the City's precinct and neighborhood maps.

• 15th Ward (Ald. Raymond Lopez): 19 of the ward's 20 precincts, about 96% of its area. That takes in the ward's parts of Back of the Yards (New City) and Gage Park, which make up most of the zones' area, along with pieces of Englewood, Chicago Lawn and Brighton Park.
• 23rd Ward (Ald. Silvana Tabares): 19 more precincts across West Lawn, West Elsdon, Garfield Ridge and a corner of Archer Heights. The 23rd Ward has been adding zones precinct by precinct since 2023.
• 41st Ward (Ald. Anthony Napolitano): 31 ordinances on the Far Northwest Side, covering the ward's parts of O'Hare, Norwood Park and Edison Park.
• 29th Ward (Ald. Chris Taliaferro): the 1st and 19th precincts, in Dunning and Austin.

Why did the alderpersons ask for the bans?

Each alderperson presented their ordinances to the License Committee on Sept. 9, and each pointed to their residents.

"These represent a series of ordinances prohibiting shared housing in the 15th Ward throughout the entire ward. And it is supported by all residents of my community."

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Tabares described the 19 new zones as finishing a job that started in other parts of her ward.

"And we have been working very consistently on prohibiting temporary rentals in other precincts of our ward. We're just doing this to be consistent for the entire ward."

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Taliaferro, who joined the meeting remotely, said he had met with residents first.

"We met with multiple community residents and each support the restriction of shared housing in the 1st and 19th precincts."

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Napolitano kept his remarks short: he said he supported the ordinances "in hopes to limit the short-term rentals in the 41st ward."

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No one on the committee asked a question about any of the four groups. Each passed on a voice vote, all four in under five minutes.

How did the City Council vote?

At the Sept. 23 City Council meeting, the License Committee's chair, Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th Ward), moved all of them by groups of items. They were adopted by the same roll call the Council used for the first item of the Finance Committee's report, which recorded all 50 alderpersons as yes. A motion to reconsider by Ald. Gregory Mitchell (7th Ward) failed.

Because the zones were folded into a larger package, there was no debate on the floor.

What it means on your block

• If you rent your home or a spare unit to short-term guests, or plan to, check whether your precinct is on the list. The legislation tracker has every ordinance, and each one names its precinct.
• If you're a neighbor who has had problems with a short-term rental, your alderperson's office is the place to ask how the new zone applies to a specific building.
• Not sure of your precinct? It's on your voter registration, and the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners' voter lookup shows your ward and precinct for your address.
• The zones expire. Each one lasts four years unless the Council renews it. In June, the Council renewed five of the 23rd Ward's older zones, so expect these to come back around 2030.

Until now, restricted zones usually passed a handful of precincts at a time. This round changed the rules across a big piece of the Southwest and Northwest sides at once.