Help for the Chicago Zoning Map

The Chicago Zoning Map is an interactive map that allows you to search and view zoning and land-use designations.

Because zoning designations are quite specific and detailed, and because a parcel of land can have many pieces of information associated with it, all zoning information cannot be effectively displayed at a citywide or neighborhood level. The map therefore displays more details about a specific block or parcel of land the more closely you zoom the map in on it.

The map includes several tools to help you navigate and understand what is displayed.

Search By Address, PIN or Intersection (upper-left corner)

• This is a free-form text input box for quick lookups.
• Enter a street address: 121 n lasalle st (zooms to street centerline)
• Enter a 10 digit Property Identification Number (PIN): 17-09-447-004 or 1709447004 (zooms to parcel)
• Enter an intersection, with an ampersand (&) between streets: clark & Addison (zooms to street centerline)

Toolbar Icons

Advanced Tools (Left Menu Options)

• Locate & Search – there are 3 ways to find a location
1. By Address: Enter an address and click Locate to zoom the map (to the street centerline for the address)
2. By Intersection: Enter 'On Street' to specify the first street. The 'At Street' dropdown will automatically populate valid intersecting streets, beginning with street direction and sorted alphanumerically. Click Locate to zoom the map (to the street centerline for the address).
3. By Geography: Select a "Geography" and a "Value" and click Locate to zoom the map to that area (e.g. Wards/17, Community Area/Ashburn, etc.).

• Identify Results
• Click anywhere on the map to display detailed information about that location.
• Map Layers
• Theme Layers display pre-configured groups of layers.
• In the Layer Visibility section you can choose specific layers to display or hide.
• Measure
• Interactive tool to measure locations on the map.
• Click once to start a line, hold the cursor down and move the line to the desired endpoint. Double-click to complete the measurement.
• While always holding the cursor down, you may click multiple points to measure the length of a line with multiple vertices.
• When you draw a polygon around an area and double-click the point that completes the shape, the area inside that polygon is displayed.
• Measurement results will display beneath the measurement icons.
• Selecting a measure icon disables the “Identify” functionality.
• Click 'Disable Measure' to stop measure mode and return map to “Identify” mode.
• Click the ‘Clear Map’ icon in the toolbar to remove the Measure lines from the map
• Saved Locations
• You can save a specific map view so that you can display it in the future with one click.
• Once you have set the map view that you wish to save: Enter a Name for this view and click 'Add Bookmark'
• To remove a saved location click the red ‘X’.

Additional Map Navigation Details

• Use the slider in the upper left corner of the map to zoom in and out.


• Right-click on the map to display a short-cut menu of options:
• Toggle Aerial (on or off)
• Toggle 80 Acre (on or off)
• Clear Map (same as Clear Map toolbar option)
• Locate & Search (opens the Locate section of Advanced Tools)
• Map Layers (opens the Map Layers section of Advanced Tools)
• Measure Tool (opens the Measure section of Advanced Tools)

• The mouse and keyboard can also pan and zoom the map.
• To navigate using the mouse
• Click and drag the mouse to move the map.
• Double-click to zoom in at a particular point.
• Scroll the mouse-wheel to zoom in or out.
• To zoom in to a specific area, hold the <SHIFT> key while dragging a box around the area of interest.
• To zoom out hold the <CTRL> & <SHIFT> keys and draw a box on the screen.
• To navigate using the keyboard
• To move the map Up, Down, Left or Right use the Arrow keys.
• To move diagonally use the <PageUp>, <PageDown>, <Home> or <End> keys
• To zoom in and out use the <+> or <-> keys.