Great Lakes Housing Watch
Our coverage
Housing conditions, inspection backlogs, enforcement outcomes and municipal water access in the Great Lakes region.
The questions we follow
- What happens after a housing complaint becomes an enforcement case?
- Which conditions appear in inspection and violation records?
- How do communities document water disconnections and restoration?
Our first analysis examines Chicago building-violation records. The extract does not establish residential use or occupancy and is not a survey of current housing conditions.
Geographic focus
Our focus is on communities across the Great Lakes region. We begin with a Chicago records analysis and expand coverage as usable, documented sources become available.
This is our intended coverage area. It does not mean we have offices, reporters, active requests or complete datasets in every community.
Water access
Future water reporting will distinguish notices and scheduled orders from completed disconnections, and maintenance outages from disconnections for nonpayment. We have not yet published a water-shutoff finding.