Last week, we participated in a special walking tour guided by Will Quam of Bricks of Chicago. The idea for the tour originated from discussions nearly two years ago about the critical need to preserve Single Room Occupancy (SRO) buildings as an affordable housing option in Chicago.

Uptown has historically housed a significant concentration of the city's SROs, but these properties face constant pressure for conversion to market-rate units, which threatens the neighborhood's affordability. Through our partnership with Mercy Housing, a nonprofit affordable housing developer, and our long-standing collaboration with Emily Ramsey of Ramsey Historic Consultants, we've successfully rehabilitated three affordable SROs in the area with plans for a fourth in the works.

The tour gave insight into the neighborhood's rich history, the evolution of its SRO buildings and other historic structures, and the distinctive building materials that define the area's architectural character.

Will is a wonderful guide and he offers tours across Chicago, so visit his website to discover more opportunities to explore the city's architectural history.