Their predictions have been borne out partially - prices on new townhouses have grown substantially during the last twelve months - but this uniquely urban form of housing is far from an endangered species. Townhouses are as popular as ever.

A quick survey by New Homes shows more than 30 townhouse projects, ranging from a few units to more than 80, on the market (see Insider’s Quick Guide, p. 6). The projects are located in a wide range of neighborhoods, from the South Side to downtown to Lincoln Park to the Northwest Side. The product ranges from basic boxes priced in the low $200s to ultra-luxury units approaching $1 million. The new developments do not, unfortunately, offer much design variety, but some have made creative use of difficult sites, and new city regulations have raised standards.

Why are townhouses still so popular?

One reason, according to Charles Huzenis, a principal in Jameson Realty Group, is that despite higher costs, they are the best bargain out there.

"They’ve become more expensive, but they’re still substantially cheaper per square foot than a condo or single-family house," Huzenis says. "We’re selling at about $160 a square foot at Greenview on the Park. You can’t buy a condo there for under $220 a square foot and many single-family homes are at $250 or $300 a foot. When you really analyze the numbers, (townhouses) are the real bargain in the market."

Which is not to say that they’re cheap. Even in outlying neighborhoods, it has become difficult to find a new townhouse in Chicago for less than $225,000. Prices on townhomes at the new Wellington Park, 1701 W. Wellington, start around $400,000 and go up to the $520s. Townhouses at Kinzie Park, 400 W. Hubbard, started in the half a million dollar range and go up to $960,000 for centrally located riverfront units.

But as Huzenis points out, foot by foot, townhouses are still the most affordable option. They allow buyers more space and privacy than condominiums, but without the maintenance headaches and high price tags of single-family houses.

"I lived in condo a couple of years ago, and I didn’t like it; I wanted more of a home-type feel," says Scott Oleshowski, who recently bought a townhouse at the new Old Irving Village, 3801 N. Milwaukee, with his wife Kimberly. "I really like the layout of these: there’s a basement, a first floor, a master, then another floor with two bedrooms. It’s like four levels of living space, but they’re three-story homes."

Equally important as layout for the Oleshowskis, was the fact that they would not have to spend weekends working on the house. "My wife is not into the idea of having to fix or maintain an old house," Oleshowski says. Since maintenance of common areas and things like snow shoveling are also provided for in townhouse developments, they actually have an edge over detached houses for many busy homeowners.

Location, as in all real estate transactions, was also a major factor. Oleshowski, who is starting up a new Internet business that will track Web site users the way the Nielsons track TV viewers, wanted to be in the city, with quick access to O’Hare Airport, downtown and public transportation. Many buyers say townhouses are the reason they’ve decided to stay in the city, or at least to put off a move to suburbia.

"Staying in city was very important to us. We considered both single-family homes and condominiums," says Robert Guerra, who recently moved into the Plaza Vista Townhomes, 2840 N. Lincoln, with his wife Jannelle. "Versus a straight condo, there were multiple floors here, which we liked, and the price of living in a single-family home would make it very difficult to do."

Like many couples buying townhouses, the Guerras say that they might remain in their unit for a little while when they have a child, but they view the townhouse as a stepping stone.

"It may be big enough for one child, but down the road we would wind up moving, for a yard and all that," Guerra says.

The Oleshowskis are a little atypical for townhouse buyers because they have a newborn, Cameron. Sales agents say childless couples and singles tend to dominate new townhouse developments. In the short-term, Oleshowski says, his three-bedroom 2,000-square-foot townhouse will be more than adequate for the family. But he too views the townhouse as a stepping stone.

"Our plan is to be there three to five years and then make a decision on either a bigger place in the city, or a move to the suburbs," Oleshowski says. "It’s not a long-term, permanent solution for us."

But it’s enough of a solution to keep the Oleshowskis in Chicago for at least a few years. The same solution has worked for enough buyers in recent decades that townhouses have sprung up all over the North Side, dominating new construction in some neighborhoods. Activists have not always been pleased to see the rows of attached houses lining their blocks.

Neighborhoods such as Lakeview and more recently, Bridgeport, East Village, Bucktown and Wicker Park, now host blocks of identical townhomes that hurt their communities in myriad ways. The projects squeeze every possible inch of house onto the lots, with virtually no green space or setbacks. Some buildings are built nose to nose, and the worst offenders also turn their backs on the neighborhood, leaving blank windowless end walls and garage doors that face onto the street. Not only does the front-loaded garage look bad, the attendant curb-cuts reduce parking in already congested areas, and the cars left sprawled before garage doors in driveways make public sidewalks difficult or impossible to navigate.

The city’s ongoing building boom has encouraged a steady batch of new townhomes, which in April of 1998 resulted in new ordinances written both to improve the way townhouse projects are designed and to streamline the approval process for developers.

Among the changes are new requirements for townhomes in districts zoned R4 to have a minimum private yard of 200 square feet per unit and for townhouses in R4 and R5 districts in general to have minimum yards of 10 by 12 feet where the front or rear wall faces a public street. The ordinance also requires a minimum separation of 30 feet between front or rear walls of townhouse buildings that face each other. Facades facing public streets must have doors and windows, and garage doors cannot face the street whenever an alley exists or when interior driveways can be used. In addition to the private yards, any development of 40 or more units must provide a minimum of 150 square feet of common open space per unit.

The related "Open Space Impact Fee Ordinance" requires developers who don’t provide enough open space on new residential developments to pay fees ranging from $313 to $1,253 per unit, depending on the unit’s size. As part of the "CitySpace Plan," the money goes to a neighborhood fund to develop park and recreational facilities for the community.

Many developers were opposed to the new ordinances, which lower the number of units they can wedge onto building sites and raise costs. But Mary Fishman, director of design review for the Department of Planning and Development, says the ordinances have been accomplishing their goals of improving design without putting the breaks on townhouse projects.

"By now, everyone is aware of it and can pretty much plan projects way ahead of time," Fishman says. "It’s worked well and it’s reasonable. Getting the garage doors off of the street - having them in alleys or interior drives - and having yards in front and doing away with blank wall facades have been good for the city."

Huzenis, of Jameson Realty Group, says that the ordinances have reduced density and driven up costs, but the real obstacle to townhouse development now is finding suitable sites, not buyers.