# Picks Picks are properties in Chicago that have one or more characteristics that make them ideal for development. Often they are vacant, for sale, and near a CTA station. Other characteristics may be that the zoning capacity is much higher than what's there now. Every night, Chicago Cityscape automatically analyzes 500,000 properties in Chicago and assigns a number of points to each one based on which development characteristics it has. Only those that have points in the 95th percentile (meaning they have a higher score than 95 percent of properties) are considered a Pick. ## Different sets of Picks There are two sets of Picks that are analyzed and that are filterable in Property Finder. - Standard (no pre-filters are applied, includes city-owned land) - Vacant (privately-owned properties that are classified as vacant or similar, but does not include city-owned land) ## How to use Picks Picks can be used on the homepage and in Property Finder. ### Use Picks on the homepage Every time you visit the [Chicago Cityscape homepage](http://chicagocityscape.com) you will see the current crop of 10 Picks (from the Standard set). The top 10 Picks were shown starting Monday, January 12, 2026, and every Monday the next 10 Picks will appear.  The information includes: - Address - Google Street View image (sometimes these images are outdated and sometimes the image shown is of an adjacent property) - List of reasons that led to this property getting selected as a Pick Select the image or the address to open that Pick's Property Report for further evaluation. The Pick's reasons will also be repeated in the Property Report. ### Use Property Finder There are filters in Property Finder that when activated will show only the Picks in the top five percent of all properties that were analyzed the previous night. 1. Open Property Finder. (This can be in Place Report or Property Report for a location in Chicago.) 2. Locate the "Value add filters" section in the Property Finder filters box. 3. Select either "Picks (standard)" or "Picks (vacant)". The filter will apply immediately (there is no need to select the "Apply filters" button). 4. The map and data table will refresh to show the matching Picks, and a new column called "Pick points" will appear in the data table. ![[Pasted image 20240701104054.png]] ## What makes a Pick? A Pick is shown if it gets enough points. Points are assigned to most properties in Chicago based on certain characteristics, which include: - Being near a grocery store - Proximity to a CTA or Metra station - Whether the property is listed for sale - Unused zoning capacity for either additional homes or floor area - The City of Chicago has that property listed in ChiBlockBuilder - No recent new construction permits - The property has a pending permit (one point is deducted) - The lot size is big enough to have six or more homes - Nearby Proposed Projects will add a point to the property - If the property is vacant, it will get a point - Enterprise Zone will give a property a point ## Related articles - [[Developable properties]]