2018 REPORT

100,000AT T E N D E E S

366,000S I T E V I S I T S

91,100LOCALS

93% OF LOCALS SAID OHC MADE THEM FEEL PROUD TO BE A CHICAGOAN

279SITES IN 31 DISTINCT

COMMUNITIES

60,600PEOPLE VISITED NEW

NEIGHBORHOODS

8,900TOURISTS

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$7.3 MILLIONE C O N O M I C I M PA C T

2,500V O L U N T E E R S D O N AT E D

15,000 H O U R S

#OHC2018 USED MORE THAN

9 ,000 T IMES ON SOCIAL MEDIA (TRENDING

TOPIC ON TWITTER)

2.5 MILLIONPAGEVIEWS ON OPENHOUSECHICAGO.ORG

82,400PEOPLE SHOPPED OR DINED DURING OHC

24,000PEOPLE MADE 120,000 CTA AND METRA TRIPS

CONTENTS4 OVERVIEW

6 SUPPORTERS

8 MARKETING

10 AUDIENCE

12 ATTENDANCE

16 IMPACT

18 FEEDBACK

E X E C U T I V E S U M M A RY

For eight years, Open House Chicago (OHC) has offered free, behind-the-scenes access to the city’s hidden gems and architectural treasures.

Open House Chicago 2018 took place Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 13–14. In two days, an estimated 100,000 attendees made 366,000 visits to 279 sites in 29 Chicago neighborhoods and the adjacent suburbs of Evanston and Oak Park, making OHC one of the most-attended events of its kind in the world.

This successful eighth year of OHC cemented the event’s status as the signature community initiative for the Chicago Architecture Center (CAC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring people to discover why design matters.

Aside from hosting OHC, the newly opened CAC at 111 E. Wacker Dr. offers a dynamic learning journey for all ages through exhibits, tours and programs.

OVERVIEW

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H I S T O RY

Open House Chicago is part of a worldwide movement of Open House events that began in London in 1992. Today, Open House and Doors Open events are held in more than 45 cities on five continents.

The Chicago Architecture Foundation (now CAC) held the first Open House Chicago in 2011 with a unique focus on highlighting Chicago’s neighborhoods. During the inaugural event, 23,000 attendees made 84,000 visits to OHC sites. The event has grown and is now more than quadruple its original size, with 100,000 attendees in 2018.

Each year, the CAC collects public input and works with community partners to identify sites that are architecturally, historically and culturally significant in Chicago’s neighborhoods. Featured sites include historic mansions, private clubs, sacred spaces, hotels, offices, theatres, studios and more.

Since 2011, OHC has attracted a total of more than 2.1 million visits to 674 unique sites across Chicago, Oak Park and Evanston. Most importantly, Open House Chicago has encouraged people to discover their city. In post-OHC surveys issued each year, a majority of respondents say they have improved perceptions of and enhanced appreciation for Chicago neighborhoods as a result of this event.

GOALS • Give residents and visitors access to buildings

that tell the stories of Chicago’s communities and cultures

• Raise awareness of the role design plays in creating a vibrant and livable city

• Foster civic and community pride

• Spark the exploration of new neighborhoods

• Improve perceptions and appreciation of neighborhoods

• Encourage repeat visits to neighborhoods

• Boost patronage of local businesses and institutions

• Introduce people to Chicago’s unique architectural assets

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V O L U N T E E R SIn 2018, the CAC directly recruited, trained and scheduled approximately 1,300 volunteer greeters. Participating OHC sites also supplied an estimated 1,100 volunteers of their own.

110 additional leadership volunteers worked to keep things running smoothly in each community and provided on-site management at OHC’s busiest and most complex sites.

Altogether, these 2,500 OHC volunteers donated more than 15,000 hours of service. About 94 percent of volunteer greeters said volunteering was a positive experience and 92 percent indicated that they were likely to volunteer again.

I have volunteered 7 out of the last 8 years and have always had a great time!

It is a dynamite concept with fabulous places to visit. The people you meet while volunteering are smart and interesting. What's not to love about it?

Our city is so segregated, and the media is so quick to spread bad news; OHC opens up all of the good there is to see across our city.

This was my first year volunteering, and the experience was amazing! I left the weekend feeling inspired and rejuvenated by the people I met and the new places I had seen.

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SUPPORTERSOHC 2018 was supported by more than 2,500 volunteers. Generous support from 10 sponsors and 49 community partners also made the event a success.

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S P O N S O R SOHC would not be possible without the generosity and partnership of these sponsors:

C O M M U N I T Y PA R T N E R S

The CAC works with community organizations to identify OHC sites, recruit volunteers, promote participation and deepen engagement in OHC. The following community partners are instrumental in opening up our city’s neighborhoods for exploration and discovery:

• 19th Ward Alderman O’Shea’s Office

• 47th Ward Alderman Pawar’s Office

• Archdiocese of Chicago

• Austin Coming Together

• Belmont Theater District

• Beverly Area Planning Association

• BOMA/Chicago

• Chicago Loop Alliance

• Chicago Park District

• Chicago’s North Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau

• City of Evanston

• Design Evanston

• Downtown Evanston

• Edgewater Chamber of Commerce

• Edgewater Historical Society

• Evanston Chamber of Commerce

• Evanston Community Foundation

• Evanston History Center

• Foundation for Homan Square

• Frank Lloyd Wright Trust

• Glessner House

• Hyde Park Historical Society

• Lakeview Chamber of Commerce

• Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce

• Lincoln Square Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce

• Logan Square Chamber of Commerce

• Logan Square Preservation

• Loyola University Women and Leadership Archives

• Magnificent Mile Association

• North Lawndale Historical and Cultural Society

• Northwestern University

• Oak Park River Forest Community Foundation

• Park West Community Association

• Pleasant Home Foundation

• Preservation Chicago

• Public Media Institute

• Quad Communities Development Corporation

• Rogers Park / West Ridge Historical Society

• Rogers Park Business Alliance

• South East Chicago Commission

• South Shore Chamber, Inc.

• The Resurrection Project

• Ukrainian Village Neighborhood Association

• Uptown United

• Urban Juncture

• Visit Oak Park

• West Loop Community Organization

• West Town Chamber of Commerce

• Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber of Commerce

P R E S E N T I N G S P O N S O R

M E D I A S P O N S O R S

PA R T N E R S

S P O N S O R S

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OHC WEEKEND TRAFFIC

TOTAL TRAFFIC (JAN. 1—OCT. 31)

Users 63,400 284,900

Sessions 116,700 494,100

Pageviews 685,300 2,455,700

W E B S I T E O P E N H O U S E C H I C A G O . O R G

• More than 4,500 itineraries created

• Phones and tablets accounted for 82% of traffic during OHC weekend

• Overall mobile traffic during OHC weekend was up 4% over 2017

A D V E R T I S I N G

Advertising for OHC 2018 focused on regional online, local print and local out-of-home. The broad reach of the campaign would not have been possible without the generous in-kind support of our media sponsors and partners.

E V E N T G U I D E

Each year, the CAC partners with the Chicago Tribune, an OHC media sponsor, to create the official event guide. In 2018, the guide was a 32-page stapled tabloid insert in the Chicago Tribune, its six suburban papers and its weekly tabloid, RedEye. On the Thursday prior to OHC, the guide reached approximately 500,000 people through the newspaper. An additional 75,000 guides were distributed at all sites during the festival.

M E D I A R E L AT I O N S

A mix of long-lead, print and digital pieces as well as in-studio and live remote TV and radio interviews, helped drive record attendance.

• 165 articles and broadcasts (+111% from 2017)

• 133 million impressions (+32% from 2017)

• $1.22 million ad value (+79% from 2017)

CAC launched an eight-week integrated marketing campaign to support OHC. The campaign drove 144 million impressions, high website traffic and record attendance.

MARKETING

H I G H L I G H T S O F T H E E X T E N S I V E O H C C O V E R A G E I N C L U D E D :

• 7 Chicago Tribune articles and 3 Sun-Times articles

• 6 television features, on ABC, NBC, FOX, WGN, Univision and Telemundo

• 4 mentions in Chicago magazine

• Radio interviews on WBEZ and WGN

• Features in languages other than English: Univision, Telemundo and World Journal, one of the largest Mandarin newspapers outside China

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I M P R E S S I O N S

A summary of campaign impressions is below. Impressions refer to the number of views that occurred through a particular marketing channel.

133 MILLION M E D I A R E L AT I O N S

6.5 MILLION A D V E R T I S I N G

3 MILLION W E B S I T E & E M A I L C O M M U N I C AT I O N S

1.5 MILLION S O C I A L M E D I A

S O C I A L M E D I A

811,000+ I M P R E S S I O N S F R O M C A C P O S T S

46,000E N G A G E D U S E R S

3% INCREASEFA C E B O O K E V E N T R S V P S O V E R 2 0 1 7

160,000+F O L L O W E R S

10,000+T W E E T S A B O U T O H C

#OHC2018T R E N D E D I N C H I C A G O

5% INCREASET W I T T E R - D R I V E N W E B T R A F F I C O V E R 2 0 1 7

70,000+F O L L O W E R S

10,500+P H O T O S P O S T E D

223,000I M P R E S S I O N S F R O M I N S TA G R A M S T O R I E S

68,000+F O L L O W E R S

1,500+U S E S O F S P E C I A L LY-D E S I G N E D G E O F I LT E R S

41,000I M P R E S S I O N S

15%O F S N A P C H AT U S E R S W H O W E R E S H O W N T H E F I LT E R S U S E D T H E M

144 MILLION TOTAL9

11%16%

14%

24%5 5 T O 6 4

4 5 T O 5 4

3 5 T O 4 4

6 5 T O 7 4

2 5 T O 3 4

1 8 T O 2 4

U N D E R 18

7 5 O R O L D E R

21%5%

4%5% 5,000 children participated in OHC

55–64 M E D I A N A G E G R O U P

A G E

$ 7 5 , 0 0 0 –$ 9 9 , 9 9 9 16.4%$ 5 0 , 0 0 0 –$ 7 4 , 9 9 9 19.8%$ 2 5 , 0 0 0 –$ 4 9 , 9 9 9 13.5%L E S S T H A N $ 2 5 , 0 0 0 4.5%

$ 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 – $ 1 4 9 , 9 9 9 22.9%

10.7%$ 1 5 0 , 0 0 0 –$ 1 9 9 , 9 9 9

12.2%$ 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 O R M O R E

I N C O M E

AUDIENCEThe CAC conducts extensive audience and attendance research in order to evaluate and improve OHC. In 2018, more than 5,200 attendees completed a post-event survey about their OHC experience. The survey responses inform the figures found in the remainder of this report.

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0.4%A M E R I C A N I N D I A N O R A L A S K A N AT I V E

7.0%A S I A N

3.2%B L A C K O R A F R I C A N A M E R I C A N

5.5%L AT I N O / A O R H I S PA N I C

0.5%N AT I V E H A W A I I A N O R PA C I F I C I S L A N D E R

81.0%W H I T E

2.4%O T H E R

91% 9 1 , 0 0 0 L O C A L S

9% 8 , 9 0 0 T O U R I S T S

53.8%C I T Y O F C H I C A G O 5 3 , 8 0 0 P E O P L E

37.3% C H I C A G O S U B U R B S

3 7 , 3 0 0 P E O P L E

6.6% O T H E R U S S TAT E S

6 , 6 0 0 P E O P L E

1.9% I L L I N O I S , O U T S I D E

C H I C A G O A R E A 1 , 9 0 0 P E O P L E

0.4% I N T E R N AT I O N A L 4 0 0 P E O P L E

E T H N I C I T Y

68% W O M E N

31% M E N

1% P R E F E R T O S E L F - D E S C R I B E

G E N D E R

R E S I D E N C Y

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S I T E V I S I T SSince 2011, OHC has more than quadrupled in size.

About 29% of survey respondents said 2018 was the first time they attended OHC.

2 0 1 1

84,000

2 0 1 2

142,000

2 0 1 3

194,000

2 0 1 4

285,000

2 0 1 5

320,000

2 0 1 6

380,000 2 0 1 7

347,000

2 0 1 8

366,000

ATTENDANCE

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N E I G H B O R H O O D V I S I T SFor the first time since Open House Chicago began, a slight majority of visits (51%) took place in neighborhoods outside of downtown. Each year, OHC visitors have become more comfortable exploring more neighborhoods. 75% of survey respondents visited at least one community outside of downtown in 2018. On average, OHC visitors now explore 2.52 neighborhoods – a 35% increase since 2011.

Attendance in 2018 was strong in new neighborhoods (Austin, Beverly and Morgan Park) and at new sites citywide. There is some evidence of an attendance plateau at sites and neighborhoods that are long-term fixtures in OHC, but this is not a bad thing after years of rapid growth. 90% of sites are satisfied with the amount of visitor traffic they receive.

NUMBER OF SITES

% OF TOTAL SITE VISITS

Downtown 6 2 4 9 %

Neighborhoods 2 1 7 5 1 %

NEIGHBORHOOD SITES SITE VISITS

Downtown 62 180,600

Austin 11 4,000

Avondale 4 2,800

Back of the Yards 4 6,300

Beverly 5 7,800

Bridgeport 5 4,900

Bronzeville 12 4,100

Edgewater 10 10,500

Englewood 2 1,100

Evanston 16 16,500

Garfield Park 4 3,500

Gold Coast / Near North Side 21 30,500

Hyde Park 7 4,800

Lakeview 9 4,800

Lincoln Park 13 10,000

Lincoln Square / Ravenswood 6 5,800

NEIGHBORHOOD SITES SITE VISITS

Logan Square 7 6,700

Morgan Park 3 4,600

Near West Side 10 8,100

North Lawndale 5 2,400

Oak Park 9 9,400

Pilsen 4 2,700

Rogers Park 7 2,800

South Loop / Prairie Avenue 6 8,800

South Shore 4 1,200

Ukrainian Village 6 5,900

Uptown 7 8,400

Washington Park 2 400

West Ridge 7 4,000

West Town 6 2,900

Woodlawn 5 1,000

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H O W D I D T H E Y G E T A R O U N D ? O T H E R AT T E N D A N C E & P R O G R A M H I G H L I G H T S

38%W A L K I N G

36%C A R

24%M E T R A & C TA

2%B I C Y C L E

• More than 600 children and their families enjoyed an Open House Chicago Family Festival at the Chicago Architecture Center

• More than 270 visitors interacted with the CAC’s Teen Ambassadors, supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, at the Overton Business & Technology Incubator, where they shared research on the Bronzeville neighborhood

• 70 family-friendly sites offered experiences suitable for visitors with young children

• 20+ sites hosted music, dance or comedy performances; visual arts exhibits or openings; or hands-on arts activities

• More than 12 sites offered architect-led tours

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I loved my OHC weekend! Having a priority pass was a great advantage; skipping waiting in long lines allowed me and my friend to visit many sites! I also loved the chance to visit neighborhoods I had not visited before.

Open House Chicago is the number one best thing going on. My husband and I have been every year and put it on the calendar as soon as the date is announced. We tell all our friends about it. We LOVE it. What a wonderful event!

I did not know how beautiful one of the sites was even though I’ve walked passed this site several times. OHC gave me incentive to wander in and explore. I wish I had known about it earlier.

I LOVE this event. It makes me feel more at home in the city. I love meeting the people who greet you at the events. I tell everyone about this weekend and urge people from other cities to plan their trip to Chicago around this event.

As an architecture student, it was really amazing to be able to check out some of the best architecture in Chicago. It was also very special to be able to tour some of the top architecture firms in the world and get a first-hand look at how they run and operate.

I have had so much fun with friends during previous OHCs that one of my buddies flew in from Denmark especially for the OHC weekend. We had such an amazing time seeing Evanston, Bridgeport and Back of the Yards. People were so especially warm and friendly. He is already planning for next year’s OHC.

This year, I chose to focus on Ukrainian Village. What a great experience—not only architecture, but learning about its history and community, enjoying a delicious lunch at a local cafe, purchasing food products at local delis and viewing contemporary art at the local jewel of a museum.

OHC creates such a buzz in the city. It’s kind of like a scavenger hunt and it’s so awesome running into followers from Instagram out and about. There is also a great opportunity to meet new friends.

Discovering the hidden gems in this city are always a source of great pride and surprise, and the camaraderie it engenders amongst total strangers is magical.

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60,600 PEOPLE ( 6 1 % O F AT T E N D E E S ) V I S I T E D A N E W N E I G H B O R H O O D A S A

R E S U LT O F O H C

97,700 PEOPLE ( 9 8 % O F AT T E N D E E S ) H AV E A N E N H A N C E D A P P R E C I AT I O N F O R T H E N E I G H B O R H O O D S T H E Y V I S I T E D A S A

R E S U LT O F O H C

93,500 PEOPLE ( 9 4 % O F AT T E N D E E S ) P L A N T O R E T U R N T O N E I G H B O R H O O D S

T H E Y V I S I T E D D U R I N G O H C

93% OF LOCALS ( 8 4 , 6 0 0 P E O P L E ) S A I D O H C M A D E T H E M F E E L “ P R O U D T O B E A C H I C A G O A N ”

The CAC measured OHC’s economic, educational and behavioral impact on participants and Chicago. These figures include both locals and tourists, unless stated otherwise.

IMPACT

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E C O N O M I C I M PA C TThe CAC queried participants about their spending during OHC. Using the spending per person information listed below, the CAC estimates that OHC participants contributed $7.3 million to the Chicago economy:

$40 C H I C A G O R E S I D E N T S

$63 S U B U R B A N I T E S

$300 D O M E S T I C T O U R I S T S

$770 I N T E R N AT I O N A L T O U R I S T S

$7.3 MILLION TOTAL ECONOMIC IMPACT

82,400 PEOPLE ( 8 2 % O F AT T E N D E E S ) S H O P P E D O R AT E AT A R E S TA U R A N T W H I L E AT T E N D I N G O H C

In total, OHC attendees have contributed an estimated $47.3 million to the Chicago economy over the past eight years.

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FEEDBACK

OHC is a wonderful experience for both the site and the guests. I had a great time, as usual, and my volunteers are already asking if they can help next year!

We hold a lot of Chicago history and love sharing our unique spaces with OHC attendees. The event is always a success for us.

We participated because we are a design firm in the Inland Steel building. We love being part of the design legacy of the building and are happy to open our doors to the public to share with them how we are carrying that legacy forward.

Love being able to speak with people who are passionate about buildings. We had an amazing time this year!

OHC has been one of my favorite Chicago events to attend, so participating in it was a dream come true. It exceeded my expectations. I was very impressed by how organized it was.

This is our fourth year and we love it! We meet so many interesting folks, and it is a real pleasure. Every year, the event exceeds our expectations.

Open House Chicago always exceeds our expectations because the program is so expertly facilitated by the CAC staff with a helpful training session, materials and support. It is truly a pleasure participating in OHC each year, and I consider this event to be the very model of an expertly executed program.

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Satisfaction with OHC continues to be very high, with 98% of survey respondents saying they would attend the festival again. Visitors have consistently rated the event at or above 4.5 out of 5 since 2012.

In addition, 94% of OHC site hosts rated the overall experience as “excellent” or “very good” on a 5-point scale and 89% indicated that they are “extremely likely” or “likely” planning on having their site participate again.

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SAVE THE DATE FOR OHC 2019!O C T O B E R 1 9 - 2 0

PROGRAM MANAGERE R I C A L L I X R O G E R S

PHOTOSM I C H A E L C O U R I E RA N N A M U N Z E S H E I M E RJ O N AT H A N R O G E R SF R A N C I S S O N

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A R C H I T E C T U R E . O R G