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. 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. 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.
But he too views the townhouse as a stepping stone. 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.