Greater Cleveland · 10 cities · public data
How many backyard homes could our neighborhoods hold?
Accessory dwelling units (a backyard cottage, or an apartment in a converted garage) come up at council meetings across the region, usually as a matter of opinion. This atlas adds the numbers. It checks every single-family lot in 10 cities against public parcel, building and zoning records, and shows what current, proposed and hypothetical rules would allow.
The atlas in four numbers
- single-family lots screened
- 180,517
- have physical room for an ADU
- 89%
- 161,526 lots
- are allowed one and have room under today's rules
- 22,339
- Plus 55,784 lots whose rules are not yet verified
- agreement with a blind check against aerial photos
- 95%
- 300 sampled lots, reviewed by hand in 5 of the 10 cities
Three questions it can answer
- 01
Where is there room?
The physical screen ignores zoning and asks only whether a small cottage, or a garage conversion, fits on the lot. Zoom in to see each lot, or out to see neighborhood patterns.
See physical room on the map → - 02
What would a proposed rule allow?
Cleveland Heights is considering Ord. 142-2026. Under it, 12,047 lots would be allowed an ADU and have room, compared with 0 today.
Map Proposed Ord. 142-2026 → - 03
How much housing is that, realistically?
Few owners build. If 2% of eligible lots added an ADU over 10 years, a by-right reform in all 10 cities would add about 3,188 homes: 0.9% more housing. You can change that assumption.
Compare the cities →
The cities
Rules checked 2026-10-13 to 2026-10-14. More cities can be added with the same method.
- Cleveland HeightsToday: new ADUs not allowed
- LakewoodToday: allowed with a conditional-use permit · allowed and with room on 49% of lots
- ClevelandToday: allowed by right in some areas · allowed and with room on 2% of lots · 51% unverified
- Shaker HeightsToday: new ADUs not allowed
- ParmaToday: new ADUs not allowed
- University HeightsToday: new ADUs not allowed
- South EuclidToday: allowed with a conditional-use permit · allowed and with room on 93% of lots
- Garfield HeightsToday: allowed by right in some areas · allowed and with room on 86% of lots
- EuclidToday: rules not yet verified
- Fairview ParkToday: new ADUs not allowed
What it is not
- Not advocacy.It doesn't argue for or against ADUs. It shows what the records say, so a discussion can start from shared facts.
- Not a forecast.How many owners would build is an assumption you can change, based on what happened in cities that reformed their rules.
- Not a permit answer.Results are screening estimates from public data. A specific property needs a site visit and the city's planning office.