DPD’s Communications and Outreach Division created this guide as a supplement to AP Style and to address department-related style questions. Please consult this when producing copy in order to ensure stylistic consistency across DPD.

Acronyms 

Avoid using on first reference if the audience may not be familiar with the acronym. However, place the acronym in parentheses immediately following the first reference. 

Examples:

The Department of Planning and Development (DPD) will … 

The Department of Housing (DOH) ...
 
Alderman 

When writing out an alderman or alderwoman’s full name and title on first reference, abbreviate as Ald. before the name. Place the ward in parentheses. 

Example: Ald. Julia Ramirez (12th) 

Write out as “alderman” or “alderwoman” when not preceding a name. Use “aldermen” as the plural form. 
 
City 

Capitalize when referring to the City of Chicago as a governmental entity. Lower-case when referring to the city as a general place. 

Examples: 

Responses to the City’s Request for Proposals … 

The best pizza in the city ... 
 
City Council 

Capitalize as City Council when the two words are together. Lower-case as council when the word stands alone. 
 
Commissions/Committees 

Chicago Plan Commission 
Commission on Chicago Landmarks 
Community Development Commission 
Zoning Board of Appeals 
Chicago Development Fund 

For committee names, place “Commitee” last. (Finance Committee, Workforce Development Committee) 
 
Community areas 

The City’s 77 officially defined community areas should take precedence over any neighborhood names that are not part of that official list. For instance, West Town should be used in reference to a business located in Wicker Park. 

When referring to any of the 77, always use “community area” in lieu of “neighborhood.” 
 
Dates 

For dates and years, use figures. Do not use st, nd, rd, or th with dates, and use Arabic figures. Always capitalize months. Spell out the month unless it is used with a date. When used with a date, abbreviate only the following months: Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec.  
 
Decimals 

For all figures that contain decimal points, round to the nearest tenth. 

For decimals that are less than 1, do not include a 0 before the decimal point. (Example: .7) 
 
Departments, Bureaus, Division, Offices 

Reference the DPD organizational chart to determine the correct name. 
 
Department of Planning and Development 

Always write out on first reference. Typically, “Chicago” can be omitted from the name. DPD on subsequent references. 
 
Email addresses 

Do not capitalize any letters in email addresses. 
 
First- and second-person language 

Generally, avoid first person references, such as “our city” or “we welcome your comments,” since these terms can be alienating to people who are not familiar with DPD or the City. Stick to the third person. Exceptions do exist, such as a social media post seeking community feedback. (“How do you envision Milwaukee Avenue in the future? Attend a community meeting ... “) 
 
Headlines 

Capitalize all words in headlines that are more than four letters long. 
 
Inclusive language 

Capitalize Black and Brown. Do not capitalize white. 

Use and capitalize Latino/Latina. Do not use Hispanic, Latinx. 

No hyphen in African American, Asian American, etc. 

Be mindful of pronoun usage and whether the subject has a preference. 
 
LaSalle Street 

One word. (not La Salle) 
 
“L” 

Use double quotation marks when referring to the CTA rail system. 
 
Millions and billions of dollars 

“Million” and “billion” should be written out in all standard copy. 

Example: City Council approved $5 million in TIF assistance for an affordable housing development in North Lawndale. 

In instances such as headlines and break-out boxes, where more concise text is ideal, “million” and “billion” can be abbreviated to “M” or “B.” 

Example: City Council approves $5M in TIF for North Lawndale affordable housing project 
 
Oxford comma 

Do not use the Oxford comma before the last item in a simple list. It can be used in more complex sentences or if the list contains compound items.

Percentages 

Write out "percent" instead of using the % symbol.
 
Phone numbers 

Do not place parentheses around area codes and use hyphens as the standard for copy. 312-744-4190. 

For certain places on the website, such as the DPD home page and the top of press releases, use periods instead of hyphens. 312.744.7144 
 
Request for Proposals/Request for Qualifications 

Write out and capitalize on first reference. 
 
Streets 

For exact addresses, abbreviate both street direction and types. Include a period for both. 

208 W. Washington St. 

1417 E. 65th Pl. 

2100 S. Lake Shore Dr. 

427 E. Oakwood Blvd. 

712 W. Diversey Pkwy. 

5525 S. Pulaski Road (Road is not abbreviated) 

For intersections, spell out the street names and types. Omit compass references. 

Pulaski Road and Lawrence Avenue 

Madison and Wells streets (lowercase a shared street type) 

Chicago and Ashland avenues (lowercase a shared street type) 

For block references that are not an exact address, spell out everything. 

The 200 block of West Madison Street. 

 
For numbered streets, do not use a superscript. 

Examples: 51st and 95th instead of 51st and 95th 

 
Tax Increment Financing 

Write out and capitalize on first reference. 
 
TIF district 

Lower-case “district.” 
 
Time zones 

Do not ever need to specify CT, but specify other time zones when applicable. 
 
Titles 

Capitalize titles when they appear before a name (Commissioner Ciere Boatright, Mayor Brandon Johnson, etc.). Do not capitalize titles that appear after a name. 

For longer titles, it is better to place the title after the name. 
 
URLs 

Capitalize Chicago.gov as well as the names of program-specific microsites. (Chicago.gov/BlockBuilder)