"There's not enough land." It's a refrain developers wear out, but what they're really saying is, "There's not enough land where I want to build."

A search of city and county records indicates there's plenty of land waiting for that next big development in the metro Chicago area. The City of Chicago has over 11,000 parcels, including 4,600 parking sites, that can be purchased through one of three processes, according to Chicago Cityscape. Cook County has more than double that number: over 25,000 parcels are zoned 1-00, or vacant land.

These totals do come with some qualifiers. A city official acknowledged the number may not be accurate and not all of the lots are vacant, while the 1-00 zoned parcels may be in use as driveways for residential homes, side yards or garages. But the fact remains that there is ample developable land in Chicago, if you know where to look. [Cityscape]