Looking for QUIET area in Urbana-Champaign; Regional Adjustment Question Too... (apartments, to rent)

[Frank the Tank]

For a good balance, I'd recommend the houses or smaller apartment complexes that are east of Lincoln Avenue in Urbana. You're still next to campus where you can walk to classes (or at least be a short bike or bus ride away, so you don't have to worry about parking), but it's not in the thick of the bar and Greek scene around Green Street and the Champaign side of campus. I lived in that area for 2 years for undergrad and it was a pretty quiet area while still not being removed from the postive parts of the campus scene.

The culture on campus is definitely Chicago-influenced (I was one of the hoards of suburbanites that headed to U of I that people have mentioned), so that probably accounts for a lot of what you've seen. Outside of campus, though, the Champaign-Urbana area has an industrial feel in the "urban" cores and very rural outside of those cores. Savoy and Mahomet are the equivalents of suburbs with a lot of newer subdivisions. I wouldn't say the town-and-gown relations are that bad compared to any other college town, but that might be because that there is very little mixing - UIUC is a pretty self-contained area, as opposed to, say, UW-Madison where there's more of a gradual transition between the college area and the rest of the town.

[Drover]

One reason why there's a gradual transition in Madison between the university and the town is because there is ideological continuity between the two. Obviously, being 5 blocks from the capitol square helps, but even on the other side of the campus the blend is gradual. UIUC on the other hand is more self-contained almost as a way of maintaining the peace between itself and the town.

[JohnEH81]

Thank you all a whole bunch. It's great to be able to gather so many starting points on here that I wouldn't have had otherwise. By all accounts UIUC is a tremendous school, and is well regarded in the academic community. I've just started to look into a few of the suggestions given, and have indeed found that even in late February I'm behind the eight ball for some places (which is pretty shocking 5-6 months out). Thanks again, and I look forward to playing in the cornfields

[NewGrad]

Originally Posted by M TYPE X

The coolest thing about having OTHER grad students is hearing about their awful apartments. For example, there's this guy that has an 'awesome' monthly rent in some place off of Cunningham Avenue in Urbana. I almost feel sorry for him.

LOL...I used to live in those apartments. They weren't THAT bad.

[ShampooBanana]

Originally Posted by NewGrad

LOL...I used to live in those apartments. They weren't THAT bad.

Town & Country? Nah. They're not bad at all.

[ShampooBanana]

Originally Posted by JohnEH81

Thank you all a whole bunch. It's great to be able to gather so many starting points on here that I wouldn't have had otherwise. By all accounts UIUC is a tremendous school, and is well regarded in the academic community. I've just started to look into a few of the suggestions given, and have indeed found that even in late February I'm behind the eight ball for some places (which is pretty shocking 5-6 months out). Thanks again, and I look forward to playing in the cornfields

I'll echo the sentiments of Frank the Tank and say that your best bet is going to be some of the places on the Urbana side of campus east of Lincoln. It is very close yet still pretty quite, with nice older tree lined streets and an interesting neighborhood nearby. It seems to be popular with the other PhD students, as well.

[crazylilkelly]

Don't live in Rantoul!!!
I live in Savoy & love it. I'm off campus, near a bus line (15min ride to campus) & it's quite!

[M TYPE X]

Somebody just robbed the Subway store at the corner of Kirby and Mattis:
The News-Gazette.com: Restaurant robbery under review
You're not safe anywhere. Except, of course, Savoy.

Champaign: city of excitement, city of mystery!

[new2BR]

I attend grad school at UIUC. There is great bus service in the central areas and the neighborhoods where I lived were quiet and family-oriented.

Specifically, I lived in the sesquicentennial neighborhood to the west of downtown Champaign and east of Prospect Ave. That area has bus access to the entire area, bike and walking access to downtown bars and restaurants, etc.

For some reason, if you live in Urbana, you can be physically closer to the campus without running into drunken undergrads. I also lived within walking distance of UIUC in west Urbana. If you're looking to buy a house while you're there, east Urbana is a great place for a starter house.

The only poor sections of town tend to be northern Champaign and far eastern Urbana. That said, I lived kind of near northern Champaign and never had any problems. Just avoid the frat houses and you should be fine.

Enjoy CU!

[puzzlddd]

If you're looking for a quiet place with minimal undergrad drama but still convenient, I agree with the others: 1) Stay on the edges of town [I live off of north Prospect Ave. in Champaign & really enjoy it] 2) Avoid Green St. 3) Avoid Rantoul.