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Just my thoughts on this place, as a native recently returned.
Midwest town, values derive from agriculture traditions, natives are farm family descendants. VERY friendly people for the most part. Hardworking people. Yet the urban culture reflects Chicago, probably because of the University and the influence it has. Lots of Chicago natives have settled here for University of Illinois jobs, or have graduated from the University and chose to stay here, many starting businesses. I would say most of C-U "elite classes" here are not native Champaign Urbana people, but people from other states or Chicago. University of Illinois is the alpha and omega of this town. So there is a culture clash of sorts, urban intellectual elites and native farm descendants. Recent years has seen massive development in the University areas, it looks completely different than it did 25 years ago. It has a look and feel of urban Boston. When you drive from areas older areas of Champaign-Urbana into the university, you almost feel like you've driven into a completely different modern and wealthy city. All new buildings, high rise apartments for students.
There are very nice homes in outlying older neighborhoods, many have been destroyed by development, but there are still nice homes to buy here, and they are very affordable, about 100K or thereabouts. If you want to live in newer suburbs, then you are looking at 200K or more. C-U has very good restaurants, lots of options for eating out if that is your thing, also affordable for the most part. It has nice parks, Meadowbrook in south C-U is a fantastic place to unwind. C-U is also not far from great state parks like Kickapoo, and if you want to skip across state lines, Turkey Run is a short drive east. A very bicycle friendly place for those who love the sport. There are lots of things to do in this town if you are willing and able to get out and meet people. I like fantasy gaming, so Titan Games in Champaign is a real treat.
The roads are terrible, which is a huge change from the city I lived in growing up (70's, 80s). Back then, roads were immaculately maintained. It was then when Windsor road was completely repaved and widened. I remember going to bloomington on a high school field trip and marveling at their crap roads as the bus bounced and hit potholes, which made me realize then that Champaign had great roads. Not true today. Today I drive C-U roads like running a gauntlet, twisting and curving to avoid destroying my suspension.
Crime rates in C-U are abysmal. You can regularly read on reddit of students complaining about "gang" attacks, which never show up on the news, which tells me it is being kept under the rug. I am not sure how much this has to do with out migration from Chicago to downstate (particularly when Chicago razed public housing there like Cabrina Green), and while C-U always had a problem with crime, it seemed to uptick severely after the 1980's. Suffice to say, you want to stay out of North Side Champaign, just over the east-west railroad tracks.
I've read that Illinois is 2nd in the nation as far as property taxes go, behind NJ. C-U has very high property taxes, particularly in Urbana. I talked to a realtor recently about the market prospects, for homes in this area, and he said that Urbana was gradually become a landlord town, all the homes there are being sold to people who plan to turn them into rentals. If people choose to buy a home here in C-U, they choose Champaign because of the lower property taxes (which are still very high) and Urbana is becoming ghettoized, as families are choosing not to buy homes and raise families there due to the high property taxes. With the ghettoization of Urbana, you are seeing more crime, and a lot more police activity there as a result.
With the exception of the University population, it seems to me that like the older neighborhoods of C-U, the resident native population is aging with declining health. A recent trip to a local walmart showed almost everyone over 50. Many were obese, several rolling around in disability scooters. I also noticed that Carle Hospital has, over the years, build several megastructures to care for these older people. Many of the local employers here offer Health Alliance insurance which, oddly enough, is owned by Carle. So people are tied to the area after retiring as they can't leave without losing their health care.
Champaign Urbana is a weird place. Dying and growing at the same time. Two cultures. Vibrant new buildings while the roads deteriorate. Lots of young people living in University enclaves, surrounded by an older population and dying inner city neighborhoods, and outward expansion of wealthier suburbs. While I am back here for a time to take care of family issues, I don't plan on staying.
Last edited by Cat777; 05-02-2019 at 01:20 PM..
Reason: corrected sentence structure
Boy, did you hit this on the head regarding Champaign. I went to school at the U of I (originally from Chicago) and ended up buying a business in Champaign during the 1980's, so spent 70's and 80's mostly there, including a stint at Kraft, which made me a hybrid townie. My wife is a native and we visited 5 times in 2016 dealing with elderly family. I once really enjoyed living there, but it is sad in much of the town and at the same time astounding at the changes on campus. Except for the quad area, campus has no real character anymore, just high rises. I really don't wish to return anytime soon either.
I couldn't wait to get out of there when I went to school there 20+ years ago ... ugh what a dump
doesn't sound like much has changed, and by looking at street view and the absolutely HIDEOUS architecture displayed on green street and other areas of town, it just makes me sad. I went back for a football game a few years ago and couldn't believe how absolutely garbage the roads were... but its a very bad and small minded city with way too much crime and nonsense, I don't think anyone would want to live there if they had a choice
Yes, the town has had a lot of changes, and not all for the better. So far as I can tell the only real "improvements" have been campus area, downtown champaign and urbana also have lot of remodeling and nice places to eat. A lot of old town character has been lost. Remember the old Sweet Corn Festival, how great that was? All the free corn you could eat, nice free games for kids, and family activities, all charm. Now it's all commercialized, pay to play. There used to be a county fair every summer, that was free to get in, and perfectly safe for everyone. When they started charging for that in the 1980's, my friends and I would try to sneak in. Good times. Then it started getting violent. Anyway, yeah, C-U is past it's prime as a town, it's been hollowed out and dissected.
My question is if you went to the Urbana Wal-mart or Champaign. The Urbana location is exactly as you describe but I do see younger crowds at Champaign. Most of the under 55 crowd is at Target and Aldi rather than Wal-mart IMHO.
To add to PerseusVeil, the City of Champaign are one of the VERY FEW Illinois governments with AAA ratings. The pensions are slightly underfunded (70-80%) and the property taxes are lower. One of the reasons Chambana has crappy roads is the state government is withholding every city's portion of income tax revenues. As we all know, the state would rather fritter that away than remit it back to the cities for infrastructure projects. The roads are crappy in most cities in Illinois, not just here. One of the reasons Champaign continues to get outside investment is a stable, fiscally responsible, pro-business government. Urbana had over 28 years of spendthrift, anti-business governments and has been a boat anchor economically for the county. The new mayor is trying to undo some of the damage but its going to take a long time. Lincoln Square mall being dead doesn't help.
My question is if you went to the Urbana Wal-mart or Champaign. The Urbana location is exactly as you describe but I do see younger crowds at Champaign. Most of the under 55 crowd is at Target and Aldi rather than Wal-mart IMHO.
Yes, it was the Urbana walmart. I don't get up to Champaign shopping much, the last time I was up there I went to Barnes and Noble, and was stunned at the poor condition of parking lot, some of the potholes I drove around must have been a half foot or more deep. That is store property though.
Champaign may be an oasis in a state of dying and cities and towns, probably because the state has not sacrificed its crown jewel, the University of Illinois.
I would like to think that the high property taxes, which could very well end up being the achilles heel of local economy, could be rectified by consolidating the county/city/township governing bodies into one governing unit, as well as putting the MTD, Forest Preserve, park districts under this umbrella. That alone could reduce property taxes by close to half. But would that money even be credited back to local taxpayers? Unlikely. Experience tells me the money saved would disappear into a black hole of government spending hogs, with no property tax relief, so I wonder if making these efforts to reduce costs are even worth it to local taxpayers.
Without large property tax relief, there is going to be little Urbana mayor can do I'm afraid.
Families will not buy houses and settle in Urbana, without that, there is no incentive for businesses to locate there. Remember the Great Impasta restaurant that relocated their then successful business from Champaign to Urbana Lincoln Square? They relocated for cheaper rent, then after doing so found that there was no consumer market in Urbana, their business nosedived and they closed.
You have to have young vibrant families buying houses and living in Urbana to have a thriving economy. Those families want low property taxes, clean neighborhoods, and safe schools for their kids. Sky high property taxes is the first domino falling which gets a city started on a downward spiral, rentals move in, good families move out, neighborhoods go ghetto with kicked in storm doors and high crime. The schools follow, and become violent places where children get bullied and teachers are too terrified to enforce any discipline. Once you reach a point, there is no recovery, not without a LOT of work and investment, it becomes a self perpetuating vicious cycle. The best thing Urbana can do is cut their property taxes in half as soon as possible and provide strong incentives for people to buy houses in Urbana to live and raise families.. Otherwise it will keep getting worse, with no end in sight.
A someone who's lived in the area for 25 of the last 30 years. I think you've really glossed over the transformation of downtown Champaign.
You've hit the nail on the head with Urbana property taxes, though. We're living in one of the smaller, surrounding communities now, but are considering moving back to Champaign (where we once owned a home, and where we both still work) after our son graduates high school next year. Urbana isn't even a consideration, though, as the Tax:Quality-of-Life ratio is grossly out of whack, comparatively.
I was in Champaign-Urbana for a couple of days last winter. It actually seemed like a pleasant and liveable area.. I guess downtown Champaign was a bit run down in spots, but I ate at a good hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurant! The university area felt very academic and serious to me, not like Iowa City which has more of a party atmosphere. I walked around the newer development by the Meijer on the south side of Urbana and enjoyed the wide open spaces!
Have the property taxes in Urbana increased dramatically, or have they always been high? Consistently high taxes should be priced into the real estate market.. an unexpected increase is tough to take though.
Property taxes in Urbana have been some of the highest in the county for many years. One of the reasons is that both Carle and OSF (Formerly Presence) hospitals are taking advantage of Speaker Madigan's bailout of Chicago hospitals. He passed a law that allowed non-profit hospitals to deduct their charitable giving (treating indigent patients) from their property taxes. Guess what, most hospitals have paid nothing for years.
Rather than cut back on the spending, Urbana continued to spend like they would get the money and now claims that they are being short changed. They knew it was coming as property taxes are paid 1 year in arrears and could have adjusted budgets accordingly. Maybe they should cut back on non-essential items instead.
So now, Urbana's property taxes are 18% higher than Champaign with more restrictive zoning, a high number of empty storefronts and a near junk credit rating. They have money to pay for people to have their broken taillights fixed at politically connected auto shops though.
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RE:Champaign
