Moving to Champaign Il help please! (Springfield, Urbana: affordable apartments, houses, neighborhoods)

[Liliana35]

Hi! I'm moving to Champaign Il and have Kids,
do you know about good schools and neighborhoods in Champaign
or do you have any suggestions?

[Switch625]

If you are able to live outside Champaign, I would suggest Saint Joseph. It has the best school system in the county, and a small town feel.

For Champaign itself, if you stay generally south of Springfield Avenue and west of State Street, you should be fine. Anywhere west of Duncan Road is fine. The areas I've outlined range from lower middle income housing and affordable apartments to very high value subdivisions. The exception to this is the north Prospect Avenue development zone north of Interstate 74. The new apartments in that area are very nice. There are abundant shopping options on north Prospect Avenue, and another economic zone along Mattis Avenue and Springfield Avenue where the two avenues intersect. Champaign's downtown is reviving, and though some areas still need work, overall the downtown district is a nice one.

The best schools in Champaign are in the south and west. You should research the area to find which school fits the bill for your children.

[Liliana35]

Thank you alot, I'm sure this will help

Originally Posted by Switch625

If you are able to live outside Champaign, I would suggest Saint Joseph. It has the best school system in the county, and a small town feel.

For Champaign itself, if you stay generally south of Springfield Avenue and west of State Street, you should be fine. Anywhere west of Duncan Road is fine. The areas I've outlined range from lower middle income housing and affordable apartments to very high value subdivisions. The exception to this is the north Prospect Avenue development zone north of Interstate 74. The new apartments in that area are very nice. There are abundant shopping options on north Prospect Avenue, and another economic zone along Mattis Avenue and Springfield Avenue where the two avenues intersect. Champaign's downtown is reviving, and though some areas still need work, overall the downtown district is a nice one.

The best schools in Champaign are in the south and west. You should research the area to find which school fits the bill for your children.

[M TYPE X]

Southwest Champaign is nice. Most of the city is a dump. Urbana is overrated.
I live near the university, but I would like to live downtown; too bad the university and downtown are so separated.

I have a professor that lives pretty close to the southwest corner of Springfield and Prospect Avenues.
That is a nice enough area, with outdoor parks and so on.

[M TYPE X]

There are those who believe that Champaign is moving up. I haven't been here that long yet; ask me a few years from now. I don't really see any major evidence of this.

The south and western edges of Champaign are suitable for those in the family way, I suppose. You could do worse.

[Switch625]

I would avoid living in Urbana. The rich areas are really rich and the poor areas are really poor. There doesn't seem to be a lot of in-between. Also the property taxes are high, and the services provided don't match the taxes you pay. The far eastern edge of Urbana is seeing some development now, but Urbana is mostly a retail and shopping wasteland. It's sad to see how bad off Lincoln Square mall is.

[Switch625]

Originally Posted by M TYPE X

There are those who believe that Champaign is moving up. I haven't been here that long yet; ask me a few years from now. I don't really see any major evidence of this.

The south and western edges of Champaign are suitable for those in the family way, I suppose. You could do worse.

Champaign is definitely better off than it used to be. The downtown area used to be desolate. There has been effort to reclaim neighborhoods in the marginal zone between Springfield Avenue and Washington Street, which has shown some success. The zone between Springfield Avenue and Church Street has seen the most improvements. Prospect Avenue north of I-74 has seen an astounding transformation in the last ten years to the better.

Avoid the Bradley Avenue corridor at all costs. Between Bradley Avenue and I-74 is blighted. There are a few exceptions to that, but it's a good general rule. Lock your doors when driving through that part of the city.

To those who don't know Champaign, all the streets I've mentioned in this post (except Prospect Avenue) are east-west streets.

[M TYPE X]

Originally Posted by Switch625

I would avoid living in Urbana. The rich areas are really rich and the poor areas are really poor. There doesn't seem to be a lot of in-between. Also the property taxes are high, and the services provided don't match the taxes you pay. The far eastern edge of Urbana is seeing some development now, but Urbana is mostly a retail and shopping wasteland. It's sad to see how bad off Lincoln Square mall is.

Ditto on this. In Urbana, one minute I think I am in an enclave, next minute, I think I hit the wrong side of town.

Champaign: The shopping areas feel safe, but many of the neighborhoods - I would not want to live there. Southwest Champaign is a slice of suburbia and fairly bland, although there are a few small strip mall developments.

The cities were not good at clearing the roads and sidewalks after the blizzard, and of course Lincoln Square is blight.
However, the street lighting in the cities is very good, and the postal office is punctual here.

[champaigncitizen]

Housing costs are high for what you get. Property taxes are too high for the services received. Unit 4 schools are a mess good luck getting into a good school, if you are black then that will help. I would agree that St. Joseph is a good alternitive with 15 min commute. Lots of parks and activities for the kids. Downtown is nice in the summer except for parking. Savoy is also a good alternitive with some new business growth and close to university but is a good 20 min drive to shopping districts on*north end of town.

[Drover]

I also like Monticello as an alternative. Nice downtown square, some really sharp houses just off the square (particularly to the East). Don't know a thing about the schools though.