With less than a month until the new academic year begins, this is a time of year when we expect an influx of new students, faculty, and staff to begin moving to the area. There is a lot to love about our cities, but there are also some quirks that transplants to the area may not be expecting. With half of the Editorial Board comprising out-of-state transplants, some of us can remember a time and place when “corn sweat” wasn’t a summer nuisance and Lady Emu wasn’t a household name. So this week we offer some of our best advice, warnings, and a warm welcome to new C-U residents — including some tips from you, our loyal readers.
- Champaign and Urbana are twin cities, but residents of either one will often passionately insist that they are very different and one is better than the other. This includes the debate as to whether it is Champaign-Urbana or Urbana-Champaign. This ridiculous but admittedly fun debate inspired a whimsical t-shirt campaign in 2022 in which the respective mayors of Urbana and Champaign tried to outsell each other on Team Urbana or Team Champaign t-shirts.
What you need to know is that taxes are cheaper in Champaign and the downtown is larger with a more vibrant nightlife, but Urbana is considered the artsier, more liberal side of town with a reputation for backyard chickens. What you also need to know is that you can drive from one end of Champaign to the other in Urbana in less than 20 minutes, even during rush hour, so unless you have school-age children in your household it’s not a huge deal which city you choose to live in. Urbana does have stronger protections in place for renters under Chapter 12.5 of the Urbana City Code, “Landlord-Tenant Relationships.” - If you do have school-age children, buckle up because both Urbana and Champaign school districts have been embroiled in recent drama. Champaign Unit 4 School’s school-of-choice system can be confusing. One reader responding to our request for advice wrote, “The whole school-of-choice thing with Unit 4 was a lot to take in, so do your research. Before moving here, I would consider a neighborhood because of the school my future children would go to, but it’s not like that in Champaign (I can’t speak to Urbana.) School-of-choice worked out fine for us, but it was such a headache learning about it.” ChambanaMoms has a helpful online guide to help you navigate that process, as well as other valuable information about C-U’s school options and districts.
- Our climate is kind of a pain in the ass. In the summer you can expect high heat and humidity and the aforementioned “corn sweat.” The winter can get really cold and windy. It’s very important to take extreme temperatures on either end of the spectrum very seriously.
In addition to dressing in seasonally appropriate clothing and limiting time outdoors when the weather conditions are prohibitive, you may also need to adapt your home or car for the seasons. Cars should have all-season or winter tires, and if you don’t know how to drive in the snow or ice, you should stay home if you can. Homes, especially older homes, may benefit from winterizing. Given the ever-increasing prices of electricity in our community, there are economic benefits to this as well.
Beyond heat and cold, newcomers should also be prepared for some pretty impressive thunderstorms some of which carry the threat of tornadoes. Chambana Weather, a resource by Meteorologist Andrew Pritchard (a Smile Politely contributor!) is a fantastic resource for weather information. You can sign up for free daily emails on his website. In addition to the daily forecast you can also get need-to-know information like changes in weather related policy and practice. For instance, on July 15th many residents were taken by surprise when warning sirens went off without a tornado in sight. They didn’t know that in 2023, following a destructive derecho storm, the policy for when to activate outdoor warning sirens in Champaign County changed to include not only confirmed tornadoes, but also for thunderstorms with wind speeds exceeding 80 miles per hour or hail over 2.5 inches in diameter. - Radon is a prevalent health risk around here. Radon is a radioactive gas that gets released from soil as part of natural decaying processes. It’s also the number two leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. And C-U has especially high levels of radon. There are laws in place including the Illinois Radon Awareness Act and the Illinois Real Property Disclosure Act. These primarily concern disclosures of known indoor radon exposure or risks, especially at the time of purchasing a property. Neither require ongoing property testing, or that mitigation be conducted if tests indicate high levels of radon.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health you should test your home for radon every two years. The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District sells test kits for $7.25 which you can purchase from their Environmental Health Division by visiting their building. If you do find high levels of radon in your home, it is advisable to have a professional install a mitigation system. It’s not cheap, but it’s probably cheaper than treatment for lung cancer. - On a happier note, our cities have a lot of fantastic events going on, especially during the summer. There are tons of free outdoor music events including Friday Night Live and The Beat in Champaign, and Urbana PostMark and After Market in Urbana. Rose Bowl Tavern has live music events seven days a week, including a weekly hootenanny which is a sort of jam session open mic night. PYGMALION is a highlight every September and includes several days of music, entertainment, and revelry. We recommend joining our mailing list to receive The Weekender to keep up with cool events in our town.
- Several readers also noted the ease and convenience of visiting Chicago, St. Louis, and Indianapolis from C-U. Midwesterners have a “can do” attitude when it comes to driving so the two to three hours it takes to get to one of these cities is considered negligible. But even those without cars will find several affordable ways to get to Chicago ranging from Amtrak to bus services, including the Peoria Charter shuttle service, which offers several daily routes.
- New residents can and should apply to the Chambana Welcome Crew and get matched with a personal ambassador to help welcome them to town. Chambana Welcome Crew Ambassadors are folks with broad networks of interests and they are even given a modest budget to take you out on the town while they regale you with all the cool amenities and opportunities in C-U. It’s a great way to start finding your people.
We are so excited to welcome our new neighbors over the coming months and we hope you will love our cities as much as we do. Did we miss any important advice or hot tips? Let us know in the comments on social media.
The Editorial Board is Jessica Hammie, Julie McClure, Patrick Singer, and Mara Thacker.