Moving to Champaign - Urbana - best/safest areas to look for rental housing (Chicago: sublet, apartments)

[theturboexpress]

We are moving to Champaign - Urbana area in a few months due to a job at the University. My SO and I are not familar with the area at all (moving from the South) and have heard rumors that there are some guidelines to follow when looking at rental housing, i.e. south or west of a certain line, avoid xyz neighborhoods. I've looked on the forums and most of the information given is from a few years ago. What sort of guidelines can we follow when browsing apt / house rental listings on craigslist? Any tips local residents can give us to help steer us from clear disaster? We are looking for something with a minimum of 2 bedrooms, in a safe neighborhood, preferably within biking distance of the University. Thinking in the $500 to $700 range. Trying to avoid any crazy student / loud party type areas. While we have a car, I ride a scooter as my main transportation and my SO likes to bike / walk to work to save money / promote healthy living, so safety in terms of being robbed, having scooter or bike stolen, etc are a high concern. I appreciate any help or insight!

[zhugeliang1]

I lived in Champaign Urbana for 20 years thank gd not anymore. DO NOT LIVE IN THE NORTH END. Hopefully either of you is connected with the University (and it sounds like that is the case), if so, try for grad student housing in Orchard Ridge. Reasonable rents, safe, etc. I used to be a community liasion worker there.

[madpaddy]

Originally Posted by theturboexpress

While we have a car, I ride a scooter as my main transportation and my SO likes to bike / walk to work to save money / promote healthy living, so safety in terms of being robbed, having scooter or bike stolen, etc are a high concern. I appreciate any help or insight!

How far would you consider "biking" distance? And where exactly on campus will your SO be working? With the desire to be able to get to work easily by bike, my recommendation would probably vary depending exactly where on the rather vast campus your SO needs to get to.

In general I think you want to avoid anything north of campus, and anything between Neil street and the west side of campus in Champaign (roudy student area). Probably best to get west of State street. East of campus in Urbana is a bit trickier to give general advice on as there are alternating small pockets of concentrated or semi-concentrated student housing and quieter, more "adult" housing. Savoy is generally quieter and less crime-prone, but may not be the most convenient if you need to get to the northeast quadrant of campus for work.

Something to keep in mind is that C/U/U-of-I has a pretty robust bus service for the size of the urban area. I see more than a few bus-and-bike commuters who use the bus to get close to campus and then bike the rest of the way in. If the weather is crap, you can bus all the way, it just might take a transfer and therefore a little more time.

[theturboexpress]

Thanks so much for the great replies! I didn't even think to include what side of campus he would be on. I went to a tiny college of less than 1500, so something the size of where we are headed blows my mind a bit. He will be working on the east side of campus. He has a job lined up but I don't and we only have 1 car between us, so access to bus will be important as I look for work. As far as distance, I think he routinely bikes about 20-30 min into work here on a daily basis

[illini84]

Hi theturboexpress,

I lived in Champaign-Urbana for about 7 years and know the area very well. I would definitely avoid the north end of Champaign. Bradley Avenue is generally considered the "divider", so try to stay south of Bradley. It sounds like the area just east of the University in Urbana would be perfect for you! Most faculty members live here, as it is easily accessible to campus via bus or bike. They affectionately refer to it as "the faculty ghetto," due to the large number of UIUC faculty who live here, NOT because it's run down or anything. It's a historic, quaint area, that's bike-friendly, yet close to everything. Urbana tends to lean a lot more left than Champaign, although Champaign generally has more development. Downtown Urbana does have a fantastic farmer's market, though, and you'd be close-by. Oh, and I guess it would be important to specifically mention the area I'm referring to as "the faculty ghetto": Generally, it's the "state" streets in Urbana, just east of UIUC. The boundaries would roughly be Lincoln Ave to the west, Vine St to the east, Florida Ave to the south, and Green St to the north. Very safe area with lots of UIUC faculty and nice, unique homes. I'd also suggest the area around West Side Park in Champaign, although there are more rentals there than homes. Walking distance to downtown Champaign (yay!), historic neighborhood, very safe, etc. The only area in Urbana to really AVOID is the Philo Road area (high crime), but that would probably be too far out for your liking anyway. Feel free to message me with any places you're thinking about and I'd be happy to help!

[madpaddy]

Originally Posted by illini84

It sounds like the area just east of the University in Urbana would be perfect for you! Most faculty members live here, as it is easily accessible to campus via bus or bike. They affectionately refer to it as "the faculty ghetto," due to the large number of UIUC faculty who live here, NOT because it's run down or anything. It's a historic, quaint area, that's bike-friendly, yet close to everything....Generally, it's the "state" streets in Urbana, just east of UIUC. The boundaries would roughly be Lincoln Ave to the west, Vine St to the east, Florida Ave to the south, and Green St to the north. Very safe area with lots of UIUC faculty and nice, unique homes.

I was thinking the same thing, although your budget might be a little tight for that area. If you find something in your price range be observant of the immediately adjacent properties; some of them look may like quaint single-family houses at first glance but may actually be year-to-year rentals shared by a group of undergrads. Undergrads aren't necessarily bad neighbors, but its always a bit more of a risky proposition.

The farther east of Lincoln you go, the less likely this is. You probably want to stay at least a block east of Lincoln anyway; there are some frats and sororities still in the last half-block of the west edge of that neighborhood and Lincoln itself is a high traffic area (automobile and pedestrian) which brings a higher risk for crime.

You may find it a bit difficult to get housing at this time of year as many leases are designed to roll over with the school year (Aug 1- July 31 is common). If you're not averse to moving twice, you may want to seek a sublet or other short-term lease just so you can get here and get accustomed to the area without being locked into a location. The "shopping" period for rentals for the next school year starts in the spring. After being here a while you may have your own idea where you'd ideally like to live and there will undoubtedly be more options available at the traditional turn-over time than there are now.

[illini84]

Agreed. I missed your price range in your original post, but I'd agree that it might be a stretch to get a 2 bedroom close to campus for $500-$700--that's more of the rate for a 1 bedroom/studio. You can get a little further away from campus--more east into Urbana--and have some pretty good luck. With the exceptions of the areas I mentioned earlier (north of Bradley Avenue and around the Philo Road area), violent crimes aren't really a problem at all in C-U. I say "violent" because little crimes like bicycle thefts happen all the time, but hey, it's just common sense to not leave one unlocked! Happy hunting!

[theturboexpress]

I put in a call to the Champaign-Urbana Tenant Union, they were very helpful in letting me know which rental companies on my list were ok to deal with and which were not. We are looking into Town and Country Apartments as a strong possibility, but I would like to find at least one or two more back-up options. My SO is going up there in 2 weeks to work on some pre-job paperwork and such at the university and plans to try to squeeze in some apt viewing time while there. We do have some degree of flexibility in pricing, we emphasize safe, non sketchy living environment over cheap any day. Anyone have any experience or thoughts on Town and Country? Know of any similar type places in that area? Another I had looked into was Amber Point, but they are starting to get more expensive. I think at this point, we want to try to stay with a reputable apt management company vs trying to luck out on craigslist renting individually from an owner.

[linicx]

This campus is the size of a small town of 35-40,000 students and teachers

When i talked to campus last year about a post graduate student housing I was told to stay away from the main campus in Champaign and to look in Urbana to avoid crime, loud parties, etc.. That was about a year ago..

Call campus housing tomorrow. .

It will be a culture shock. It always is when you move from one region to the other. Bring your winter clothes and boots. The Plains are cold and windy in the winter. The good news is you aren't to far from St. Louis or Chicago. However there is much to find in Springfield, Bloomington Normal and Peoria in the way of entertainment and restaurants. You'll find 5 malls, 300 restaurants, 3 zoos and other stuff.like renassance faire and state fairs, carriage rides, river cruise and casino.
Yankee food is different too. You won't find too much grits, red eye gravy,. bbq or or sweet tea, but you will find fish and a french bakery and generally pretty good food.

[theturboexpress]

Yes, I am looking forward to "real snow" (I turned the AC on at Christmas this past year =) but not having to revamp my wardrobe. I am afraid you would laugh at what the south considers "heavy duty winter clothes". I'm moving from a tiny rural area (blink and you miss it) so for me, Urbana/Champaign is "The Big City". My SO, on the other hand is moving from a huge metropolitan area, so for him, this is "Small Town" =) We will both have culture shock, but for different reasons.