Grad student with spouse and cat moving to Urbana (Champaign: apartments, rentals)

[bbfamcat]

We are moving to Urbana Champaign in July 2022, and looking for recommendations for quiet, cat friendly, and affordable (living on stipend, single income) 1 (ideally 2 bedrooms) apartment.

We read that parking is expensive on campus (UIUC) so it might be better to live in places with bus route to the University. Safety is our top priority and sadly with the reduced income, affordability is next to the top priority. We are looking at $700-800 rental.

Appreciate any information.

[NVMove]

Hi bbfamcat,

I'm not real up to date on what apartments cost there anymore, but I did live there for a while, so hopefully some of this might help.

Yes - parking is expensive, but even moreso, parking is a pain (on campus). So - if you can avoid a car on campus it is a big win. So - I would definitely look for something on one of the bus routes that goes to your part(s) of campus frequently. In case you haven't seen it, here are bus maps for the area:

https://mtd.org/maps-and-schedules/maps/

Note that not all routes operate at the same frequency.

It really depends on what part of campus you need to get to. Like - if you are engineering (north part of campus), you might want to situate on different routes than if you are in business, or other departments on the more south parts of campus. If you are a vet student, that would sort of define what route you want to be on. You can get anywhere from anywhere, but you might end up on a pretty circuitous route with transfers.

Campus is pretty bike friendly, so if you are interested in that, I'd scope out good routes between your potential home and campus to see if there is a good / safe route you can take. Of course, biking in the winter is not for the faint of heart.

Regarding crime, there are definitely places to avoid. I'm not up to date enough to tell you for sure, but here is a map of crime provided by Champaign police:

https://experience.arcgis.com/experi...d3afb4784c9e8/

I am guessing Urbana also provides this kind of data / map. (I see Urbana locations on this map, but am not sure it includes everything.)

I know there is a probably not too representative subset of students and grad students who post regularly on the UIUC Reddit forum. You might get some very current responses there if you haven't tried that yet. https://www.reddit.com/r/UIUC/

I think your budget will likely limit your options pretty heavily, but I am guessing there is probably something to fit. You just might need to look pretty hard to find it.

[bbfamcat]

Originally Posted by NVMove

Hi bbfamcat,

I'm not real up to date on what apartments cost there anymore, but I did live there for a while, so hopefully some of this might help.

Yes - parking is expensive, but even moreso, parking is a pain (on campus). So - if you can avoid a car on campus it is a big win. So - I would definitely look for something on one of the bus routes that goes to your part(s) of campus frequently. In case you haven't seen it, here are bus maps for the area:

https://mtd.org/maps-and-schedules/maps/

Note that not all routes operate at the same frequency.

It really depends on what part of campus you need to get to. Like - if you are engineering (north part of campus), you might want to situate on different routes than if you are in business, or other departments on the more south parts of campus. If you are a vet student, that would sort of define what route you want to be on. You can get anywhere from anywhere, but you might end up on a pretty circuitous route with transfers.

Campus is pretty bike friendly, so if you are interested in that, I'd scope out good routes between your potential home and campus to see if there is a good / safe route you can take. Of course, biking in the winter is not for the faint of heart.

Regarding crime, there are definitely places to avoid. I'm not up to date enough to tell you for sure, but here is a map of crime provided by Champaign police:

https://experience.arcgis.com/experi...d3afb4784c9e8/

I am guessing Urbana also provides this kind of data / map. (I see Urbana locations on this map, but am not sure it includes everything.)

I know there is a probably not too representative subset of students and grad students who post regularly on the UIUC Reddit forum. You might get some very current responses there if you haven't tried that yet. https://www.reddit.com/r/UIUC/

I think your budget will likely limit your options pretty heavily, but I am guessing there is probably something to fit. You just might need to look pretty hard to find it.

Thank you NVMove for the useful information. We are beginning the research process now and the information that you have provided would come in handy. We considered Graduate Housing, but with a pet, we can only choose Ashton Woods which is not ideal for us. We are most likely to end up with a higher rental but we will just be more frugal in other areas - our cat requires lifelong chemotherapy so that adds to the cost too. Well, I'm sure we will get everything figured out.

[Bun.E.Bee]

Hi there - first look into vet services to the vet school for your cat. They may have student rates for services. In Urbana there are a number of houses and rentals close to campus so you may be able to walk. I lived near University and Lincoln and walked to classes in the middle of campus. I lived in a shared house also in Urbana very cheap, so that may be a good option.

[NVMove]

Hi,

One more thing....

There's a "Welcome Crew" someone told me about. They exist to welcome new people to the community.

They might be able to help you out. I looked at their page and there are a variety of "ambassadors" with different backgrounds that you can connect with. One of them might know some good places for you to look at:

https://yourewelcomecu.com/cwc/

-NVMove