Champaign–Urbana


The Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, also known as Champaign–Urbana and Urbana–Champaign as well as Chambana, is a metropolitan area in east-central Illinois. As defined by the Office of Management and Budget, the metropolitan area has a population of 235,608 as of the 2023 U.S. Census Bureau estimate, which ranks it as the 201st largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. The area is anchored by the principal cities of Champaign and Urbana, and is home to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system.
the OMB defines the metropolitan area to consist of Champaign County, Piatt County, and Ford County. From 2018 to 2023, Ford County was not considered a part of the metropolitan area.
The MSA is part of the larger Champaign–Urbana–Danville Combined Statistical Area, which also includes the Danville micropolitan area, and has a population of 307,260 as of the 2023 estimate.
Journalists frequently treat the metropolitan area as just one city. For example, in 1998, Newsweek included the Champaign–Urbana Metropolitan Area in its list of the top ten tech cities outside of Silicon Valley. Champaign–Urbana also ranked as tenth out of the top twenty-five green cities in the United States, in a 2007 survey made by Country Home magazine.

Urban core development

A number of major developments have significantly changed downtown Champaign since the beginning of the 21st century. Beginning in the 1990s, city government began to aggressively court development, including by investing millions of dollars in public funds into downtown improvements and by offering developers incentives, such as liquor licenses, to pursue projects in the area. The 9-story M2 on Neil project is such an example. The project began in 2007 by taking down the facade of the deteriorated Trevett-Mattis Banking Co. which previously occupied the building site. The facade was retained on the M2 building. Residents first began to lease space in the M2 in the winter of 2009. The M2 includes not just condos for residential occupation, but also retail and office space in its lower floors, a common trend in new developments in the urban core. Across the street, a 9-story Hyatt Place boutique hotel opened in the summer of 2014. In the Campustown area adjoining the University of Illinois, the new 24-story highrise apartment building 309 Green was ostensibly completed in the fall of 2007 but had partial occupancy at least through the fall of 2008. It is tall, making it a full 3 stories higher than the older 21-story Tower at Third, the first contribution to the Urbana–Champaign skyline. The Burnham 310 Project, at 18 stories, which is also taller, was finished in the fall of 2008 and includes student luxury apartments and a County Market grocery store. Burnham 310 connects downtown Champaign to Campustown. In 2013–14, four other mixed-use buildings have been built in Campustown, with heights of 26, 13, 8, and 5 stories. On the University of Illinois campus, Memorial Stadium has gone under major renovation, with construction of new stands, clubs, and luxury suites. Across Kirby Avenue, the Assembly Hall, first built in 1963 and renamed the State Farm Center as part of a major renovation begun in 2014, continues to be the home of Illinois basketball and has resumed hosting concerts and other performing arts after renovation was completed in late 2016. In the late 2000s, the restoration of the Champaign County Courthouse bell tower capped the expansion and renovation of Courthouse facilities and provided a striking focal point in downtown Urbana. These, among other developments, have given the Twin Cities a more urban feel.

Outlying areas

The outlying parts of the metropolitan area differ from the suburban areas of many other metropolitan areas. Instead of a sprawling suburban skirt that encircles the urban area, the urban area abuts large swaths of farmland, with small to medium-sized villages that originated as farming communities. But, as the willingness of professionals to commute longer distances has increased in recent decades, new residential developments have arisen on their edges, dotting the surrounding landscape. Some of these villages are home to as many as 5,000 residents or more, but most are significantly smaller.
Most of these outlying communities, such as Savoy, Mahomet, St. Joseph, Tolono, and arguably Rantoul and Monticello as well, are dependent on Champaign and Urbana for economic and infrastructure support. Predominantly, these cities and villages lie in Champaign County. These areas are populated to a substantial extent with commuters who work in Champaign or Urbana, but reside outside the two cities. Because higher paid professors, doctors and technology professionals who work for the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, the many clinics and hospitals in town, or in the Research Park, are more likely to maintain cars for commuting longer distances and to afford owner-occupied single-family housing, these areas lacking in mass transit and high-density rental projects often have a higher median household income than Champaign or Urbana.
In addition to residential developments in the surrounding, formerly agricultural communities, residential neighborhoods are also growing up in unincorporated areas within a short radius of the city limits, while the cities themselves are also expanding to annex areas of new development. While the annexed areas benefit from municipal services, developments that are willing to forego city sewer systems, libraries and police protection can enjoy the lower tax rates the surrounding townships levy, as fewer services are provided. Areas currently under construction extend as far as around Rising Road west of I-57 and north and east of Willard Airport. Some of this land is in Champaign Township, while some has been annexed to either Champaign or Savoy. Additional land development is occurring north of I-74 in land annexed by both Champaign and Urbana. On the eastern side of the city of Urbana, new business developments such as a Meijer, a planned Menards, and a commercial center with many restaurants and services have broken ground, as well as more suburban housing.
The issue of land development is often hotly contested by local governments. In addition to arguments for and against development, the question of potential annexations, which remove property tax revenues from the surrounding townships while increasing the urban tax base is a point of constant strife between the cities and the surrounding townships. On the other hand, the availability of higher-valued housing in areas belonging to the townships or surrounding villages, which is paid for by workers earning their money within the urban infrastructure also represents a movement of potential tax dollars from Champaign and Urbana to their dependent areas.

Population

Tourism and recreation

Museums

  • Champaign County Historical Museum. Located in the Historic Cattle Bank built in 1858. Features exhibits on the history of the area and the midwest as a whole.
  • Museum of the Grand Prairie. Features historic exhibits on life in the early midwest.
  • Krannert Art Museum. Art Museum featuring both modern and classical art. Many changing exhibits.
  • Orpheum Children's Science Museum. A hands on science museum for children.
  • Spurlock Museum. Over 46,000 artifacts on display focusing around human culture and history throughout the world. Features some of the largest exhibits on Native North American and South American history in the nation.
  • Monticello Railway Museum. Railroad museum with exhibits focused on central Illinois. Main attraction is the operating tourist railroad.

    Parks and recreation

  • Champaign Park District features many parks, hiking trails, and biking trails in the city of Champaign.
  • Urbana Park District includes exercise and biking trails, Crystal Lake, a sculpture park, and other public facilities in the city of Urbana.
  • Robert Allerton Park a private estate donated to the university consisting of a large manor house, formal gardens, and natural woodlands and prairie. Open to the public.

    Colleges and universities

  • The University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign is located jointly in Urbana and Champaign and is the flagship campus for the University of Illinois system.
  • Parkland College is a community college located in Champaign.

    Health

The Champaign-Urbana Metro area has two hospitals located less than a mile apart near University Avenue in Urbana. The Carle Foundation Hospital, and OSF Heart of Mary Medical Center, with a combined total of over 550 physicians. Both hospitals provide various specialized services, and Carle Hospital currently has a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, a Level I Trauma Center, and a medical helicopter service. Both hospitals have struggled to maintain their tax-exempt status with the State of Illinois.
Carle Clinic Association was purchased by the Carle Foundation in 2010. It was renamed Carle Foundation Physician Services, and it maintains several locations next to the hospital, as well as other locations within Champaign-Urbana and other East Central Illinois cities. Christie Clinic, another smaller multi-specialty group practice, is headquartered in downtown Champaign. They are largely affiliated with OSF, but not as closely linked as their Carle counterparts are.
Both hospitals and clinics are affiliated with the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Urbana, part of the larger University of Illinois College of Medicine, which has campuses in Chicago, Peoria, Rockford, and Urbana. The college has a teaching presence at both hospitals, although the facilities are somewhat more extensive at Carle Foundation Hospital.
Piatt County, which is included in the Champaign-Urbana Metro Area, also has a hospital. Kirby Medical Center is a general medical and surgical facility located in Monticello. Both Carle Clinic and Christie Clinic have satellite facilities located at Kirby.