Have you ever met someone and just immediately got a gut feeling that they’re an Urbana person or a Champaign person? (And of course, there are the undergrad students who don’t seem to fit in any of these bubbles). It’s happened to me a few times. I don’t remember where I was or who I was talking to (perhaps at a friend’s birthday party?) when someone began talking about bats in Champaign Urbana. Apparently, someone was keeping track of the bats that visited their backyard. And then a friend of mine remarked, “That’s such an Urbana thing to do.” Factually that statement doesn’t make sense, but as a person who has lived in Urbana her whole life, it makes sense to me. I don’t know it’s just harder for me to imagine some person from Champaign camping out in their backyard at midnight, squinting at some trees in hopes of catching a glimpse of a bat. Champaign and Urbana just have different characters and vibes— Is this making sense to you?
To fully address the issue of Champaign and Urbana people, I need to give you some historical context. So here’s my super brief summary of the history of Champaign and Urbana. Urbana was first settled in 1822 (And apparently first called Big Grove). In 1833, the town was officially named Urbana after another town in Ohio with the same name. As you probably vaguely recall from Mr. Butler’s class, the creation of Champaign is entwined with the Illinois Central Railroad. Basically, the tracks of the Chicago Branch of the Illinois Central Railroad were laid to the west of Urbana. And of course, cities tend to sprout up near train tracks. And so West Urbana was formed and grew increasingly separate from Urbana. In 1861, West Urbana changed officially changed its name to Champaign and you probably know how the rest of the story goes from here. Consequently, Champaign has always felt like the busier more economically developed city while Urbana gives off more historic and natural vibes. Champaign feels larger, louder, and bustling compared to Urbana and that difference can be seen in the stark differences between downtown Urbana and downtown Champaign. And, I guess, sometimes I extrapolate that fact to the people of Champaign-Urbana.
When I think of Urbana, I think of green trees. I don’t know why but my mind just jumps to that association. I also think of cobblestone streets and the sound your car makes when they drive over them. The historical touch the cobblestone streets bring just screams Urbana. And maybe it’s just me, but it’s hard for me to picture a quiet cobblestone streets with a bunch of green trees on the side of the road and a few squirrels running around in Champaign (Although, I’ll admit I’m saying this from a biased perspective — I spend most of my time in Urbana). To get a quick glimpse at the different vibes of Champaign and Urbana, just compare downtown Champaign and downtown Urbana. Downtown Urbana gives off a more historic feel — I vaguely remember sitting in the Courier Cafe once and thumbing through a pamphlet about the building that housed the Courier Cafe which apparently was built sometime in the 1800s, if I recall correctly. I associate downtown Urbana with the courthouse and the “dying” Lincoln Square Mall — which actually has some cool shops like the art coop and Common Ground Food Coop if you venture inside. In comparison, Marketplace Mall in Champaign is bustling and filled with shoppers. Downtown Champaign is just as busy and has less of a historic feel.
So I talked to this old law professor at the University of Illinois for the 2017 oral history project on refugees. He looked to be in his sixties, his hair was greying, his office was filled with pictures of his children (which he promptly showed to us after we exchanged greetings). He was a very blunt man — blunt almost to the point of rudeness. He cursed a lot but was also incredibly knowledgeable. He was the type of man who would be perfect for the oral history project except he’d probably scare the poor subbies who would have to interview him. Oh, and he absolutely hated Champaign’s government. I would say about 70% of the time he cursed, it was in reference to Champaign’s city council. I vaguely recall him saying that the Champaign City Council can go to hell. He talked about how the Champaign City Council tended to lean more Republican and were more resistant to Champaign becoming a sanctuary city than Urbana. Up to this point, all the differences between Champaign and Urbana felt pretty trivial and non consequential in my eyes. In some ways, while Champaign and Urbana have different characters, I always viewed them as dependent on each other — I always felt they would make the same choices. I guess, I didn’t realize how the differences in Champaign and Urbana could lead to two different city councils with opposing views on one issue.
All in all, I’m glad to live in Champaign-Urbana and experience the culture in both Urbana and Champaign. I appreciate the hyphen in Champaign-Urbana.
Sources used: https://champaignil.gov/about-champaign/history/
Oh my God I thought I was the only one! I live in Mahomet, so I feel like I have a more nonpartisan view of the different vibes that these two cities emit. Driving or walking through Urbana is so different from Champaign. Champaign has always felt more bougie than Urbana, but Urbana feels more homey than Champaign. Maybe that sounds completely insane, but that's the only way I can describe it.
ReplyDeleteI think you are absolutely right about the differences between "Urbana people" and "Champaign people". As a fellow Urbana person, I completely agree with this gut distinction in people. I think, like you mention, what is particularly telling is the idea of how their downtowns differ, and the fact that the (arguably) biggest business in downtown Urbana (or at least in Lincoln Square) is the Common Ground, as well as the summer Farmer's Markets, both of which are honestly the epitome of Urbana.
ReplyDeleteWhile I think you're completely right about the differences between Champaign people and Urbana people, it's always bothered me. I never had any reason to interact with people from Urbana before I came to Uni, and sometimes I wonder if that would have affected how much of a Champaign person I really am. Here's my hot take on the matter: I've always felt a little rejected by Urbana people. In general, insults about Champaign (and especially my area of Champaign) being more conservative are thrown at me, and it hurts in the way that you get insulted when people insult something you've known your whole life. It's not genuinely hurtful, but it feels kind of mean. I never chose to live where I do, that was my parents' decision, and I feel like I take weird crap for that sometimes. I definitely don't share the views of the more conservative (but not overly conservative) area of Champaign I live in, but I still feel like Urbana people don't like me when they're generally talking about Champaign people. They also come off as a little holier-than-thou with the Common Ground Food Co-op and the like sometimes too. It's hard to explain, so I'm sorry if this comment is a mess. But I admire your ability to capture some of the fundamental differences between Champaign and Urbana -- you're totally right about their downtowns.
ReplyDeleteAlright I'm gonna try my best not to get too crazy here. From an outsider's perspective, I had no idea what was really different about Champaign-Urbana until I got to Uni. I don't think I even knew where the dividing line was until 7th grade or so (and still don't completely today if I'm gonna be honest). I've always seen Champaign-Urbana as a single unit. I didn't realize that there were differences between the two until I was a freshman, and they were basically what you talk about in this post: Urbana tends to seem more "hippie" while Champaign seems to have a more based or "upper class" vibe. And even that grossly oversimplifies things since it's just ideas I've gotten from people who live in Champaign and Urbana. To be completely honest, that divide seems kind of...off. Or at least a little ridiculous from my perspective. From my experience living out in the country, the big "divide" has almost always been "CU vs. the rural surroundings." Ideally there should be no antagonism there at all, but it's CU that's taking jobs away, getting media attention, getting the state funding, etc. The rural towns are just left to die in its tracks. And again, that's not a totally fair representation of what the major divide should be, but I hope you can see where I'm coming from. I understand that people like to be patriotic about their home town, but not really to the extent I see with Urbana and Champaign. Those differences they have are kind of shallow compared to some of the deeper problems running through the communities regarding wealth inequality and the looming housing crisis. If you think Champaign is conservative, have you been outside CU? There would be a lot more problems with political infighting if all of the farther right people didn't live in places like St. Joe and Mahomet. I know the two towns have differences, but it just feels like the focus is on the wrong differences. If someone wants to educate me on what I'm missing, feel free to. Otherwise, thank you for writing this blog post, sorry this comment is so long, thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
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