Why I Love Historic East and West Urbana, Illinois
East Urbana or West Urbana…I love both of these historic neighborhoods, and I’ll admit to having a biased opinion: I live there.
When my husband and I bought our house, we honed in on this location for all the following reasons:
- Walking distance. Historic Urbana is walking distance to, well, just about everything! Walk to the university and everything that goes with it, walk to the local schools, walk to downtown Urbana, walk to the Farmer’s Market at Lincoln Square…I LOVE that we can go out to dinner, or to a concert and not need a car!
- Carle Park. It’s one of the most peaceful places on Earth, in my opinion, and the homes surrounding it have incredible views. My dog loves it, too, mostly for all the squirrels…
- Victory Park. This one’s in East Urbana, and it’s just a great place to meet up with friends and family. There’s a large picnic pavilion, and a playground for the kids…spend some time there and you won’t regret it.
- The history. Some people love the charm of older homes, but wouldn’t care to live in one. Not me. I love everything about older homes…even the ones that need some fixing up. And East Urbana has historic homes that are affordable (in the lower $100,000s)! That’s something you won’t find in larger cities, or most other places in the U.S., for that matter.
- The people. Our neighborhood has block parties, and neighbors invite neighbors over for barbeques. Even the neighbors I don’t personally know will stop to talk with you on the street. It’s just a friendly bunch of people.
- The brick streets and sidewalks. Not every street or sidewalk is made from brick, but there are enough of them to give the neighborhood a distinct historic look, and keep lots of unnecessary traffic away.
- The trees. Historic Urbana is OLD, as I already mentioned, and the trees prove it. Hundreds of trees line the streets and shade the neighborhood during the warmer, blooming months. It’s absolutely fantastic.
- The lawns. We don’t have a homeowner’s association, or anything else to monitor what we do with our yards. Many homeowners have foregone grass in the front yard completely and instead have gardens. One front yard consists solely of tulips. Dozens and dozens of tulips. It’s creative, it’s unique, and I, for one, love it.
Now, not everyone I’ve come across finds our yards to be tasteful, or our proximity to the university to be a good thing. And that’s perfectly okay. But those who love historic Urbana wouldn’t have it any other way. We’re pretty thankful for our neighborhood…and our neighbors.
Are you interested in living in Historic Urbana, too? Give me a call today...I'd love to show you around the neighborhood!
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