<p>I heard those cities, apart from University of Illinois, are a bit dirty and poor and there's not much to do. Basically, those cities, like the area surrounding them are quite far from "civilization". Is that a fair assessment? I'm thinking about attending UIUC and know that the university itself is great. But what about the area surrounding it? Any thoughts and feedback would be appreciated. Thank you.</p>
<p>Downtown Champaign and downtown Urbana are quite nice. Away from the university and the downtowns, the towns are more suburban than anything. There’s a full-blown ghetto in Champaign, but there’s no reason to go there.</p>
<p>The area’s cultural life tends to happen at or near UIUC. You’ll spend the vast majority of your time near campus anyway.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>People who say this sort of stuff probably have never lived in or visited a rural area . . . I really hate it when people say this–it’s really snobby (no offense OP)</p>
<p>It depends on what your standards are. If you are expecting a big city or a super-posh suburb, then Champaign-Urbana will be below your standards.</p>
<p>They only recently discovered fire.</p>
<p>What are you looking for? Champaign and Urbana are no New York City or Chicago but they are nice towns. They do revolve around the University of Illinois though so even people not affiliated with the University look to UI for activity – sports, cultural events, etc. There are nice restaurants and bars in the downtown areas but there are plenty of places to go in the Campustown area which is where the students tend to hang out. There is an average mall with Bergner’s, Macy’s and your standard mall stores, plenty of stores like Target, Wal-Mart, Meijer, Best Buy, boutiquey locally-owned stores like Bella Mia, Checkered Moon, and Circles, plus grocery stores, even a County Market near campus. There are also theater productions at the Virginia Theater and the Station Theater, as well as the very well-attended annual Roger Ebert Film Festival. The students don’t typically need to find entertainment from town as they are too busy with intramural sports, Big Ten sports, sorority/fraternity functions, parties and bars on campus, numerous events at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and Assembly Hall, not to mention classes and studying.</p>