Some of my favorite events come each spring to the Champaign-Urbana (aka Chambana) area, including the The Illinois Marathon and Ebertfest. From runners to movie buffs and filmmakers, you’ll find folks traveling from all over the United States and several countries to east central Illinois, I wanted to take a moment to introduce my hometown and current residence… and brag a bit on this #MicroUrban community.

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chambana

Champaign skyline from downtown

Meeting at the crossroads between Chicago, St. Louis, and Indianapolis, Champaign-Urbana is home to 145,000 residents and another 45,000 students, care of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Led by the U. of Illinois, a world-renown public research university, Chambana has been described as a “micro-urban” environment, blending a foundation of tech and industrial development while supporting a uniquely diverse population full of a dynamic arts, cultural, sports, and dining scene. And all with an average commute time of 13.7 minutes!

Some recent rankings:
Newsweek – Top 10 Hottest Tech Cities in the World
Readers’ Digest – Top 50 “Best Places to Raise a Family”
Wired Magazine – “For the latest innovation, look slightly south of Chicago to Champaign-Urbana, a.k.a. Silicon Prairie
NerdWallet
 – Illinois’ Third Fastest-Growing City (April 2014)
Smart Growth America – #5 Smart Growth Community (Small Metro Area; April 2014)
Techie.com – “Tech Hub to Watch in 2014″ (January 2014)
Forbes – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked as Top Ten Public College (July 2013)
NerdWallet – #5 in Best Places for Work-Life Balance (July 2013)
Inc. Magazine – EnterpriseWorks named a College-Town Incubator to Watch (June 2013)

This 2011 video does an excellent job of summarizing Chambana #MicroUrban life!

Read more about our Nobel Laureates, Olympians, Paralympians, National Medal of Science Recipients, Oscars, MacArthur Genius Awards, Pulitzer Prize Winners, Grammy Awards, Tony Awards, Emmy Awards here.

Now, this new 2014 video looks to the future… envisioning Champaign-Urbana’s #MicroUrban future!

Hope you can visit sometime!

____
@travelblawg
facebook.com/travelblawg

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission.