The Benefits of Urbana

Arts and Culture Urbana is home to the Station Theater, Cinema Gallery, the Middle Room gallery, and Griggs Street Potters. Every year, downtown galleries and businesses open their doors to a community-wide Boneyard Arts Festival.

Special Events and Festivals Historic Downtown Urbana is home to the annual Sweetcorn Festival, Street Theater Festival, Boneyard Arts Festival, Beer and Chili Cook Off, and Historic Main Street Walking Tour. The Farmer's Market or Market at the Square in downtown Urbana every Saturday from mid-May through mid-November, with over 130 vendors offering homegrown produce, flowers, plants, homemade baked goods, handmade arts & crafts! Some of these vendors also sell inside Lincoln Square Village during

That's Entertainment Unique variety of music and entertainment venues including the Canopy Club, Iron Post, Station Theater, Urbana Independent Media Center, Rosebowl, Embassy, Crane Alley, Bunny's Tavern, and more!

Fine Dining Urbana has some of the finest, award-winning, owner-operated restaurants in downstate Illinois including Kennedy's, Milo's, Miko, Silvercreek, and Timpone's.


The Urbana School District 116 has 11 first-rate schools, as well as a comprehensive adult education program. An innovative school district, Urbana offers special services, gifted programs, vocational training, college prep curriculum and more. The small class sizes help promote individual growth and achievement!

University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana This world-class institution boasts 10 programs ranked among the top 10 in the country, including the engineering program. The University is also recognized as one of the top universities in the world offering over 150 fields of study for its 36,000 students.


Award-winning, Large Libraries The Urbana Free Library founded in 1874, is ranked among the top one percent of American public libraries both statewide and nationally for the fourth time. The University of Illinois Library is the largest public university library in the world with over 10 million volumes.

The Urbana Park District formed in 1907, when it acquired Crystal Lake Park. Today the district has grown to 22 parks and seven facilities, including a community center, an indoor miniature golf course, an outdoor pool in a beautiful wooded setting, a new Indoor Aquatic Center and a Dog Park, where dogs run free without a leash. The parks are beautifully landscaped with pedestrian and bicycle trails, playground equipment, ball fields and more.

Great Golfing Urbana is home to Stone Creek Golf Course, central Illinois' premier golfing facility and the Urbana Golf and Country Club.

Easy to get Around Urbana is truly a walkable community with a high number of bicycle commuters, and one of the best transit systems in the nation. As a result, Urbana's "rush hour" is locally referred to as "rush minute."

Small Town Friendliness Urbana has low crime, great neighborhoods, and a number of locally owned businesses. Trees, Trees and More Trees! National recognition as "Tree City USA" since 1976, with over 100,000 trees! Visit the City of Urbana Website