Champaign

Champaign is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropolitan area. Champaign houses offices for the Fortune 500 companies Abbott, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Caterpillar, John Deere, Dow Chemical Company, IBM, and State Farm. It also serves as the headquarters for several companies, the most notable being Jimmy John's. The city has a humid continental climate, typical of the Midwestern United States, with hot summers and cold, moderately snowy winters. Temperatures exceed 90 °F (32.2 °C) on an average of 24 days per year, and typically fall below 0 °F. (17 °F) on six nights annually. In 2005, Champaign-Urbana was the location of the National Science Olympiad Tournament, attracting young scientists from all 50 states. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign once again hosted the National competition on May 2022, 2010. In May 2017, the city's first female-majority city council was sworn in.Champaign shares a border with the neighboring city of UrbANA; together they are home to the University ofIllinois and Parkland College. It may also be colloquially known as the "Twin Cities" or Chambana. The area is also home to a number of well-known technology startup companies.

History

Champaign was founded in 1855, when the Illinois Central Railroad laid its rail track two miles (3 km) west of downtown Urbana. The city and county name were derived from Champaign County, Ohio. On September 22, 1985, Champaign hosted the first Farm Aid concert at the University of Illinois' Memorial Stadium. In 2005, the city was the location of the National Science Olympiad Tournament, attracting young scientists from all 50 states. In May 2017, the first female-majority city council was sworn in. Joan Severns was the city's first female Mayor, serving between 1979 and 1983. Deb Frank Feinen, who has served as Mayor since 2015, is the city’s second female Mayor. The City of Champaign hosts the state Science OlympIad competition every year. In 2010, it hosted the National competition on May 2022, and once again in 2015, 2010, 2015, and 2016, 2012, and 2014, 2013, 2014, and 2015, 2016, and 2018, respectively, the National Competition on May 22, 2015 and May 20, 2016. The National Competition in 2022 will be held in Champaign-Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, and will be the first time it has been held in the state of Illinois. It will also be the second time in the history of the U.S. that the city has hosted the competition. The U. of Illinois will host the competition in 2023, 2026, and 2028.

Geography

Champaign has a humid continental climate, typical of the Midwestern United States. Temperatures exceed 90 °F (32.2 °C) on an average of 24 days per year. Champaign, Urbana, and the bordering village of Savoy form the Champaign-Urbana Metropolitan Area. It may also be colloquially known as the "Twin Cities" or Chambana.Champaign shares a border with the neighboring city of UrbANA; together they are home to the University of Illinois. It is located on relatively high ground, providing sources to the Kaskaskia River to the west and the Embarras river to the south. Downtown Champaign drains into Boneyard Creek, which feeds the Saline Branch of the Salt Fork Vermilion River. The city has a total area of 23.14 square miles (59.93 km²), of which 99.37% is land and 0.39% is water. The record high temperature in Champaign was 109°F (42.8°C) in 1954; the record low was 25 °F in 1899, 1905, 1994 and 1999. It has a hot summers and cold, moderately snowy winters, with temperatures typically falling below 0 °F on six nights annually. The average temperature in the city is 90°C (32°F) on 24 days of the year; the average low is 25°F on four separate occasions in 1999, 1905 and 1994.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 88,302 people, 34,851 households, and 15,624 families residing in the city. There were 40,314 housing units at an average density of 1,742.55 per square mile (672.80/km²) The racial makeup of the city was 53.45% White, 17.97% African American, 0.37% Native American, 16.69% Asian, 3.96% from other races, and 7.52% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.74% of the population. The city's age distribution consisted of 17.0% under the age of 18, 29.0 percent from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, and 17.7% from 45 to 64. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 107.1 males. The median income for a household in theCity was $49,467, and the median income. for a family was $78,118. About 10.3% of families and 23.9% of residents were below the poverty line, including 9.4% of those under 18 and 9.5% ofThose age 65 or over. The per capita income for the city is $30,245, including 17.3 percent of those who are under age 18, and 10.5 percent who are 65 or older. The average household size was 3.13 and the average family size was 2.30.

Economy

Champaign-Urbana is home to the University of Illinois and Parkland College. The city also features a large technology and software industry. The largest high technology employer is Wolfram Research, with more than 400 employees in Champaign. Champaign is also home to nationally recognized record labels, artist management companies, booking agencies and recording studios. In 2011, the information sector added over 300 jobs within a year and unemployment dropped 2.1%. The top ten employers in the city are: Horizon Hobby, Jimmy John's, Plastipak, SuperValu, andWolfram Research. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintains the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) inChampaign. The Champaign community is a well-known hub for startups, including a top ranking from Silicon Prairie News in 2019. In 2012, the city was named one of the five cities leading the economic turnaround based on jobs; the Christian Science Monitor named Champaign- Urbana as the city with the fastest growing economy in the state of Illinois in the last five years. In 2013, Champaign was ranked as the No. 1 city in the nation for tech start-ups, ahead of Chicago and Los Angeles, with a ranking of No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in 2012 and 2013. In 2014, the state was ranked No. 4 for tech startups, behind Austin, Texas, and San Francisco, and ahead of Seattle, Washington, and Atlanta, Washington.

Arts and culture

In the 1980s, part of the downtown Champaign area (Neil St.) was closed to vehicular traffic to create a pedestrian mall, but this short-lived experiment was scrapped when business declined. In April 2007, One Main Development broke ground on M2 on Neil, a nine-story, $40 million, mixed-use project located at the corner of Neil and Church Street. The historic Virginia Theatre is a recently restored 1463-seat movie theater, which opened on December 28, 1921. The Art Theater Co-op, which showed independent and foreign films, was built in 1913 as the Park Theatre. Until October 2019, it was the only single-screen movie theater operating daily in Champaign-Urbana, and was the United States's first co-operatively owned art movie theater. It closed in October 2019. The Champaign City Building serves as the City Hall and is a recognizable landmark. The newly renamed Tower at 3rd (formerly Champaign Hilton, Century 21, Quality Inn, University Inn, Presidential Tower) is located in the University District and is over twenty stories high. A 12-story apartment complex was completed in 2014 at the intersection of 6th and Green streets (site of the former Spirit Spirit) A mixed-used complex is scheduled to be completed by August 2015 at 27 East Green Street. It is reported to consist of two towers connected by a skywalk. It has been reported to have an automated parking vault which will be operated by an elevator.

Sports

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign fields ten men and eleven women varsity sports. Memorial Stadium was named in honor of the students and faculty members who died overseas during World War I. The State Farm Center is home to the Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball and women's basketball teams. The Champaign Swarm is one of the founding members of the Midwest Professional Basketball Association. The city's most recent minor league team was the Champaign-Urbana Bandits who played during the single 1994 season of the Great Central League. The stadium also was the temporary home of the NFL's Chicago Bears for the 2002 season while its regular venue Soldier Field was being renovated. It holds the annual Broadway Series, which features popular musicals and plays host to the Chicago Cubs, Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox football games. It is also the home of Illinois State University's women's and men's ice hockey teams, as well as the Illinois State women's hockey team. It has been home to several minor league baseball clubs, including the Logansport/Champaign/Urbanas Clippers and Champaign County Colts. It was also home to a Collegiate Summer Baseball League team from 1963 to 1964. It also hosted the IllinoisMissouri League from 1911 to 1914 and the Illinois-Illinois Velvets between 1911 and 1914. It played its home games at Illinois Field until the team folded in 1996. The City of Champaign is the location of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, which opened in 1913.

Parks and recreation

There are 60 parks, 11 trails, and 14 facilities within the city of Champaign, totaling over 654 acres (2.65 km²) The city's parks and recreation system is one of the largest in the state. Champaign is home to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a public university. The city also has a number of non-profit organizations, including the Champaign-Urbana Parks and Recreation Foundation. The Champaign River River runs through the city, which is the city's main source of water. The river has a total length of 2.6 miles (3.7 km) and a width of 1.7 miles (1.9 km). The city has over 60 parks and 11 trails in its parks system, totaling more than 1,000 acres (654 km²), and has over 14 facilities. It also has over 11 miles (15 km) of trails, totaling nearly 1,500 acres (3,000 km) in total. It has over 12 miles of trails and over 10 miles (14 km) worth of trails. The park system has more than 2,000 square miles (6,500 km) to its name. It is the largest city park system in the U.S. in Illinois, with over 1,200 acres (4,000km) of park space. It was founded in 1881 and is the second largest city in the United States after Chicago. The state's first park system was established in 1883.

Education

The city of Champaign is served by Champaign Unit 4 School District. Unit 4 administers both Champaign Central High School and Champaign Centennial High School. The largest of the three is a Roman Catholic High school, St. Thomas More High School which is located on the city's far northwest side. The second is Judah Christian School, which opened in 1983 and serves about 120 9th- 12th grade students. The third is Academy High, which is an accredited, Independent high school located in South Champaign on Fox Drive.Located within Champaign are two institutions of higher education, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Parkland College. The school reflects the innovative culture ofChampaign-Urbana and is designed to be student-centered, highly collaborative, and project-based. The entire school's pre-K through 12thgrade enrollment is a little more than 500 students. Academy High opened in 1997 and serves 60 9th - 12th graders. It is the newest charter of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria and is located just south of I-74 on Prospect Avenue. It opened in 2000 and is the oldest of three private high schools in Champaign. The other two are Judah Christian and Academy High. The last is a private high school in the city called St. Patrick's School. It was founded in 1984 and serves students in the 9th to 12th grades. It has an enrollment of about 100 students.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Champaign, Champaign County, Illinois = 77. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 20. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 98. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Champaign = 4 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 88,302 individuals with a median age of 27.2 age the population grows by 7.59% in Champaign, Champaign County, Illinois population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 3,800 residents per square mile of area (1,500/km²). There are average 2.18 people per household in the 29,801 households with an average household income of $38,012 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 8.50% of the available work force and has dropped -4.27% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 22.96%. The number of physicians in Champaign per 100,000 population = 246.9.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Champaign = 37.8 inches and the annual snowfall = 22.8 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 113. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 195. 86 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 18.2 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 41, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Champaign, Champaign County, Illinois which are owned by the occupant = 44.50%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 35 years with median home cost = $121,370 and home appreciation of 2.35%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $19.22 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $4,529 per student. There are 14 students for each teacher in the school, 603 students for each Librarian and 1055 students for each Counselor. 6.84% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 22.39% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 22.70% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).