The residents of West Urbana welcome you to our quiet, well-maintained residential neighborhood. We look forward to having you as a neighbor!

To ensure WUNA remains a great place to live, there are quality-of-life ordinances in our neighborhood. We’ve listed some of them here as a reference, but the official list is on the city website.

Click here to view the WUNA brochure

A message from the WUNA steering committee:

Our neighborhood has been shaped by generations of residents getting involved. Since the 1970s, WUNA has worked to encourage thoughtful growth and investment in our livable, walkable, tree-lined, historic neighborhood. We value our mix of residents and housing, as well as our proximity to both campus and downtown. Through WUNA, residents can stay informed, ask questions, exchange information, and advocate for the kind of neighborhood we want to live in.

What makes West Urbana special?

One of the things that makes West Urbana vibrant is its wide mix of housing and residents. From Main to Florida and Lincoln to Race, we have:

  • Single-family homes, both rental and owner-occupied, including many historic structures
  • Two-family homes, including both all-rental and mixed owner/rental properties
  • Bed & Breakfasts, including B&B inns and owner-occupied B&Bs
  • Community living facilities, rooming houses, fraternities, sororities, and a dormitory
  • Mixed office/residential properties
  • Medium-density multifamily housing
  • High-density multifamily housing
  • Hotel/motel-like accommodations, including short-term rentals such as Airbnb in houses and apartments

That diversity is worth noticing—especially when we compare West Urbana with near-campus Champaign, where the housing stock has become increasingly oriented toward student rentals, with high turnover and fewer people who live in the neighborhood for the longer term. West Urbana offers a different model: a neighborhood where students are welcome, and where they live alongside homeowners, families, longtime renters, professionals, retirees, and others who put down roots.

We believe that mix matters. It creates the opportunity for a neighborhood with continuity as well as change, where people know their neighbors, care about the appearance and history of the area, and have a stake in what happens here. We seek to promote  growth that strengthens rather than diminishes that diversity.

That mix matters for another important reason: preserving existing housing can help preserve housing affordability. Older homes and smaller, varied housing types often provide options at a wider range of prices than newly constructed developments aimed at higher rent points. Keeping those homes in use—and maintaining a mix of single-family, two-family, and multifamily housing—helps retain housing choices for people with different incomes and circumstances. When existing homes are demolished or converted to higher-cost housing, those lower-cost options can disappear, even when the total number of housing units increases. Maintaining and continuing to use older buildings is also the sustainable choice.

Neighbors have accomplished a lot

Together, neighbors have accomplished a great deal over the years to maintain a human-scale neighborhood with a wide mix of buildings and residents. WUNA’s history includes results, not just discussions:

  • Campus-to-Downtown planning and zoning: WUNA’s involvement helped shape the Campus-to-Downtown Plan and subsequent changes to the Zoning Ordinance and Zoning Map. The process included a parcel-by-parcel examination of the neighborhood and consideration of an appropriate zoning classification for each lot.
  • Building height: After the construction of the five-story building at 505 S. Busey around 1971, neighbors successfully advocated for changes addressing building height. The size and mass of a building can substantially affect how a neighborhood “lives” for people in surrounding homes.
  • Setbacks: Following construction at 506 W. Elm that placed a building only about 10 feet from the sidewalk, while the rest of the block had significant front yards, setback requirements were changed.
  • Protecting the Royer House: Around 2007, WUNA helped preserve the Royer House at 802 W. Oregon by prompting a change to the zoning rules governing rooming-house districts.
  • Residential parking: WUNA’s work contributed to the city’s establishment of overnight residential parking permits in 1975, followed by expansion of the program in 2001. Before these changes, our streets were often “parked up” by people seeking to avoid campus parking meters and rental rates.
  • Rental housing quality: WUNA and SUNA helped prompt the city to establish the Rental Registration Program, improving oversight and housing quality in our neighborhoods and beyond.

In 2007, our neighborhood was recognized by the American Planning Association as one of America’s “Great Neighborhoods”.  The plaque commemorating that award is on permanent display in the center of Carle Park for all to see and remember.

These examples show why an active neighborhood association matters. Organized neighbors have a voice in decisions that affect the places where we live. West Urbana is a special place because generations of residents have cared about it and worked to maintain its character.