Urbana, Ohio

Urbana is the county seat of Champaign County and the largest place I work in on the southern end of my territory. The 2020 Census counted 11,115 residents across 7.91 square miles, at an elevation of 1,043 feet. It was founded in 1805. Practically, it sits about 34 miles northeast of Dayton and 41 miles west of Columbus, which is the fact most buyers want first — it is a genuine two-direction commute city, and that is not true of everywhere in this county.

The center of it is Monument Square, a historic district on the National Register. The downtown around it has a real independent food and drink row: Café Paradiso, Urbana Brewing Co., Pequeños Tapas & Wine Bar, In Good Taste Market, Dees Brew Coffee Co., Brackens Pub, Mumford's Potato Chip & Deli, Orales Tacos Y Mas and Let's Eat Cake. Together, these local businesses give downtown Urbana a distinct character and provide a helpful picture of what is available within the community.

For work, the larger area employers include Rittal, Honeywell Aerospace, Control Industries and Freshwater Farms. Grimes Field, the city airport, is also home to the Champaign Aviation Museum, where volunteers work on aircraft restoration in the open where you can watch it.

Urbana's parks and outdoor amenities are often an important part of the conversation when I show homes in the area. Melvin Miller Park at 731 Childrens Home Road is genuinely large — thirteen baseball and softball fields, thirteen soccer fields, a football field, pools, disc golf and a skatepark. Pointe North Nature Park runs 225 acres with six lakes, old-growth forest and hiking trails. Cedar Bog Nature Preserve, Ohio's first nature preserve, is here. There is also Barbara Howell Park, Gwynne Street Park, Roadside Park, the Hilltop Disc Golf Course, Freshwater Farms of Ohio, and the Birch Bark Canoe Livery on the Mad River. The Simon Kenton Bike Path runs through Urbana as well, the same trail that reaches West Liberty and Bellefontaine.

Schools: Urbana City School District operates Urbana High School for grades 9-12 and a PreK-8 building, both of which were completed in 2018. That matters when you are comparing districts, because new buildings and old buildings carry different levy and facilities pictures. Urbana University operated in the city from 1850 until 2020. Because some older listings and articles still reference the university, it is helpful for buyers to know that it closed in 2020.

The annual calendar is anchored by the Simon Kenton Champaign County Chili Cook-off Festival and Hoopla Parade, downtown on the fourth Saturday of September. The Holiday Horse Parade is the Friday after Thanksgiving. There is an Urban Loft Tour in November, the Monument Square Holiday Gala in December, and the Champaign County Farmers Market runs weekly.

On history: the frontiersman Simon Kenton is buried here, and Urbana served briefly as headquarters for the Northwestern army during the War of 1812. The Kenton name is on the bike path and on the September festival, so it comes up quickly once you are here.

Urbana offers a combination that many buyers appreciate: a walkable downtown with restaurants, coffee, and local businesses, while open country is still only minutes away. If you are looking for significant acreage, we may want to focus just outside the city limits, and I will help keep the search aligned with what you truly need.