Urbana or Champaign? Which one is a better place to live, to work, to play? The question rings eternal with incoming classes and will follow you throughout your four (more or less) years at the University.

Perhaps you will settle for something in-between and only live, work or play in the apex of the Mickey Mouse head that is the Campustown Green Street area, while the two towns in seeming orbit around the University are its ears.

I can tell you that keeping a cloistered and limited home range in the bastion of knowledge that is the University will limit your experiences in college to those stereotypically “college:” The keg stands. The beer pong. The bros in hats and the ladies in tube tops. And there is nothing wrong with any of that except that there is so much more that lies outside the stretch between Lincoln Avenue and First Street.

So which is better? Most of the time, if you live in one place, you are going to answer with the name of that place. For me, the answer is Urbana. Hands down. But I am a confirmed Urbana-ite, and really, the answer depends on the question.

If you were to ask where to live, each side could make a fair case. Champaign is a more up-and-coming city, and if you want to be closer to the action of bars, clubs, stores, etc., it is the place to be. You can, for a pretty penny, live right in downtown Champaign and enjoy the benefit of being able to go downstairs from your apartment and right into the thick of a Friday night.

In terms of living close to the University, Urbana probably wins that one as you can get literally right across the street from many University buildings (right across Lincoln), and the prices are not noticeably higher.

Urbana is generally described as the more “granola” of the two, where the hippies run free without the bridles of society weighing them down. I’ve never seen a hippie running, or really any hippie for that matter, in Urbana, but it does seem like a more relaxed environment to me.

If you were to ask where to work, most of you would be asking where you could go to study. If it’s caffeine you seek, downtown Champaign has Urbana beat in this area, with coffeeshops ranging from the hip (Cafe Kopi, 109 N. Walnut St.) to the trendy (Cafe Aroma, 118 N Neil St.).

Urbana has one newer den of caffeine, Morning Cup & More (202 N. Race St.), that is much appreciated by the locals, but we could really use some more variety.

In addition to study establishments, Champaign and Urbana both have beautiful public libraries where you can studiously prepare for your next exam without the necessity of buying anything.

If you were to ask where to play, most people would say Champaign. Though most of you are not of the (legal) drinking age yet, you will be someday soon, and downtown Champaign will often be your locale of choice to wet your whistle.

The city has a bevy of bars, from the comfortable Blind Pig to the trendy Soma dance club, and if it’s variety you seek, downtown Champaign is the place to go.

It also features a number of art galleries, vintage stores, hip (and sometimes expensive) restaurants and more. Urbana has a smaller downtown, so there are fewer bars, fewer shops and fewer restaurants, but there are nuggets to be found. Black Dog Smoke and Ale House (201 N Broadway Ave.) is a recent addition that has some of the best Southern barbecue I have ever tasted, Siam Terrace (212 W Main St.) has some of the best Thai food I’ve ever had and Mirabelle Fine Pastries (124 W. Main St.) has literally the best cheese Danish I have ever tried in my life. Urbana also features a phenomenal weekly farmers’ market that runs from May to November and has been going on for 30 years now.

Besides produce, meats and crafts, the sounds of live music await you each Saturday morning. Champaign has its own farmers’ market as well, which began this year and runs on Thursday afternoons in the evening.

Champaign has Custard Cup. Urbana has Art Coop. Champaign has Taste of Champaign. Urbana has the Sweetcorn Festival. Champaign has too many places to list, but Urbana has free recycling for renters, and ding-ding, I’m sold, but you have to make up your own minds. Each town has its own identity, its own special nuggets to explore, and the best part is you will get the chance to experience both of them through just a quick walk, bike or bus ride, or drive.

So which is better? Well, it’s all relative. Explore, meet the locals, absorb to sights and sounds, and see where you fit in the best.