Help please!! Moving to Bloomington-Normal and know nothing about it!! (Chicago: apartments, to rent)

[CM33]

Hello out there~

I am hoping that someone can help me out a little. My spouse and I are moving to Bloomington-Normal next month due to a career change and we know very little about it. I am hoping someone can help me out with a few questions that I have:

1. Are there areas to stay away from when looking for housing? We won't be able to buy at first since we are moving with just 1 months notice so we are looking for somewhere to rent. We'd like somewhere in a safe area.

2. How is the safety of the area overall?

3. Is Bloomington-Normal a diverse community? We enjoy exploring other cultures and I am hoping that B-N is big enough that there will be some diversity. What is there to do in B-N?

4. Is there anything that you feel I should know overall about this area? Would it be better to look for something outside of town in the country or is within the city limits ok?

I do know where Veterans Parkway is in Bloomington, but beyond that, I haven't a clue. Oh! I know where Avanti's is...oh my gosh I'm looking forward to having them close by. I love their bread!

Thanks so much to anyone who can help me out. I'm trying to get this move planned on short notice so I am hoping that someone out there will have some helpful info.

Thanks!!

[linicx]

Bloomington is not any better or any worse than any other midwestern city of its size. B-N is ideally located about an hour from the state capitol at Springfield, and Peoria. What you love to do and how far you are willing to travel to go to work dictates where you live.

Put your stuff in storage. Get a motel and find a place to rent for a yearr. After six months you will have a better idea if you want to buy a house in Bloomington or not.

The mid-section of Illinoos is farm land. Bloomington and Peoria are in the heart of the Grain and Livestock Belt. You can read the Peoria Journal Star online, and maybe the Springfield Register and Bloomington Pantagraph, too.

Before you buy a house make sure you have a house inspection and a mold test as mold is the #2 killer in the state. you do NOT want it inside your home.

Good Luck!
PS: Illinois is a pro-union, Democrat state.

[BUalumni]

Originally Posted by CM33

Hello out there~

I am hoping that someone can help me out a little. My spouse and I are moving to Bloomington-Normal next month due to a career change and we know very little about it. I am hoping someone can help me out with a few questions that I have:

1. Are there areas to stay away from when looking for housing? We won't be able to buy at first since we are moving with just 1 months notice so we are looking for somewhere to rent. We'd like somewhere in a safe area.

2. How is the safety of the area overall?

3. Is Bloomington-Normal a diverse community? We enjoy exploring other cultures and I am hoping that B-N is big enough that there will be some diversity. What is there to do in B-N?

4. Is there anything that you feel I should know overall about this area? Would it be better to look for something outside of town in the country or is within the city limits ok?

I do know where Veterans Parkway is in Bloomington, but beyond that, I haven't a clue. Oh! I know where Avanti's is...oh my gosh I'm looking forward to having them close by. I love their bread!

Thanks so much to anyone who can help me out. I'm trying to get this move planned on short notice so I am hoping that someone out there will have some helpful info.

Thanks!!

Welcome to the area!

Let me first start off by telling you that Bloomington-Normal, or as we call them around here the Twin Cities, are an excellent place to live and boast themselves as being one of the best places to live in the state.

1. The general rule for Bloomington is that you will want to stay away from the west side. Now is that to say that everything there is bad, no. But it tends to be more run down, and has some housing projects that create problems for the area. The sebtions around IWU seem to be OK, but nothing to brag about. The east side of Bloomington however is very nice and really the closer you get to the airport, the nicer it gets. With that said, there are neighborhoods, many of which are wooded, just outside of Bloomington to the west, certained around Townline Rd. With all the explosive commercial growth in that sector, look for that area to be built out within a decade or two. Not sure about the aprartment scene in that area though. I believe they might call this area Bloomington Heights, but I can't be for certain. Virtually everything in Normal is fine, safe, and well kept. Even the areas around ISU are good. Most kids that live on the east side of Bloomington attend Normal schools which are ranked very highly. There are apartments everywhere, so finding a place to live shouldn't be a problem.

2. Bloomington-Normal overall are very safe cities. They have grown by leaps and bounds over the past twenty years, so crime has increased. But like I stated in the first section, you can pretty much tell the areas that have crime, compared to the ones that don't. Normal has always been very safe though. Bloomington has more problems in this regard, but it is secular to certain areas, and not rampant throughout the city.

3. B-N isn't as big on diversity as Peoria tends to be. I have heard though that they have a large Indian population. With the two universities, and three major employers, it does tend to attract people from all over. There is loads to do in central Illinois. For more specifics look into any of Peoria's, Bloomington's, or Normal's websites, or newpapers. There has also been much written about all three cities on these forum that you should indeed research.

4. Central Illinois is an excellent place to raise a family and live a happy and comfortable life. For me, the Twin Cities were an option, but I elected to stay closer to Peoria. In my opinion, there are better, smaller towns around the area that I think are more appealing to B-N. I personally love Morton, Washington, Dunlap, and parts of East Peoria. These are of course much smaller towns than B-N, but tend to have better schools, and much more of a community feel. Bloomington-Normal is like any Chicago suburb, but they lack the central location to a major city. If you are looking for a truly suburban feel, without the heavy costs, than B-N is the perfect choice. If you are looking for a suburban community of less than 40K, than Bloomington may not be the best choice. There are however lots of towns around the Twin Cities, but they have yet to compare with others around Peoria. Feel free to DM me with any more specific questions.

PS-Yes, Avanti's bread is almsot worth dying for. MMMMMMM.......

[M TYPE X]

I just think it's funny/ironic (yes, true) that the airport in B-N is near the nice section of town. That's usually not the case.

Originally Posted by linicx

You can read the Peoria Journal Star online, and maybe the Springfield Register and Bloomington Pantagraph, too.

PJStar.com - Journal Star, Peoria, IL 61643
SJ-R.COM
Pantagraph.com | Central Illinois News, Sports, Classifieds and More

[ShampooBanana]

Originally Posted by M TYPE X

I just think it's funny/ironic (yes, true) that the airport in B-N is near the nice section of town. That's usually not the case.

That's how it is in Champaign-Urbana, too (the airport being near a nicer section of town).

[suchance]

Well, I registered to this site just for you!
I have lived in Bloomington-Normal for the majority of my life. So I guess so far I am the authority over the other posts.

As for your specific questions...
1. Yes, you need to know about certain areas of town, both for purchasing housing or renting. However, I would feel better about talking about that in a more private setting (personal email perhaps)

2. Yes, I would have to say generally BLM-NL is a safe town. It has changed a lot since my childhood (I'm 48),but most towns have. It's still a good place to raise kids etc.

3. Again, it depends on what town you are moving from and your experiences. We have a good sized population of Asian Indian's, many of whom moved here temporarily to work as externals for State Farm Ins. We also have a growing population of Hispanics and Mitsubishi Motors brought in more Japanese families. As a result we have had an influx of Indian and Mexican resturants. Occasionally, you can find activities involving these populations and ISU does put on an ethnic festival once a year. But there really isn't anything specific that I know of. Most of the social activities are basically your all american variety; College, high school & extra curricular sports, there are several theaters (both movie & plays. Here is a link to the "GO" section of the local newpaper that will tell what's going on this weekend for movies, bars, music, activities locally and around the area etc. Pantagraph.com | GO!

4. Again it depends on what you want. In town, it is quite diverse. You can get something very old (100+yrs) with lots of old trees and landscape or something very new with hardly any landscape. Remember, your moving to FARM LAND! all trees were ripped out for corn and beans over a century ago. So any new housing is being built over farm ground. So you have to patiently wait on your trees to grow. If you go out to the country, the biggie in my opinion would be... Do you want all your money going to gas to drive into town to work? Frankly, I don't, which says a lot as I was an agriculture major and would have absolutely loved to live on a farm or an acreage somewhere near a creek (land is more rolling and you would have TREES!) Again, too much to consider in a forum post... wait for a personal discussion best bet. The other consideration... is school which is a big part of the question. If you have kids. The town is divided up weird due to old grandfather clause type thing. You have to consider school taxes.... Normals will be high, they have all the growth and need for new buildings as well as they have the highest population of students. Bloomington... you dealing with other problems. (don't get me wrong, my kids went through the Bloomington school system, again something I would rather discuss more privately.) If you want more info you can contact me here. 123susanc@gmail.com

[M TYPE X]

Originally Posted by ShampooBanana

That's how it is in Champaign-Urbana, too (the airport being near a nicer section of town).

You will hear zero complaints from me about the growth of Savoy. Savoy Plaza is a nice place to shop. Also, if I need to go to a Walmart, that's the one I visit; the Champaign one is ok, but the Urbana one is kinda crappy. Now - the Curtis Road/I-57 interchange needs to be opened!

[rgb123]

No one has mentioned constitution trail!!!! If you like to bike or jog, this trail is really great.

I would disagree that b-n is like a Chicago suburb. In my opinion it is a lot better. I come from the Chicago suburbs.

B-N is more contained. It feels like a real town. You have two Panera's within 2 miles...I can't really explain it except to say that it feels very 'contained' and its a nice feeling. Everything you need is pretty close by.

You have the big chains on Veterans Parkway, but then you have the nice historical downtown in Bloomington, and a totally refursbished downtown in Normal.

I think its a great place with a nice sense of community. I am always happy to return (I went to ISU). If I am passing through and it is a nice day -- I stop at Constitution Trail.

[M TYPE X]

Too much talk, no enough citation of authoritative sources. I'm talking about the newspaper, of course: Pantagraph.com | News | West side residents fighting its bad reputation (http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/04/30/news/doc481922d1897c2884856500.txt - broken link)

[jtjmom]

I just think it's funny/ironic (yes, true) that the airport in B-N is near the nice section of town. That's usually not the case.

Decatur is the same way! Yup, it does seem a little odd...