Bloomington Normal the twin cities! (Peoria, Champaign: apartments, jobs, hospitals)

[jds]

hey

Im moving to Bloomington/Normal

here very soon!

I have some ?'s

What are some workout gyms in the area that are nice!

What is the crime like and where it is @ and where do i need to avoid!

Where are some nice apartments to look into renting in the area!

Where are some good sports bars like a bufflo wild wings for example to hang out @!

What are some of the activities that can be done in the area!


Any other nice info would be great

thanks

[jds]

and also does anyone know by any chance what it costs to register a truck in illinois what is the price for tags?

[NYrules]

Originally Posted by jds

hey

Im moving to Bloomington/Normal

here very soon!

I have some ?'s

What are some workout gyms in the area that are nice!

What is the crime like and where it is @ and where do i need to avoid!

Where are some nice apartments to look into renting in the area!

Where are some good sports bars like a bufflo wild wings for example to hang out @!

What are some of the activities that can be done in the area!


Any other nice info would be great

thanks

Well congrads on your decision to move into the new metropolis that is developing in central IL. B/N is a very nice community with many great workout facilities, schools, restaurants, stores, you name it the area has it.

To start, some of the better workout facilities in town would be Gold's/Diamond Gym on the south end of town off Veterans Parkway. I can't remember the cross street down there, but I remember it bordering Hilltop Mobile Home Park. This gym was built in about 1998 and is a two story gym complete with indoor pool, jacuzzis, saunas, steam rooms, and about every peice of work out equipment you can imagine, not to mention a small juice bar in the center of the gym. Another gym to check out is Four Seasons located off Veterans Parkway and Oakland. This gym is absolutely huge with an indoor track, pool, jacuzzi, saunas, steam rooms, and again about every thing you can imagine for body building. Both gyms are located within a 5 min drive of one another and are in constant competition to out do one another.

Crime in the area is overall low, however there is a pocket of "higher" crime on the west side of Bloomington. Now this is not to say that the area is like Fort Apache the Bronx by any means, but it is not the greatest. There have been some robberies and murders, but nothing too terrible. The rest of the metro area is fine though. The area of town with the elevated crime is bordered by Martin Luther King Drive on the west, Lee Street on the east, Empire on the north, and Oakland Ave on the south. You can by all means go into this area without being victim to drive bys and all of that, but just be more alert.

Apartments in the town are plentiful by all means as this is a town with two large univerisities in it. Some areas I would check out is up on the very northern tip of Normal in a subdivision known as Ironwood. To get to this area take Veterans Parkway/Pipeline Road north from I-55 and go to Northtown Road. Turn left and Ironwood will be right on the south side of Northtown Road. Another area to consider is off Oakland and Eldorado. There is a little pocket of apartments that my hair stylist lived in that was really nice. The place back then (2001) rented at $600 a mo and was a two bed, 1 bath, two story beach house looking place. It was so nice and airy in side. The places from the outside look just like something you would see along the beach on Long Island or New Jersey to be honest.

Good sports bars.... Hmmmm that has changed so much since I was down there, but I used to hang out at a place called Elroys that was located right in downtown Bloomington. There are plenty of little bars right in downtown Bloomington so check them out. Of course theres also a ton of bars near ISU in Normal.

Activities are plentiful. If you like to rollerblade, run, bike, I would say check out Constitution Trail. This runs from Northtown Road in Normal all the way south into Bloomington. It is a paved blacktop bike trail that litterally thousands of people use to keep in shape on those nice summer days. There is a rather large outdoor water park called "Fairview Aquatic" in Normal off Main Street a little north of ISU complete with water slides, and volleyball courts and all that good stuff. Also there is a little lake on the west side of Bloomington off Martin Luther King drive that has a nice paved running trail that goes around it. Dont worry that area is perfectly safe right there and cops patrol that all the time, so you will be fine. The lake is a man made lake, but very pretty none the less.

So I hope this all helps and hope you enjoy your stay in "the Twin cities"

[jds]

keep the posts coming. what are some of the better jobs in the area........ are there concerts or anything like that that come to the area...... Iheared there is a zoo ..... how is that?

[steve_holt]

The largest employers are State Farm, Illinois State University, Country Financial, and Mitsubishi North America. Other than that there are two hospitals, schools, community colleges, and lots of service positions. There's also a lot of construction work, but that's calmed down recently. The unemployment rate of B-N is typically the lowest in the state, or near the lowest so there is employment to be found. It really depends on what your qualifications are.

There are pop/rock/country concerts at the US Cellular Colliseum, but they tend to get older acts (from my perspective). There are usually one or two big name concerts at ISU. There are several quality shows at the newly renovated Bloomington Center for the performing arts as well as ISU and IWU. Really, the music scene isn't strong for B-N, but there are lots more opportunities in nearby Peoria or Champaign (each less than an hour away).

Miller Park Zoo is an excellent, small zoo. Great for kids under ten I would say. I do think the oldest part of the zoo (with the big cats: tigers, etc.) hasn't been maintained very well. But the zoo is a great afternoon trip.

BTW - as far as sports bars, there is a BW3 on the far east side near the airport. Elroy's is a very popular sports bar in Downtown Bloomington. The Pub II is very popular in Normal.

Can't help you with the truck cost, but you can check the sec of state at cyberdriveillinois.com

[studedude]

This is the Illinois Sect of State web site. It should answer your questions re truck registration


The Official Web site for Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White