Help!! Need motivation to make the move to Bloomington. (Indianapolis: house, unemployed)

[Packrat]

MsLisa-
What you described is the general yuppification that has taken place throughout the
ENTIRE USofA!
There are entire states where working class people can hardly exist at all and all urban areas outside da ghetto.

[rogetsthesaurus]

To those posters wanting to move to Bloomington -

I am 25, moved to Bloomington from a small Indiana town to attend IU, and have stuck around with a very nice job as a public school teacher (something very hard as the job market for teachers in Bloomington is saturated). There are so many wonderful things Bloomington offers. Still, I'm considering moving to Chicago. Perhaps if you're from the suburbs you can help me out with my decision-making process. Bloomington was great fun when I lived on campus as an undergraduate. Now that I am a "working stiff" (as all of my friends in NYC, Chicago, SF call me), Bloomington has lost its appeal. I appreciate that my drive to work is only five minutes. I appreciate that I see my students everywhere outside of school. This is, in fact, what makes Bloomington wonderful for a family. As a young(ish) single professional, I have yet to meet many other late 20-somethings/30-somethings. Most of my friends are 45+ (please note I am not age discriminating, but I keep thinking of my friends who have moved to Chicago and that I should move there to have the "post-college big city" experience that is almost as ubiquitous as going to college in the first place). Is this true?

My plan is to apply to every suburb high school in Cook and Lake county. The recent issue of Chicago magazine listed the average salaries of these schools as $70,000 or $80,000. I'm making just over $35,000 and working all day and night as a teacher. If I'm going to put in these hours regardless of where I teach, why not go somewhere where there is more money? As for Bloomington schools, parents get a HUGE bang for their buck: property taxes have been frozen for school financing since 1972. There is low per-pupil expenditure, but you have first-class educators (several irate/disgruntled parents will argue otherwise and I know I am biased as a teacher, but I'm always amazed at the caliber and background of my colleagues). Not sure what the teachers are like in the north-shore Chicago suburbs, but my friends who graduated from Lake Forest, New Trier, Niles tell me how wonderful those schools are.

I am not interested in buying a house - I love renting for a variety of reasons. My thought is to find a cheap place to rent in Andersonville or Evanston, take the METRA to a high school, and drive into the city when needed. Is the cost of living THAT MUCH higher that a difrerence in salary (40,000 compared to 80,000) is going to be that close? If it is, I'll stay in Bloomington and try not to feel too middle-aged (again, no offense).

Bloomington is one of THE BEST places to raise kids (although my teenage students who move here from other cities hate that there is "nothing" to do in Bloomington).

[domergurl]

After I graduated from IU, I couldn't imagine living there as a civilian. I was 25 years old and I hightailed it to Chicago. In fact, I ended up living in an apartment in Evanston and then moving down by Wrigley 1 year and a half later.

The best city high schools are Lincoln Park & Lakeview for public schools. Whitney Young is the best magnet in the city. If you are beholden to public transit, you'll have to stick to cook county .. Evanston Twp HS and OPR (Oak Park River Forest). Riverside Brookfield HS is easily gotten to via metra, but it would be a pain to get to solely by train unless you lived near Union Station.

Oh dear, my Chicago bias is showing. Go north young person!

[sundance67]

Rogetsthesaurus, it sounds like you have a plan... I don't know if you realize how competitive the job market is for teachers in those districts. As for getting a decent wage teaching here, it's not impossible; take into consideration that everyone wants to be in the better districts. That means I know of qualified people w/ teaching experience who are out of work. Anyway, I don't want to discourage you , but I hope you realize that many people would love to be in your situation, w/ the low stress perks of being in a small town, knowing everyone, etc. One more thing, please note that the cost of living here is much higher than where you are now. Rent, gas, even sales taxes are sky high.
So, after all that has been said I think if you're REALLY set on coming to the area, Lagrange is a nice town, only 20 minutes away from Chgo. It's perfect for professionals; the train is in the heart of downtown Lagrange & I know quite a few people who work downtown that love this convenience. Hope this helps

[domergurl]

LaGrange is great and next door to Brookfield, on the same metra line.

[B nice]

I thought you might like to hear from someone who lives close to campus. The students really are not that bad. You just need to check out the block and make sure you aren't outnumbered. If you are looking for a good downtown neighborhood then I really can say all of them are nice for different reasons. Some are upscale, some have historic districts and limestone mansions, and some actually have pet ducks in the yard, Craftsman houses, foursquares and ranches. So what's nice is you can get what you want. My advice would be to contact the neighborhood associations when you are ready to buy and they will help you so much. They are listed on the city website. Good luck!

[B nice]

You ate at Denny's! Oh my god you poor thing. I mean it's ok road food but next time you want breakfast go to Kirkwood ave.and find The Village Deli or the Runcible Spoon on 6th. Even we trailer trash locals don't go to Denny's! We go to The Clove Leaf on west 5th.
And yeah you took a tour of some of the less spectacular parts of town..
As for the person that said Bloomington doesn't have good restaurants, then you haven't tried very many.There has to be at least 100 places to eat and I would say that 75% are good (local ones not chains). Some are great but you pay for it. Michaels uptown, Jankoes, and many others are way better than good! I have found better places to eat but only in very expensive places and I can only name maybe 3. The best was in Maimi, and the 3rd best was in New York, Windows on the World which got blown up.

Next time you come, hit the blog and we'll send you to some good places.
Try Yahoo answers too, sometimes you can get advice there, sometimes.

[Flight6247]

I am moving to Bloomington in July, and I have a few questions about the jobs available? What kind of jobs are out there for students besides working for IU? Is there any job that someone would recommend? Thanks for the advice.

[tooningBlom]

Originally Posted by Purdue1906

You're insane.....I just left Bloomington (grad school) and have family in Jefferson City, matter of fact, just was there 2 weekends ago. It's not even a comparison, Bloomington blows both Ft. Wayne and Jeff. City, Mo out the water. The IU campus is beautiful, good sports scene, PHENOMENAL music scene (the Bluebird has national acts at least 5 times per semester and good indy bands every week), good places to eat (Siam House, Mark Pi's, Casablanca Cafe, Cafe et Crepe, Little Zagreb, The Irish Lion, Mother Bear's Pizza). Only one Target and one Wal-Mart (on opposite ends of down), but decent enough for a college town. The downtown square is cool with a lot of unique little shops.

Nightlife......it's a college town and one of the better nightlife scenes in the Big Ten....maybe even the US. In addition to the Bluebird, you've got the aforemention IrishLion, The Crazy Horse, Nick's (go sink the biz), Kilroy's, Kilroy's Sports, Yogi's (my personal fave) and quite a few others. And it's not just students, you'll find young professionals and alums enjoying the nightlife on a weekend too.

If the scenery of the IU campus is not enough for you, just pop in and visit the history in many of the campus buildings. The IU Museum is outstanding, and the Union is the largest in the Big Ten.

Since it is a college town, away from campus is dependent on what side of town you live on. The East Side (east of Walnut) and the area by the mall has some of the most beautiful houses in the city, and nicer, newer apartments. The West and parts of the South sides are older and IMO, more mid-lower income, and kind of good ol boyish. Want to get out of town, Indianapolis is an hour north, Columbus (beautiful drive, especially in the fall) is an hour east, and Lake Monroe (an absolutely stunning lake, spent many a day there just relaxing) is 20 minutes south. Louisville is about 2 hours south.

To to the OG poster, Jeff. City is as dead as a doorknob, there's NO NIGHTLIFE, Lincoln U. does not have the kind of environment that makes a town with a university any fun, and you're hard pressed to find anywhere other than Mickey D's and Applebee's oper after 10pm. Fort Wayne, ditto, expect for that one complex of clubs FTW has where you're basically surrounded by thugs and NASCARS fans.

Bloomington cost of living is somewhat higher, but affordable housing can be found, and so can jobs (I had 3 of them while I was there, not super high paying, but enough to pay the bills and feed myself). As a Purdue man and formerly sworn Bloomington hater (till I went to school there), I'd recommend it to anyone, I wouldn't have left if I didn't have to.

Sounds like Bloomington grew on you. It's a nice place.

[tooningBlom]

Originally Posted by Flight6247

I am moving to Bloomington in July, and I have a few questions about the jobs available? What kind of jobs are out there for students besides working for IU? Is there any job that someone would recommend? Thanks for the advice.

Go to www.cookgroup.com that's Bloomington's largest employer right now. They manufacture medical products like wireguides and stents and only require a high school diploma or GED. You have to go to Work One on Landmark (west of downtown) and take a dexterity test there and Cook places you where your skills best fit. It's an easy job w/ guaranteed hours and benefits.