Best college town in Indiana? (Indianapolis, Fort Wayne: low crime, theater, construction)

[mikuly1987]

Yeah i would have to agree with everyone else on this. BLOOMINGTON!! Good college nice area nice town. lots to do close to highways and shopping centers

[darmonIU]

Bloomington would get my vote. I lived there for five years while attending college. It's a good mix of small-town and big-city. There is a tremendous amount of diversity, given that many people that live here are actually from other parts of the state, country, or world. I left Bloomington in 2004 and none of the places I have lived since (which includes two other "college" towns -- Virginia Tech and University of Tennessee) have even come close to Bloomingon. It's beautiful - all the buildings on campus are build from limestone -- only down side of this is that they don't use salt on the roads in the winter because it's bad for the limestone; instead, they use sand so it makes for messy roads. However, the street sweepers are out constantly -- they put a lot of money into keeping Bloomington looking nice.

There is a buzz about Bloomington -- a liveliness that is always there. If you want to feel alive (not bored....inspired), Bloomington is the place to be.

[lwalk812]

My vote goes to Bloomington, home of Indiana University. Lots of neat restaurants, and lots of things to do. The "Taste of Bloomington" is a lot of fun too. I love that town!

[ducksburg]

University of Notre Dame

[ducksburg]

And Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is very good for engineering students

[jmfnme]

Originally Posted by j33

I'm going to echo Bloomington. I moved there from Chicago for 3 years for college and really enjoyed myself. It is indeed a small town (it was a bit of an adjustment for me) but it is a great little town with a lot to do and plenty of cultural opportunities. I agree with those that say that it gets more icy in the winter than cold and snowy, which wouldn't be so bad, but they aren't all that great at clearing the streets (sand?, what good does that do?). I didn't stick around after I graduated from school and moved back home, but I think that in Indiana, it is probably one of your best bets if you are looking for a college town. That and some of the rural areas surrounding the city are quite pretty.

Question for the folks still around. Has Oliver improved their wines? I loved the winery, but the wines left a bit to be desired.

It's the grapes more than the winery! I am from the Northwest (Oregon, Washington, Montana) and Indiana cannot grow the kind of grapes to make great wine. They can buy them though, and they have a few good ones from purchased grapes. If you are into sweet wines, you would like them. I currently live in Bloomington, but it's just OK for me. I have a Ms Education and special ed, and teaching is impossible here, so I will probably have to commute to Indianapolis. We are considering moving to Charlotte, NC or Houston Texas even.

[Purdue1906]

Originally Posted by ducksburg

And Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is very good for engineering students

Let's not get off the topic, RH is located in Terre Haute, which is an absolute DUMP.

Originally Posted by ducksburg

University of Notre Dame

ND is a nice campus, South Bend is an Ok town, but nowhere near the best college town in Indiana. Of course, to you bandwagon reversible-jacket wearers out there, South Bend is the best college town from September-December and Bloomington is from January-March, lol.

Easy Indiana town college rankings:

1) Bloomington
2) West Lafayette
3) Indianapolis (gotta count Butler, IUPUI, UI, Marian, etc.)
4) Evansville
5) Valparaiso
6) South Bend
7) Franklin
8) Terre Haute

[TheMcNasty]

There are only two citys in the running, Bloomington and Terre Haute. Bloomington is more artistic (the Dalai Lama's brother lives there and the man himself frequently visits, cool) but the only big city it is close to is Indy which isn't that exciting. Drinks are expensive and housing is not cheap. Good town? yes. good college town? not unless daddy gave you his credit card...

Terre Haute on the other hand has inexpensive housing out the bottom and drinks are literally the cheapest anywhere in the United States (1cent beer and 75cent wells can be had on Thursday) and certainly the cheapest I have ever encountered. College sporting events are cheaper/free to attend (where you can watch ISU defeat IU in basketball, haha) and there is an engineering college for those people that want to make money and aren't doctors or lawyers. You are a 3 hour drive from Chicago and St. Louis and 45 mins from Indy and can make trips to Purdu or Bloomington to party with friends. BUT meth addicts WILL break into YOUR car once (statistically) over a 4 year period. Unless you live way out on the east side of town (in the Village Quarter).

If you're homosexual, go with Bloomington (Highest per capita gay population) the only inviting place you'll find in the TH is Zim Marss (which is awesome for any sexual orientation).

I have lived in both towns and know several people of various personalities that lived in one or both and basically, if you want to see a good college play or a really good live band and are not worried about affording college, go to bloomington. You'll also have the chance to be in a porno. If you are broke and like to drink or would like to visit a metropolitan area every couple of weekends or you want to go into engineering, TH is the place for you (also, there is no shortage of pretty girls and boys in TH, they're just normally passed out drunk).

[asianstudent]

Hi, I am an international student. I am checking Vincennes U, can anyone tell me about this town, about the education quality, weather, transportation and crime and safety. Thanks for your help

[rsh085]

Terre Haute is one of the ugliest towns I've ever seen; it is a dump. And culturally, it's just a collection of strip malls and fast food joints.

I vote for Bloomington. I spent a summer there and it is definitely the best college town in Indiana (possibly the entire Midwest though I haven't seen all Big Ten towns). The atmosphere is liberal, IU and the town proper has cultural opportunities galore, and aesthetically it is a nice middle-sized town.

South Bend ain't bad either. It's also really nice. I have a person I volunteer with in Chicago who is going to move back there when he retires (he's an ND grad) and he always tells me how his heart actually lies in SB, this coming from a lifetime Chicagoan!