Best college town in Indiana? (Indianapolis, Bloomington: credit, how much, houses)

[Micah Girl]

What's the best college town in Indiana? A place with culture and fun stuff to do for families. A place with some diversity. A place with community that is friendly and small-town, but open to newcomers.

Is this your hometown? Or the hometown of your alma mater??

Thanks

[Southside Shrek]

Try Indiana University in Bloomington.

[Micah Girl]

My only knowledge of Bloomington comes from the movie Breaking Away which I haven't seen in years...

How are the winters in Bloomington? How long? How cold? How much snow?

Is there a real spring, or does it slide into hot summer from cold and slushy?

[domergurl]

I went to IU in Bloomington and thought it was the best place. Lots of culture .. decent art museum, tons of concerts and stage productions. Food is very diverse, much moreso than in Indianapolis, where everything tastes the same.

Of course, I'm speaking as a former student. I'm not sure what it would be like to be a civilian living in Bloomington with a family.

[rrah]

Bloomington without a doubt!!!! It is now my hometown, and the hometown of my alma mater--go IU! (Like so many IU grads my husband and I fell in love with Bloomington and moved back when we could.)
Winters vary from year to year. Some years we have more snow than others. When we do it's not often more than a 2-3 inches at a time, but there are exceptions. I would say in general we rarely dip below 25 degrees for any substantial length of time. (Most of my life was spent in the Chicago area so winters here are mild compared to that.) We definitely have spring and fall. Both seasons are beautiful here. I just finished walking in our woods, and it's a perfect day; sunny, clear, close to 60ish. I wouldn't expect to see any snow until late November.

In terms of culture and diversity--you won't find the opportunities in comprablely sized towns that you will in Bloomington. We have students and faculty members from all over the world. That translates into numerous neat restaurants and events ranging from Tibetan to Indian to Thai and a bit of everything in between. IU offers lots of activities for children. This weekend was the physics/astronomy depts. open houses for area families. The school of music provides instructional programs ranging from stringed instruments, choir, ballet, etc. Our high school students can take classes at IU or receive IU credit for classes taken at the local high schools.

While Bloomington has lost some of it's small town feel in the past decade, once you're here for awhile and involved in things you will discover it really is a pretty small place. It's pretty friendly. I could go on about it--I really love it here, and it's a great place for families---. If you want further info, please feel free to pm or email me.

[Micah Girl]

Originally Posted by rrah

Bloomington without a doubt!!!!

While Bloomington has lost some of it's small town feel in the past decade, once you're here for awhile and involved in things you will discover it really is a pretty small place. It's pretty friendly. I could go on about it--I really love it here, and it's a great place for families---. If you want further info, please feel free to pm or email me.

Sounding better all the time! How is the local economy? I know sometimes a college town is so overrun with highly educated people that wages are depressed and jobs are scarce. Is the university the only industry in town?

My husband is a Nurse Practitioner so he can work anywhere. How are the hospitals?

I love working with college students and am also interested in pursuing a doctorate, so I'd probably go that route part-time seeking work &/or studying at the IU.

We homeschool currently, but it sounds like the public schools would be a good option for us if we wanted to go that route, too.

Thanks for the information!

[domergurl]

Originally Posted by Micah Girl

Sounding better all the time! How is the local economy? I know sometimes a college town is so overrun with highly educated people that wages are depressed and jobs are scarce. Is the university the only industry in town?

My husband is a Nurse Practitioner so he can work anywhere. How are the hospitals?

I love working with college students and am also interested in pursuing a doctorate, so I'd probably go that route part-time seeking work &/or studying at the IU.

We homeschool currently, but it sounds like the public schools would be a good option for us if we wanted to go that route, too.

Thanks for the information!

It gets icy more than anything else in the winter. I too grew up in northern Indiana and spent about a decade in Chicago, so I'm used to snowy winters. Down here, it's hillier, so the ice is more treacherous when it's on the roads and I might add, it's not that often.

Glad to hear Bloomington is still a great place. I wish it was closer to Columbus, that way, when we sell our house in Fishers, we could live in Bloomington and the commute to Columbus wouldn't be too bad.

[rrah]

There are other industries in town, but IU is the major employer. You're right in that there are lots of educated people here not working in their field. (Do a search of some of my previous posts--it kind of addresses this.)

Fortunately for you there is always a need for medical workers here. There is the older Bloomington hospital and the brand new Monroe Hospital--it's set to open in the next few weeks. It has run ads on a daily basis for employees for the past few weeks. There are also 2 hospitals in the county directly south of Monroe--wouldn't be a bad commute at all.

In addition to IU there is a branch of Ivy Tech Community College. It moved to a new location, new building about 2-3 years ago and is already outgrowing it's space. It had record numbers of enroll the past couple of years. That might provide you with a second option for employment for yourself.

domergirl--too bad that drive through Nashville would be tricky in the winter months---45 minutes during the summer from the east side of B-ton.

[domergurl]

Originally Posted by rrah

There are other industries in town, but IU is the major employer. You're right in that there are lots of educated people here not working in their field. (Do a search of some of my previous posts--it kind of addresses this.)

Fortunately for you there is always a need for medical workers here. There is the older Bloomington hospital and the brand new Monroe Hospital--it's set to open in the next few weeks. It has run ads on a daily basis for employees for the past few weeks. There are also 2 hospitals in the county directly south of Monroe--wouldn't be a bad commute at all.

In addition to IU there is a branch of Ivy Tech Community College. It moved to a new location, new building about 2-3 years ago and is already outgrowing it's space. It had record numbers of enroll the past couple of years. That might provide you with a second option for employment for yourself.

domergirl--too bad that drive through Nashville would be tricky in the winter months---45 minutes during the summer from the east side of B-ton.

I know, I took my kids to campus in January for a show at the Aud and they loved campus! And this was in January! I want to take them down this time of year because it's so gosh darned pretty! Much to the chagrin of my ND alumni husband, my girls said that they wanted to go to IU for college. Made me shed a proud tear!

[Micah Girl]

What kind of a town in Nashville to live in? I know it's supposed to be artsy, but would that be a place a young family would like to consider? How close is it to Bloomington?