New Bloomington questions (sales, coupons, car insurance) - City-Data Forum

gimme it · 05-22-2008, 09:32 AM

Hi there,

We are coming for a visit next week. Can't wait!! I was wondering if anyone can give me some idea of what you pay for car insurance, electricity, cable, water, property tax etc. I'm curious about the cost of living. Do you think groceries are overpriced or a good buy, if you've come from someplace else. Thanks.

gimme it · 05-27-2008, 08:41 AM

Any Bloomington folks out there??

Godsdove · 06-02-2008, 06:45 PM

I was born and raised in Bloomington. I moved a year ago...so I can't speak to the current prices. Gas there seems overpriced because it is a college town. However, I think groceries are pretty standard. In fact, milk is cheaper up there now then it is down here in TN where I live now.... Property taxes were pretty average. Utilities.....seems to me they were also pretty average. I know that probably isn't much help. LOL I think you can find all different ranges though...one thing I miss about where we live now is the lack of places like Aldi's, bread stores, etc for discount items....which were great there in Bloomington.

Anyway....good luck....Bloomington was all I knew for 36 years and it'll always be a place I hold dear.

gimme it · 06-04-2008, 09:57 AM

thanks for your reply.

tooningBlom · 01-06-2010, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gimme it

Hi there,

We are coming for a visit next week. Can't wait!! I was wondering if anyone can give me some idea of what you pay for car insurance, electricity, cable, water, property tax etc. I'm curious about the cost of living. Do you think groceries are overpriced or a good buy, if you've come from someplace else. Thanks.

Bloomington's a nice town, but you have to be patient with us -- we're not like other cities. People here love food, the arts and kindness, so we're civil and relatively easy to win over. However, Bloomington can have its days when the weather sucks, the public transit can be inconvenient as buses don't run on Sundays and please forgive the moodiness. This quaint town, nestled in the rolling hills of south central Indiana, is safe though somewhat sissified -- hope that's OK with you, no big city thrills here. Sorry! If you can tolerate the minor quirks, you should have no problems.

That out of the way, here's some history. It took three years for Bloomington to grow on me. Being from a big city, I had to struggle with my restlessness and settle down in a small town. I even left B-town a few times to move to Pittsburgh, Ft. Wayne, back to Indy, and Springfield, MO. But I always came back to B-town. And I'm glad I came back. I like my soft-touch town -- no one sleeps on the streets or in the alleys and every one has access to community kitchens all over town so no one goes hungry. No gangs, no drive-by's, no riots.

Even though Bloomington is famous for IU and being a Big Ten town, it's a good place to raise a family away from the crime and noise of the big city. We value education here, obviously. Anyway, enough of my advertizing.

Electricity can be expensive here in the winter. I pay $50/month to Duke Energy to heat a small efficiency. I pay $11.37/month to Comcast for basic cable. Water is usually free, unless you own a home. Even then it's not outrageously overpriced. Most people here do the Geico, Safe Auto, Allstate thing. An Indiana driver's license costs $10 and is good for 6 years. Indiana annual state tax is 3.4% -- not bad. Bloomington sales tax is 7% on the dollar. Property and taxes can be high for the Midwest, but not nearly as high as the east coast. Groceries are kind of high at Kroger and Marsh unless you have coupons or a plus card you can get by filling out a form -- any one can get a card. We have an Aldi, 3 Marsh's, 4 Kroger's, 2 K-mart's, a Super Wal-mart, a Sams, and a Target. So, you have some variety. Everything is really close, too. No pains of getting on and off a network of congested highways spanning across a huge metropolis to buy diapers and a case of pop aound here! Ah, the joys of small town life.

Have a blast in Bloomington!

celticquestcafellc · 02-07-2010, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tooningBlom

Bloomington's a nice town, but you have to be patient with us -- we're not like other cities. People here love food, the arts and kindness, so we're civil and relatively easy to win over. However, Bloomington can have its days when the weather sucks, the public transit can be inconvenient as buses don't run on Sundays and please forgive the moodiness. This quaint town, nestled in the rolling hills of south central Indiana, is safe though somewhat sissified -- hope that's OK with you, no big city thrills here. Sorry! If you can tolerate the minor quirks, you should have no problems.

That out of the way, here's some history. It took three years for Bloomington to grow on me. Being from a big city, I had to struggle with my restlessness and settle down in a small town. I even left B-town a few times to move to Pittsburgh, Ft. Wayne, back to Indy, and Springfield, MO. But I always came back to B-town. And I'm glad I came back. I like my soft-touch town -- no one sleeps on the streets or in the alleys and every one has access to community kitchens all over town so no one goes hungry. No gangs, no drive-by's, no riots.

Even though Bloomington is famous for IU and being a Big Ten town, it's a good place to raise a family away from the crime and noise of the big city. We value education here, obviously. Anyway, enough of my advertizing.

Electricity can be expensive here in the winter. I pay $50/month to Duke Energy to heat a small efficiency. I pay $11.37/month to Comcast for basic cable. Water is usually free, unless you own a home. Even then it's not outrageously overpriced. Most people here do the Geico, Safe Auto, Allstate thing. An Indiana driver's license costs $10 and is good for 6 years. Indiana annual state tax is 3.4% -- not bad. Bloomington sales tax is 7% on the dollar. Property and taxes can be high for the Midwest, but not nearly as high as the east coast. Groceries are kind of high at Kroger and Marsh unless you have coupons or a plus card you can get by filling out a form -- any one can get a card. We have an Aldi, 3 Marsh's, 4 Kroger's, 2 K-mart's, a Super Wal-mart, a Sams, and a Target. So, you have some variety. Everything is really close, too. No pains of getting on and off a network of congested highways spanning across a huge metropolis to buy diapers and a case of pop aound here! Ah, the joys of small town life.

Have a blast in Bloomington!

Well That pretty much says it. I don't think there's much that I could add to that comment. ^_^