Crane Naval Weapons Ctr (Bloomington, Bedford: apartments, rentals, co-op)

[cobolt]

Where do people normally live who work at the Crane Naval Weapons Center? And what can you tell me about these towns?

[locean]

People commute from all over to work at Crane. The closest "big city" would be Bloomington, the college town where Indiana University is located. If you like the bar scene, music, or want a lot of choices for shopping and dining, Bloominton would be for you.

Bedford is not as large or busy as Bloomington, but it has more shopping and industry than other communities in the surrounding areas.

Linton is a small town, but there is a Walmart, and other small chain specialty stores are popping up along the main drag. It also has some chain fast-food restaurants--TacoBell, McD's, KFC, Long John Silvers, but nothing like an Applebee's.

Bloomfield is pure small town, and very rural, and quiet. The only chain restaurant you'll find there is Dairy Queen. I believe it has one grocery store--an IGA.

Odon is another small town, mostly farming community, and like with most small towns, you will find limited amounts of business. F.Y.I, Odon is home to a lot of Amish folks.

Anywho, those are some of the common commuting towns when you're working at Crane. Of course there are others--I knew people who commuted from Louisville and others from Indy.

If you don't want an hour's drive to get to work, those are good choices. Housing is pretty cheap in the small towns, and people are usually pretty friendly. When I say housing, I do mean a house, because they aren't heavily populated areas and there aren't a lot of apartments available, so it's common for co-op students, or people new to the area to rent houses--typically older homes.

Do you have any particular needs--kids, budget, etc?

[cobolt]

Thanks for the response and the useful info. No special needs. I'm not concerned with schools because I have no children. I'm single and would only seek housing for myself. I'd like to rent initially and buy a small, simple house eventually.

[miteclip96]

Hello from Germany. I am a government civilian employee that is relocating to go work at Crane Naval base. I will be without a car for a few weeks and need to find a temporary lodging as close to the base as possible. Can anyone let me know of any hotels/motels/inns/ or any lodging that is within walking distance, and can you even walk or bike from Crane to the base? I'm just looking for something temporary, maybe 2 months, until I can find a place in Bloomington area. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[janetlorraine]

Hi, miteclip96 - I grew up in Southern Indiana And my first job was at Crane Naval Base. Riding a bike to wherever you'll be working at Crane would be dependent on which part of the Base you'll be working in. Crane has a land space of 64,000 acres and the facilities are very spread out. The town of Crane is very tiny and most housing used to be WW II military housing. There were some rentals, but not short term. You might have better luck staying on Base in the military lodging. Since you're PCSing to Crane, you should be Priority 1 and should be able to get a space even though you're DoD civilian status. At least you'd be able to get to your job and use the facilities on Base while you're PCS in status and could make some contacts at work to find out about the best places to live. Bloomington's a good place to live, though not as safe as it used to be, and has some variety in food and entertainment. Bedford's not as big and lower key. You won't find lots of variety there but will find quite a few great people in both places. Here's a website with info on the lodging, in case you might be interested: Crane Naval Support Activity You can email me, if you like, and I can share some info on the surrounding area ( I still have family there and go back fairly often so am pretty up to date on different towns there.) My email is janetlorraine@juno.com. Good luck! Crane's a beautiful facility and had the best cafeteria I've ever eaten at.

[janetlorraine]

I just looked at my post and the website for the lodging is displaying strangely. Just cut and past it starting with the http and ending with the 75-crane-naval-support-activity or go to the Military Lodging site and search for Crane. Let me know if you don't get there.

[yafwang]

Hello, I may relocate to Crane, IN for a government job. Do you have any information about the closest apartments and the houses to Crane, IN?
Thank you for the information.
Y. Wang

[CraneNewb]

I'm in a similar situation and may move near Crane Indiana for a Gov. Job. From my research so far, there appear to be a handful of places that are available for rent. You have Ridgewood apartments in Bedford, which you will find advertises all the time, and a few scattered places throughout. Most places I found were nearer to Bloomington. I prefer to stay away from the city so I prefer to stay near Bedford, and make the occasional commute to Bloomington when I need stock up on groceries that are not commonly found in local stores. I will most likely rent a place short-term while I search for a place purchase. The houses are not too pricey and it seems a better overall investment with the apartment selection being so scarce. A site I used to search rentals and houses are zillow.com, and USAA's homecircle feature. Not much, but hope it helps. If you see anything good feel free to share.