Relocating to Greene County (Bloomington, Lawrence: rental, buy, middle school)

[redrudy]

Hi, My husband has a job at Crane and is currently living in Greene County. The rest of the family will be joining him in July. We are planning to rent for a short time and then buy a home. I am not sure about staying in Greene County. What are the good schools in Greene, Monroe, Lawrence counties and how can I get info on rental properties available? I have 3 children (2 in high school and 1 in middle school) and we don't want to be too, too far from Crane (for commuting reasons). Thanks for your help

[rrah]

How far is too far? Lots of people I know live in the southern or western areas of Monroe County and commute to Crane--typically no more than about 30-35 minutes. The schools tend to be better overall in Monroe County. Far more opportunities are available because of the size. The "problem" with Lawrence County (primarily Bedford North Lawrence for Crane people) is that the high school is east of Bedford and Crane is, of course, west of Bedford. Mitchell would probably be too far for a Crane commuter. Either your children or your husband will face a longer commute to school or work. I'm know people do that though. I believe most Crane people would live in eastern Greene County or Bloomfield. Bloomfield HS and Eastern Greene HS are both pretty small. Eastern Greene did open a new middle/high school in the past couple of years. Nice looking building. Eastern Greene has also had several different superintendents in the past couple of years. I would recommend craigslist, BUT be very leary. If something looks too good to be true, it probably is. I know of several people that have responded to a scam ad there.

Below are the links for local papers.

Greene County Daily World: Greene County, Indiana

HeraldTimesOnline.com - Bloomington, Indiana newspaper

The Times-Mail - Bedford, Indiana newspaper |

[redrudy]

Thanks so much for your reply. Are the schools in Lawrence county good or questionable? I have heard that Bloomington schools are good but the districting for the 2 high schools seem a little weird.

[rrah]

It's not even that the schools in Greene or Lawrence County are good or bad. There are just more resources in Monroe and the schools are larger. Larger schools tend to offer more opportunities to students. Yes, the districting is a bit odd. It was redone a couple of years ago. Generally the southside of Monroe County is more populated than the north side. In an effort to come closer to having two HS's of the same size, some areas that previously were districted to South now are at North. I would have been happy to have my children attend North or South in Bloomington. The educational differences are minimal.

[redrudy]

Thank you for the info rrah, I was wondering why it was like that. For those students in southern Bloomington that attend Bloomington North is it a long drive?

[rrah]

For the ones that are in the far south eastern part of Monroe County (near Lake Monroe) it is a fairly far drive--My guess is at least 30 minutes if not more. For those that live west of 37 and south, not so much as they can get on 37 and be there fairly quickly--15-20 minutes would be my guess.

[Uplander]

Some Bloomington HS students also take classes on Campus at IU. That's not as easy for students in Greene and Lawrence County. The peers that a student chooes as their close friends are more likely to influence their academic success or lack of sucess than any difference between the Bloomington High Schools.