Another Two Days in Bloomington - Suggestions? (Valparaiso, Ellettsville: sales, sublet)

[Midpack]

My wife and I live in Valparaiso, we have been seriously considering moving to Bloomington. I posted a thread asking about Bloomington late last year and the comments here were very helpful in guiding my first visit (thanks so much). My first visit certainly didn't dampen my enthusiasm re: Bloomington (conclusions from the first brief visit are below). So we are planning to come down again for a weekend in the next month or so. Thought I would ask for more suggestions before our trip, here are the kinds of things we are curious about, feel free to comment on any you wish.

• We’d like a small (to us that’s probably about 1300-1500 sqft) but high quality home. It would have to be reasonably close to town, but not necessarily in town (a walkable community would be ideal, but not entirely possible in Bloomington as I understand it). It would have to be highly efficient if not outright “green.” We don't have kids, will probably be retired soon (but we DON'T want to live in a retirement community). Are there homes/neighborhoods/builders that we might look into?
• Restaurants we might like (summary of likes/dislikes from 1st visit below)?
• My focus was almost entirely on in town, other areas should we look at?
• What is summer like there (activity not weather), I take it the population drops by over half with all the IU students gone.
• Any other suggestions that come to mind after reading the summary below)?

Thanks!!!



Just got back from my two days in Bloomington. My first impression was not good. Downtown seemed pretty rundown like many midwest towns and I drove west on Kirkwood to see the Arts Row shown on the BEAD map. The houses, buildings that direction were not in very good condition. Rut-row. But once I set out on foot, the area from downtown east toward IU was much more interesting. And as I drove around and saw more of the town including some newer sections, I felt better. In the end, I would say Valparaiso (where I live now) and Bloomington were close. However, I liked the vibe in Bloomington better.

• Valpo is salt of the earth with a tilt toward urban farmers. Bloomington was greener, healthier, fitter, more laid back - I like that!
• Many more healthy eating options (grocery and restaurants), more people riding bikes all over (exercise and transportation), more cultural stuff going on (based on the calendars I looked at, much of it thanks to IU) - I like that!
• I enjoyed FARMBloomington, Soma, The Bakehouse, Bloomingfoods (all 3), Upland Brewery & Oliver Winery. Not nearly as many ethnic restaurants in Valpo, but there are more upscale restaurants in Valpo - probably 3-4 of the caliber of Tallent. Grazie, Malibu & Samira might be good food, but pretty run down.
• And Lake Monroe/Fairfax & LMSA was pretty, I will miss Lake Michigan but I can live with that.
• As much as I like Chicago, it has just gotten too crowded and expensive so I think I'd enjoy exploring Indy.
• And I just checked the instant temperatures online as it seemed to be colder in Valpo, and indeed it is 46°F here and 56°F in Bloomington. Don't know if that's representative or not, but that 10°F is quite noticeable.
• Brought home some Bloomington Roasters Ethiopian coffee beans, a loaf of Scholar's Bakehouse Farm Bread, a 6 of Upland Wheat and 9 bottles from Oliver.
• IU was indeed pretty, and impressive in size.
• More homeless in Bloomington - not a complete surprise.
• Fountain Sq Mall was nice for downtown, but not my cup of tea.

Thanks all for your helpful suggestions...

[Ravekid]

I lived in Bloomington for a summer in the late 90s. I lived with a bunch of other early 20 somethings and it was fun. IU is over 30,000 students, and I would estimate 25,000, but maybe only 20,000 return home. There are a lot of students who live on campus, but stay in Bloomington and sublet over the summer. I would say that campus dies down, but only freshman, and likely sophomores return home. After those years, most folks usually have a job they want to stay for, especially if it is an on campus job.

One thing I liked about Bloomington wasn't really Bloomington itself, if was more of a package deal with Monroe Co. and Brown Co. close by. I really like more rural, wooded areas, and it was a nice change from flat, pavement city that is the Indy metro area. One of my roommates was huge into fishing, so I got my license and we fished at least weekly. There is a nice lake just north of the football stadium that we went to 95% of the time. Of course we also checked out Lake Lemon and the reservoir and fished there as well. To me, Bloomington was the perfect size city. When I was there, the population was around 70K to 100K depending on how many students were staying in town, etc.. As far as politics, Bloomington is about as socialist as you can get. The only downside to that is there is likely a "rich should pay more!" mentality, as you can only provide public services with taxpayer money. With the state property tax caps, that should provide you with some protection from excessive taxation on that front. I have no idea how high their local income and sales taxes are. Nor do I know if they have a lot of city and/or county requirements such as costly permits to park on the street, higher electric bills for a more "green" community, higher waste disposal fees, again for a more "green" community, etc..

[mkat321]

Did you by chance look in Ellettsville? The commute to B-town is only about 5-10 minutes. By commute I mean from the split/downtown Ellettsville to the highway interchanges and then on in to more dense areas near campus or on out toward the concentrated shopping areas around 3rd & 37. It's a very walkable community, with some decent dining options. Nothing really $$$$ ultra high class but very high quality local options, and the Canyon Inn at McCormicks' Creek has some to die for entrees In-town in Ellettsville I love Sky Cafe or Brad's Bar & Grill {their 8 oz ribeye is melt in your mouth yummy}. And of course you're only a few minutes drive from all the dining options in Bloomington.

As far as housing, a quick search on Realtor for housing in Ellettsville turns up over 40 options. My personal favorite is a 3/2 with teak floors on Iron Sides Drive. There are other options obviously but it just screamed clean lines, awesome flow to me so I had to share it

[chalcedony]

Originally Posted by Ravekid

As far as politics, Bloomington is about as socialist as you can get.

I urge you to check out other communities outside of Indiana sometime.

[rrah]

OP--check you DM's.

Ravekid--your off by about 10,000. Last fall and this spring enrollment was above 40,000 for the first time ever. Approximately 10,000 of those are graduate and/or professional students (law). They tend to not leave in the summer.

There is not a local sales tax or income tax.

Bloomington is far from being socialist. While the city tends to be quite liberal, the surrounding county tends to be more conservative.

[domergurl]

tried to rep ya rrah ... but you set the record straight!

[rrah]

Thanks dg

[Midpack]

May not get read, but

1. What is the best restaurant in/around Bloomington for Mexican?
2. Best for Italian?
3. Best pizza (thin, thin crust)?