Moving to Vincennes... (Evansville, Bloomington, Lawrence: best town, crime, dorms)

[Amber-L]

I have just recently read everyones pros and cons of moving to Vincennes and there was nothing current. I am going to be moving there real soon and I guess I am a little scared to do it by what some ppl have wrote about it. I currently live in a rather large city where it is not an hour drive to go out and do something. Although I did grow up in a small town so I know what it is like. I guess what I am asking is am I going to be miserable there? What is the age of the majority of the ppl. I am in my late 20's and it would be fabulous if I could make some new friends. I can't see how there can be a university if there is only a pop. of 18,000 ppl. Do they drive everyday from larger cities to go to school? Well I hope ppl read this and maybe I can make some new friends.

[ShadowCaver]

Vincennes - its an interesting, old, historic nice little 'city', on the banks of Wabash River. Not really much there, in terms of night life, from what I've seen in my visits of the area. Yet, there are some cool taverns, the schools, the getting lost in the past, the ... well, that's about it really.

Yeap, Evansville and/or TH are both ~1.3 hour away, as then also have Bloomington ~2 hours. With much outdoors adventures in the area too.

You have read the other threads herein regarding Vincennes you say?

Oh, the university there, it does have a good reputation. You can have a university in small town - but then of course, be aware that such a sized town gets/feels smaller when school is not in session.

Best of luck to ya

[javahoe]

Hi Amber,

I went to Vincennes University, although the experience is now ancient history, about 20 years ago. I still am in Vincennes regularly on business.

Not sure what part of the county you are coming from or the type of city, but Vincennes itself is a little different than similar sized midwestern towns.

The two areas which help differentiate it are the historical aspects and the University. Although it is only a two year college, it really has the feel of a campus. The student population is nearing 10,000 and many students do come from other areas. In the last 20 years, several new dorms and classroom buildings have been added. One thing I have noticed though, since it is a two year University, most of the students are below 21. So you don't see the trendy nightspots, restaurants, etc that you might find in other towns with similar sized campuses. They do have a Starbucks though, lol.

There are about 4 wineries in that area, all which have free tastings and events. I recently took a day drive to all of them and found them each enjoyable. One across the river in Illinois had an Irish Celtic group practicing and performing and another has art paintings and such. A nice surprise.

Not sure if things have changed, but when I went to school there, there was a rift between the community and the college. The police at that time would constantly harrass students, pull over out of town cars randomly, etc..Once, I was pulled over and had my car searched because an under cover officer said it looked like I had gestured the finger at him. Completely untrue but a common practice at the time.

We used to joke that the best thing about Vincennes was Evansville was an hour away. Seriously, what you won't find in Vincennes, you will probably find there. In less than an hour, you can be in large malls, concerts, sporting events, etc.. There are two good univeristies there, a small private liberal college and a growing regional state school. Bloomington is another decent town about two hours away with many things a young adult like you would enjoy.

The worst thing about Vincennes is the indecisiveness of the locals on what time zone to be in. A couple of years ago, they petitioned to stay on Central time to be in the same zone as Evansville and Southern Illinois. After being pressured by the business elite for probably personal golfing preferences, they recently repetitioned to switch to Eastern. So now, they are an hour ahead of their neighboring city, Lawrenceville and of the closest metropolitan area in Evansville. It won't get dark there until after 10PM in the summers now.

Good luck on your move and wish you the best success in Indiana.

[hthrchatman]

Ilive here now... Yup grew up here too.

As for College age kids...If you like to drink welcome aboard. There is not a lot to do here for the college student but that. I went there. Now if you have children, I would suggest not sending them to public schools if you can afford it. Right now the schools and the town people are so stuck in the past it isn't even funny. Everything is slow here.

We have only had one drive by so Ok. Several murders but seemingly solved which a lot of people question. Cops have a we are mighty attitude at times, no jaywalking or you will be threatened with a ticket. If you go to the newspapers website you can read all the local crud. If not for my husband's family ( none ofmine live here now, grew up and moved away or died) and my children we would be outta here. My husband graduated with a graphic design degree but can't use it here so he works in a factory. One of the few we have around here. We are kinda LUCKy in a way that he has a job. I am lucky that there is internet around here because I work online.

It would be better if...They would come into the 21st century. Slow coming of age you could say. Build the darn middle school we need, fix the elementaries. This would encouarge businesses to come here = more jobs= better all around. That is just a dream right now.

You will probably have a wonderful time being student. They have a lot of activities to keep kids out of trouble there. Good luck.

[ImGibby]

I startred out my college endeavors at Vincennes also....it is a wierd town and definitely a townie vs college student atmosphere. Its one of those places where it feels as if time has stood still for about the past 30 yrs or so.

I had more than one strange experience with the local police...one time i was actually pulled over on my bicycle for running a stop sign! Cop actually came up behind me and turned on his lights and chirped the siren. Gave me hell for "not obeying the rules of the road" and for not having any identification on me...i was out for a bike ride and did not feel the need to carry a wallet since i was not planning on going anywhere or buying anything. I mean really, how bored do you have to be to pull over a bicycle???

[lyndsaynicole]

My husband went to school at VU, so I ended up spending quite a bit of time there myself. That town is surreal. ImGibby is right. It's like time stands still there. I can see how college kids can deal with being there, but I couldn't believe that there were people that actually lived there on a permanent basis. Then again, I'm big into shopping and nightlife and all of that-I get bored WAY too easily, so I need stuff to occupy me...and Vincennes doesn't have enough stuff for me. We spent a lot of time at the Monument-when the weather was nice. And a lot of time in Evansville-since that's where you have to go if you want to do anything. To each their own though.

[EMAdams]

Amber-
The college students are not included in the census, so the 18,000 or so people are permanent residents of Vincennes. I have lived in Vincennes my whole life, but now go to college up in Indy. Vincennes is not as bad as all of these people make it out to be. Yes it is old, and yes there is a meth problem, but it isn't really a visible issue. The public schools aren't bad. I went through the public school system and had many friends who went through the the private catholic school system and most of them transferred to the public system, because it was better (there are a total of like 100 students at the catholic middle and high school). The public school system is good, it prepared me well for college and i was able to get a full ride of scholarships to Butler University, for all four years. As for the jobs, there are jobs to find, you just have to look and be willing to try to find them. My family owns its own business that my grandpa started out of his living room, which is now an internationally reknowned business. Many of my friends parents didn't go to college, but have well paying jobs. With Vincennes being such a small town, the price of living is lower than that of a big city, so the amount of money needed to live a similar lifestyle is not as much. It is true that there isn't a whole lot to do in Vincennes, but i find Indy to be just as boring sometimes, and i actually miss being in Vincennes. The crime really isn't that big, i never locked my car, and was not afraid to walk around at night by myself. Now i don't know if that was just my ignorance, or if Vincennes really is safe, all i know is that when i am in Vincennes i feel like i am in a buble like the "Vincennes Bubble" of safety. I personally don't think that Vincennes is the best town in the country, or even the state to live, but isn't horrible, and no matter where you go there is always going to be something wrong with it...no place is perfect, but there is always walgreens...even in Vincennes.