About Bloomington (Indianapolis, Greenwood, Martinsville: rentals, chapel, houses)

[uprightinvasion]

I'm a prospective IU Bloomington student. Can any current residents or ex-locals give me a rundown on some of the stats and some information regarding the overall perception and functioning of Bloomington? I'd be coming from a relatively moderate sized suburb (estimated population 49,610 in 2012) in NC. Is there anything I should be aware of before applying? Thanks.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Seems like most Hoosiers consider Bloomington to be the best/nicest town in Indiana. I've heard it often referred to as the "Golden Child" of Indiana cities.

Bloomington is a nice city. I'd guess Bloomington to be very similar to Chapel Hill - a liberal mid-sized city in a conservative basketball-obsessed state that is home to a large state run flagship university and is less than hours drive to their booming state capital city.

[ColdAilment]

Most college towns are fairly liberal, Bloomington is no exception. I've personally never visited Bloomington, but I have heard a lot of great things about the city. The surrounding countryside is supposed to be very beautiful, something most cities in Indiana can't really say for themselves, as farmland dominates most of the landscape and lends itself to the overall conservative climate of Indiana.

[indy_317]

Bloomington is pretty nice. It has a blend of money and poor, but there is enough folks making enough money to make the city a pretty decent place. It is very liberal but only recently has the student body become very vocal/active from my perspective. While ideals were often left, maybe even far left, of center, there was never much in terms of protesting, calls for a general strike, etc. until recent years. Like with most schools though, it usually is only a small, vocal minority of the students who are really politically active. IU itself is building and building. New dorm is underway and a larger, remodeled dining hall at the next door dorm is going to take place as well. About half of any given class on the Bloomington campus is from out-of-state. One benefit is that the entire IU statewide system is now all on the same calendar, using the same ID card, etc.. This means that you if have trouble with a class you desperately need to take in Bloomington, you might be able to drive to downtown Indy and take it at IUPUI. I've meet many students who did this. Right now, traffic on SR 37 is horrible as they are converting this road to interstate 69, so that is something to keep in mind. Also, if you get an internship in Indy and you decide to stay at the job or whatever, you might be able to transfer everything to IUPUI depending on your degree. Some relatives did this when full-time summer internships turned into full-time job offers with benefits of helping to pay for some of their classes.


As far as college life, there are parties, there is a larger enough Greek community, but maybe not as large as other schools/regions of the country. There are hot spots near the campus with bars, clubs, eateries, specialty stores, etc..

[rrah]

I am a local for the past 17/18 years. OP--you really need to ask more specific questions. What kind of perception and functioning? It's perceived by many parts of the state as very liberal. That's pretty accurate. There is a difference though when one lives outside of the town. Those in the county tend to be more conservative, but still accepting of others generally. The city functions well. IU and the city work cooperatively. Wages tend to be low here. Housing, especially rentals, are among the most expensive in the state--even more than the pricier suburbs of Indianapolis. The city is definitely not an Indianapolis suburb.

Whether one is a student, retired, a young family, or emptynesters, there is always plenty to do in Bloomington and something for everyone--no matter ones's interests.

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

Seems like most Hoosiers consider Bloomington to be the best/nicest town in Indiana. I've heard it often referred to as the "Golden Child" of Indiana cities.

Bloomington is a nice city. I'd guess Bloomington to be very similar to Chapel Hill - a liberal mid-sized city in a conservative basketball-obsessed state that is home to a large state run flagship university and is less than hours drive to their booming state capital city.

Keep in mind Chapel Hill is a lot closer to Raleigh-Durham than Bloomington is to Indy. Otherwise, I agree, but Bloomington is a good bit more isolated.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Chapel Hill is about 22 miles closer to Raleigh than Bloomington is to Downtown Indianapolis. I know it's all relative, but 22 miles is not considered a lot of miles in Texas. In Texas, 22 miles is right down the road. In Indiana, 22 miles is a day trip.

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

Chapel Hill is about 22 miles closer to Raleigh than Bloomington is to Downtown Indianapolis. I know it's all relative, but 22 miles is not considered a lot of miles in Texas. In Texas, 22 miles is right down the road. In Indiana, 22 miles is a day trip.

In real commute time, that's about an hour day. That could turn a viable commute into one people don't want to take.

Once 69 is "fixed" and Bloomington has basically direct interstate access with no lights or anything to 465, that's going to be a game-changer. Bloomington could become a reasonable commute to those working on the south side, downtown, or southern burbs like Greenwood. Taking 37 to Indy on a Sunday night was rough when I was there in 2016. I don't want to know how bad it sucks during core business hours.

[HatchChile]

I went to grad school in Bloomington and lived there until mid-2012. I haven't been back there since then, but here things I remember in no particular order:

1. As everyone has already mentioned, it's very liberal.

2. Bloomington's population not associated with the IU, are generally pretty conservative, poor and generally do not like anything that has to do with IU. You can't imagine how many racist stickers I used to see when Obama got elected. After graduating, I lived a bit away from the campus and had to deal with regular people and they were not friendly at all (I have a foreign accent). If you go to IU and you are a person of color - people usually warn you not to stop in places like Martinsville on your way to the airport. I think it has to do with their KKK past... and also some other racist incidents during high school team competitions... I do not recall the details.

3. Basketball rules! but, coming from NC, that's probably won't be any different.

4. IU keeps building [bleep]. Your tuition will keep climbing up and you start getting really mad to see "facility fees"... they have state of the art football stadium for a team that basically sucks. And, when students question that, the administration always say "we can't attract great talent without good facilities". Overall though, if you are coming to IU to get your Bachelor's, my advice - don't do it. Stick with the NC universities. You guys have some top notch schools there. If grad school, that's a different story, I understand.

5. It's humid in the summer months and snot-freezing cold in winter. I now live in Colorado, and I NEVER want to experience Indiana winters ever again. It's gray and gloomy from October to April. But, darn, when April comes and it blooms -- it's amazing. It's probably the best spring you'll ever experience. Hence, the town name, I guess. :-)

6. There are pretty good (ethnic) restaurants on 4th street. A bunch of Tibetan and Nepalese food. Which is kind of odd for a place like Bloomington? But they have a huge Buddhist center and current Dalai Lama's close relatives live there. So I think they own some of those joints. There is a Lotus festival of international music and dance in September or October. It used to be free of charge... but then they started making it a closed venue event... whatever.

7. Housing is kind of cheap but also the houses are kind of run down... very much like every other college town. IU dorms though -- they keep building these lux dorms. I have no idea who can afford them.

8. The campus is gorgeous

9. The main library is like a huge windowless box where you spent a lot of hours. The library collections are amazing though.

10. Lots of campus buildings that belong to the College of Arts and Sciences were built during the "New Deal" era, and many of them really need some remodeling. But, the money keeps going to places like Business School or Law School -- because as I said, they are worried that they can't get students who pay a boatload of money to go those schools unless they have pretty buildings.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

Chapel Hill is about 22 miles closer to Raleigh than Bloomington is to Downtown Indianapolis. I know it's all relative, but 22 miles is not considered a lot of miles in Texas. In Texas, 22 miles is right down the road. In Indiana, 22 miles is a day trip.

The difference between Chapel Hill and Bloomington is the fact that Chapel Hill is one of several towns and cities that are adjacent to each other. Carey, Chapel Hill and Durham are basically the same town. Cross the street and you've changed towns. Collectively it's a much bigger area although around campus Chapel Hill and Bloomington are very much similar.

Bloomington sits there all by itself. No other towns of any size close by. So in that respect it is much more like a typical tradition college town.