Two good choices for local flavor that are not pubs or bars- The Uptown - Uptown Cafe Try it for lunch or dinner. Or for steak, try Janko's Little Zagreb.
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Living in Bloomington
- Thread starter gregkl
- Start date
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Two good choices for local flavor that are not pubs or bars- The Uptown - Uptown Cafe Try it for lunch or dinner. Or for steak, try Janko's Little Zagreb.
hoosierdoc
Freed prisoner
Bloomington is at its best when IU is on break. One of the best summers of my life was spent in Bloomington.
CountryBoy19
Grandmaster
You should easily be able to make it into work from one of the surrounding counties in 20-40 minutes. Might I suggest while you are down there you take a drive south on 37 to Lawrence county just to see what the drive is like and maybe look at some of the houses. I'm just in the northern edge of Lawrence along with JeremiahJohnson and a few other members. Several places in the area where new houses are being built...
Also take a drive SW on 45 to see what things look like out that way. These things will give you a good idea of just how far away the lower cost housing is and how far away you will have to be to escape Monroe County politics... Of course, you won't really have to drive 37 north because that is the way you will come from...
As mentioned, I-69 is in progress on the south side of town and further to the SW. You will have to deal with that for the next few years. Just when the stretch from Crane to Bloomington (end right at the south side of town) is getting close to completion they will begin the stretch from Bloomington to Martinsville and there will be TONS of construction along 37 in town and out of town...
Dr.Midnight
Master
Don't forget about Lake Monroe. Some of my best summer weekends were spent out on that lake.
I will do this. Thanks.
CountryBoy19
Grandmaster
One benefit to living south of town (in Lawrence County in my case) is that your only a few miles from the boat ramps on the dam end of lake monroe. If you like to put in for joy-riding, skiing, tubing etc, the ramps on the dam-side will put you closer to the large end of the lake...
I'd show you around a little but I won't be home from the sand-box for another month or so...
Are You deployed?
CountryBoy19
Grandmaster
Voluntarily deployed civilian, yes
As you can tell, different folks have different impressions of Btown and the surrounding areas. Personally, I think it's cool town to have close, but I wouldn't care to live in the city.
They have recently turned all of downtown into a strictly metered, hi taxation area. A week to pay your fine or the $20 fee doubles, other higher fees for your second infraction within a year, etc.
The town is a homeless sanctuary with a continually growing population that dot numerous intersections with cardboard sign panhandlers. Amounts of "gas money" attempts at grocery and convenient store lots. There are a few public parks, places such as the library and shelters where this largely drunken/druggie crowd can be quite intimidating. Any other silly excuse for "occupying," protesting or whatever is tolerated for long periods of time until surrounding businesses threaten to leave town. The crime and drug problems that are continually on the rise from this crowd is often buried pretty deep in the news.
Bloomington developed and expanded over the years, often without redeveloping the roadways to accommodate the higher traffic flow of large box stores, huge housing editions, huge apartment complexes, IU expansion and commuters.
I won't even get in to the geniuses that turned some main streets into ALL BIKE LANE.
Some parts of town are much easier to skirt the regularly bad traffic areas. Park 48 has some in and out directions that make your longer drive actually a much quicker commute.
it might be a good investment to rent for a year or until you find the right place for you, while learning the lay of the land. You might run into a deal that never makes it to advertisement. Coworkers, friends of friends, folks who find virtue in picking their neighbors, etc. all present possibilities that may not be immediately apparent.
They have recently turned all of downtown into a strictly metered, hi taxation area. A week to pay your fine or the $20 fee doubles, other higher fees for your second infraction within a year, etc.
The town is a homeless sanctuary with a continually growing population that dot numerous intersections with cardboard sign panhandlers. Amounts of "gas money" attempts at grocery and convenient store lots. There are a few public parks, places such as the library and shelters where this largely drunken/druggie crowd can be quite intimidating. Any other silly excuse for "occupying," protesting or whatever is tolerated for long periods of time until surrounding businesses threaten to leave town. The crime and drug problems that are continually on the rise from this crowd is often buried pretty deep in the news.
Bloomington developed and expanded over the years, often without redeveloping the roadways to accommodate the higher traffic flow of large box stores, huge housing editions, huge apartment complexes, IU expansion and commuters.
I won't even get in to the geniuses that turned some main streets into ALL BIKE LANE.
Some parts of town are much easier to skirt the regularly bad traffic areas. Park 48 has some in and out directions that make your longer drive actually a much quicker commute.
it might be a good investment to rent for a year or until you find the right place for you, while learning the lay of the land. You might run into a deal that never makes it to advertisement. Coworkers, friends of friends, folks who find virtue in picking their neighbors, etc. all present possibilities that may not be immediately apparent.
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Bloomington isn't too bad, I lived there a couple times. Let me share my experience.
I once lived off of 17th street, west of Smokin' Joes Rib Shack at... an apartment complex that I can't think of the name of right now. Rent was cheap, but you get what you pay for. The complex was probably half/half students and normal lower income families.
After that, I lived near the optometry building. Since I was working for IU at the time at the IMU, it was a convenient location as I lived a 7 minute walk from work. Though it was party central all the time. Neighbors partying. People across the street partying. Etc. Benefits include eye-candy jogging by all the time, convenience in location to campus and downtown. On bus route. Inconveniences include noise from neighboring festive activities. Rent is much higher.
After that I moved to the east-side, over by Kroger. Was much quieter over here. The townhouse was nice. Neighborhood was nice. Mostly upper class college students, young professionals and a few families in this general area. Didn't really have issues with noise.
I've even toyed with the idea of going back, as now I work remotely for an IT based job and have for years, and technically can live anywhere in the world with an internet connection and maintain my job but just can't justify the increase in cost of living just for the added convenience of living someplace with more to do. If I were to do it all over again, I'd be looking at Bloomington's south east side, away from downtown or living near Bloomington, but not in it.
The people were alright, I guess. Lots of college students who are unleashed from their parents and locale for the first time. Unsure of your age, but I'm now in my mid/upper 20's so I'd still probably 'fit in' there. Every year, thousands of people leave and thousands new replace their spot. Bloomington in the summer time, however, is AWESOME! There were times I'd go to Wal-Mart at like midnight in the summer time and drive down 2nd street... maybe see one or two cars along the way. It's sooo soo nice in the summer time.
Crime is mostly petty. Lock your doors to your car. Lock the doors to your house. I believe most the violent crimes will happen at parties where two 'big shots' cross paths and duke it out. If you're a girl, probably not wise to walk home from the bars alone. Take a cab, ride the bus, or travel in a group. Probably the same goes for dudes too, though you'd likely just get mugged if you were targeted.
I wasn't "into" guns at the time I lived there, but my old upstairs neighbor on 17th street had his LTCH and carried. I think you can shoot at Hoosier National Forest but there is not a proper range from as far as I know.
Fun fact: The Indiana Memorial Union building on campus USED TO have a shooting range indoors until the 70's, I believe. Sadly, it's no longer there.
Bloomington isn't bad, it's just... different. The night life is pretty good if that's your thing, and although I probably only went out once a month there I was indeed fond of 'The Bluebird' and watched quite a few good bands play there. If not there, I enjoyed the scene at 'The Vid' (Video Saloon) across the street, or enjoyed the company of the hipsters at House Bar up the street near the railroad tracks. Lot of other bars, I thought, sucked pretty bad. Brothers, Kilroys, Jakes, etc.
Man, now I kind of want to go back up there and visit some friends.
I once lived off of 17th street, west of Smokin' Joes Rib Shack at... an apartment complex that I can't think of the name of right now. Rent was cheap, but you get what you pay for. The complex was probably half/half students and normal lower income families.
After that, I lived near the optometry building. Since I was working for IU at the time at the IMU, it was a convenient location as I lived a 7 minute walk from work. Though it was party central all the time. Neighbors partying. People across the street partying. Etc. Benefits include eye-candy jogging by all the time, convenience in location to campus and downtown. On bus route. Inconveniences include noise from neighboring festive activities. Rent is much higher.
After that I moved to the east-side, over by Kroger. Was much quieter over here. The townhouse was nice. Neighborhood was nice. Mostly upper class college students, young professionals and a few families in this general area. Didn't really have issues with noise.
I've even toyed with the idea of going back, as now I work remotely for an IT based job and have for years, and technically can live anywhere in the world with an internet connection and maintain my job but just can't justify the increase in cost of living just for the added convenience of living someplace with more to do. If I were to do it all over again, I'd be looking at Bloomington's south east side, away from downtown or living near Bloomington, but not in it.
The people were alright, I guess. Lots of college students who are unleashed from their parents and locale for the first time. Unsure of your age, but I'm now in my mid/upper 20's so I'd still probably 'fit in' there. Every year, thousands of people leave and thousands new replace their spot. Bloomington in the summer time, however, is AWESOME! There were times I'd go to Wal-Mart at like midnight in the summer time and drive down 2nd street... maybe see one or two cars along the way. It's sooo soo nice in the summer time.
Crime is mostly petty. Lock your doors to your car. Lock the doors to your house. I believe most the violent crimes will happen at parties where two 'big shots' cross paths and duke it out. If you're a girl, probably not wise to walk home from the bars alone. Take a cab, ride the bus, or travel in a group. Probably the same goes for dudes too, though you'd likely just get mugged if you were targeted.
I wasn't "into" guns at the time I lived there, but my old upstairs neighbor on 17th street had his LTCH and carried. I think you can shoot at Hoosier National Forest but there is not a proper range from as far as I know.
Fun fact: The Indiana Memorial Union building on campus USED TO have a shooting range indoors until the 70's, I believe. Sadly, it's no longer there.
Bloomington isn't bad, it's just... different. The night life is pretty good if that's your thing, and although I probably only went out once a month there I was indeed fond of 'The Bluebird' and watched quite a few good bands play there. If not there, I enjoyed the scene at 'The Vid' (Video Saloon) across the street, or enjoyed the company of the hipsters at House Bar up the street near the railroad tracks. Lot of other bars, I thought, sucked pretty bad. Brothers, Kilroys, Jakes, etc.
Man, now I kind of want to go back up there and visit some friends.
Lawrence county is a good place to live, some things like cable can be hit and miss depending on where you live.
Have to have good high speed cable.
I am tolerant if they leave me alone and do not intrude much into my life.
As you can tell, different folks have different impressions of Btown and the surrounding areas. Personally, I think it's cool town to have close, but I wouldn't care to live in the city.
I wouldn't live in the city. We drove around quite a bit yesterday mostly on the west side since that is where my work will be. My thinking was that I would not have to commute around Bloomington each day. But we didn't see much at all in the way of housing developments.
We drove out 45 and didn't find anything either. We also drove to Lawrence county and drove through the neighborhood JeremiahJohnson and contryboy lives in. We ran into a real estate agent and looked at a couple houses. One was a foreclosure, the other more house than we want both in size and price. That is a little bit out there for my wife, but we would still consider it. I think she would prefer to live closer. I liked the development, but I admit we have gotten used to sidewalks, street lights, hi-speed cable, etc.
The town is a homeless sanctuary with a continually growing population that dot numerous intersections with cardboard sign panhandlers.
I noticed a lot of these individuals at intersections.
Bloomington developed and expanded over the years, often without redeveloping the roadways to accommodate the higher traffic flow of large box stores, huge housing editions, huge apartment complexes, IU expansion and commuters.
Some parts of town are much easier to skirt the regularly bad traffic areas. Park 48 has some in and out directions that make your longer drive actually a much quicker commute.
It is like some other Indiana cities I travel through. They just have poor infrastructure to handle the increase traffic. Mostly likely it will always be a problem. I was actually a little amazed at how much traffic there was downtown around 11:00 am when we got there. I can't imagine what it's like when college is in session.
Good idea on the waiting for awhile. We will try to do that if possible.
Overall, our impression was that we could make a life there. I am a little dismayed at the lack of additions that would fit our desires but I am sure I just don't know where they are. We did things that we normally don't do. We rarely eat out or go downtown. But we went anyway. The few additions we looked at were either these zero lot clearance homes that we are not interested in being that close or they were kind of run down and not as well maintained as we are accustomed to. I will see this week how the interview goes and whether both the company and I are interested in each other enough to put together a deal. If so, then we start the process of moving.
I will add this: I have moved several times over my life for jobs and it has worked out well. This potential move is harder for me to wrap my head around. We love our life here. Nice home finally to where we want it. Nice area to live. Good ranges, friends and we know where everything is. The real only issue is my job is not going to last long enough to make it to retirement and having been unemployed a couple times, I really don't want to be unemployed again if I can help it. I could ride out my current gig and face the layoff and then look for a job, but if this job proves out to be a good fit I should take it. You really never do get back the money you lose while unemployed. I could have a nice Mustang GT or Camaro SS paid for and parked in my garage with the income I lost on the last layoff.
Lebowski, I'm an older guy(54) so while I like the "vibe" of college towns and what they bring to the community, I don't need to be near the students and experience their extracurricular activities.
shibumiseeker
Grandmaster
Actually until the mid 90s, I was a RO there as well as in the pistol club and on the rifle team. It shut around 1997 or so IIRC.
A handful of us from near and some not so near have dinner once a month or so to discuss random stuff. A bit of like-minded networking. You and the Mrs. are welcome to join in, as is anyone reading:
https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...sg3-meeting-regularly-now-18.html#post5069046
I work at the University and live just east of Bloomington in Unionville. I like Bloomington a lot. There are five gun related stores I can think of not counting the pawnshops. I do my shooting at the Hoosier Hills Rifle and Pistol club just east of Nashville. There are several nice places for hiking in the area and Lake Lemon and the Lake in Yellow Wood State Forest are nice. There are tons of fitness opportunities in the community as well including, cycling clubs, running clubs, two YMCAs, etc. Traffic can be a bit hectic during the school year and you should avoid 10 Street at all cost! I will also say there are times I avoid the campus and downtown areas-mostly during big events on campus. Another area to look at would be Ellettsville. The cost of housing cheaper. Good luck and welcome.
Thanks! What is MSG3?
Thanks!
If I work on the west side of Bloomington and live on the east side, am I asking for a lot of heartburn in getting to and from work on a daily basis? Is there a way around the center city traffic? I currently drive 40 minutes each way to work, but with zero traffic.
The fitness opportunities are important for me. I need a gym to workout and I may have to get back into cycling again. I am sad that my shooting ops don't look so good. I have ranges real close to where I live and I recently got into Trap shooting. If this job works out, I hope I can find some way to shoot, even if I have to change the type of shooting I do.
Ellettsville, Spencer and some of those smaller towns won't work for us. Especially my wife. We like some of the bigger city amenities but we are okay with keeping them an arms length away.
My interview is tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.
Martinsville and even Mooresville can be an option. Lots of options in both of those towns for living. Does not sound like you have kids ... if they are there or an option, consider the schools. I am proud that Martinsville is a 2x 4 star school.
There is a range west of Bloomington where you have to be a member of the club. Forgetting the name right now. A member offered to take me there, but for that drive distance, I can get to family property with no shooting restrictions.
HTH
There is a range west of Bloomington where you have to be a member of the club. Forgetting the name right now. A member offered to take me there, but for that drive distance, I can get to family property with no shooting restrictions.
HTH
CountryBoy19
Grandmaster
IMHO Yes, you're asking for trouble if you live on the east side and work on the west. Traffic flow N-S on 37 is smooth and fast, traffic flow east-side to west-side isn't so smooth sailing, especially during rush hour. There just isn't a good way to get across town.
Ellettsville is only 5-10 minutes from Bloomington, IMHO too close. Spencer is a good ways away and a bit more frustrating drive. It's a 2-lane state highway that is 99% no-passing zones because of the hills/curves. Get behind a single slow person and it seems to take all day.
I would take the advice of some others to maybe find a place to rent and figure the place out for a while before choosing where to live...
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