Overview
Beyond all the data and factoids, what's Bloomington like?
Here are some quotes selected in a thoroughly biased way from online postings to reinforce the good parts of Bloomington. The first three quotes below were grabbed from Sperling's Best Places pages about Bloomington.
"We relocated to Bloomington . . . and are very happy here. We live in an intellectual oasis, and are surrounded by the arts: symphonies, amazing opera, theatre, galleries, museums, and more. . . . If you enjoy/need/crave natural beauty, you'd be surprised at how lovely this part of Indiana is! We have several state parks and a national forest -- all within 30 minutes. The rolling hills of central Indiana are a shock to those who think this is the prairie."
"Because Bloomington is in the midwest and a college town to boot, the affordability index here (ratio of median income to median house price) is very favorable to anyone wishing to relocate. I bought a very livable house here for about one fifth what I would have had to pay in [California]. In addition, because IU has an outstanding music department, I get to see free concerts and recitals and master classes for classical music, opera, jazz, and early music. The town also has a very high concentration of high-quality affordable restaurants."
"I have lived in Fort Collins, CO and Madison, WI- two great college towns that actually get credit as such. I currently live in Bloomington, IN and I have to say that Bloomington is an amazing college town. Although you rarely see it at the top of the 'best' lists of various magazines, Bloomington has a great mix of cultural offerings, college town style, affordability, and midwest charm that is hard to match. It's probably good that Bloomington has kept a low profile, as it would likely get overrun as so many of the other great college towns have."
Here's an edited quote from the "Why IU for Graduate School" page:
"We have grocery stores with a half-dozen different brands of Kim Che. You can hear tabla rhythms or bagpipe drones in a public park. Afghan and Tibetan restaurants are within a couple blocks of Indian and Cajun restaurants. Buddhists, Muslims, Christians and Jews serve on local comittees together. Neo-punk noise bands are seen in the same venue as country crooners. Gays and Evangelicals are active in local politics. You can look at a great collection of Japanese woodblock prints on the same day you eat a deep-fried funnel cake.
"Bloomington may be the world leader in symphony orchestras per capita. Many original plays are premiered here every year. The nightlife is richly varied from trip-hop to gospel to samba to bluegrass banjo. There's a thriving art scene. Broadway touring shows make frequent stops at IU. There's a lot of dancing going on. Lots of bands. Performance. Poetry. Film. It's not the sort of place you think of when you think of a small midwestern town, population 69,000. There's just about always too much to do.
"Lastly, at the most intangible level, [Bloomington] is a friendly place. There is a level of politeness and caring that makes visitors feel welcome and residents feel at ease. There's not a lot of cutting in lines. When a hundred cars are leaving a parking lot, drivers usually take turns. Crime is low, the air is clean and people volunteer to help each other."
There's lots of additional information at Compare Bloomington.
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