Just got back from Bloomington (Columbus, Upland: rentals, houses, established neighborhood) - Indiana (IN) - City-Data Forum

gimme it · 06-04-2008, 09:54 AM

I'm writing so that others considering the area can get some input from this NYC woman. We have been scouting around for someplace to eventually relocate to, and as of today, Bloomington is on the top of our list. We spent a few days there, and we are back home now thinking that we may have found the right place for our family. We still have a couple of other cities to see, but they have to be pretty great to take Bloomington's first place.

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn, which was right downtown, making it easy to go for walks. We enjoyed the Saturday morning farmer's market and our stroll through the amazing IU campus. It's so big, that we only were able to cover a small part of it, but what we did see was so lovely. One of the most wonderful surprises was the public library. We have been in tons of libraries, and we have never seen a children's dept as huge as this one's. It was actually mind boggling. We also enjoyed a couple of the ethnic restaurants, particularly a Thai place on 4th St. In fact, 4th St's restaurant row was so charming, that it was hard to decide where to go. I love how they turn old houses into restaurants.

If you have children, I reccommend Bryan Park's outdoor pool with the water slides. Our child loved it. She also had a great time in Cascade Park. They have one of the most impressive playgrounds we have ever seen. We tried out both the upper and lower parts of the park, both were very nice.

Neighborhoods: we drove around, scoping out the many neighborhoods. My husband and I agree that our favorite was east of Bryan Park. Some of the streets were Maxwell Ln and Covenanter. I forget the rest, and I don't even know the name of the neighborhood, but the streets were tree-lined and the houses were beautiful. I have no idea if we could even afford to live there, as some houses were spectacular, but I think they may have some that are under $300k. Our 2nd favorite neighborhood was called Hoosier Acres, but I have a feeling that it's expensive. We saw some nice houses in Spicewood too. Sycamore Knolls is in a good location, but the houses were mixed, some nice, some dated. We also drove by CHild's Elementary, Jackson Creek Middle School and Bloomington South HS, all of them were beautiful. We would ideally like to be zoned for these schools, but Rogers/Binford would be more than fine for elementary school.

We drove out to see Lake Monroe and it was awesome. The same can be said for Brown County...beautiful. I adored Nashville, and we had fun going into a couple of stores and eating lunch at a place called Hob Nob. It's a very cute little, touristy town.

So, besides the beauty of the town, we liked the abundance of cultural offerings, the fact that they take their children seriously, based on the library and schools, and the people seem relaxed and friendly. THe cost of living sure beats NYC. Also, it seemed incredibly safe. The only somewhat creepy place was this little park (People's Park??) where we saw some burnt out people hanging around. Otherwise, everything was clean, pretty and safe. We hope to go back when school is in session so that we can see how the University impacts the town. Hope this was helpful.

domergurl · 06-04-2008, 10:10 AM

Well, you have to keep in mind that Indiana University's school of Library and Information Science (alumni 1992) is one the best in the country. We were all enouraged to go to the public library and most of their talent is directly pulled from our library school.

Glad you liked Bloomington!! You'll have to venture over to my neck of the woods in Columbus when you move here!

Godsdove · 06-04-2008, 12:28 PM

Glad you liked Bloomington!!

gimme it · 06-04-2008, 01:42 PM

Thanks

Can someone tell me more about the area east of Bryan Park and West of the Mall? Is this called Elm Hgts? We liked the area south of 3rd St, because it was far enough (I believe) that there wouldn't be student rental housing on the streets.

gimme it · 06-25-2008, 11:14 AM

Reposting, in case anyone can help with my questions regarding the neighborhood East of Bryan Park. Thanks for your help.

Uplander · 06-25-2008, 12:43 PM

I think you will find this link helpful with regards to your question about Bloomington neighborhoods.
Neighborhood Map Gallery

There are scattered student rentals in the Elm Heights Neighborhood, but generally they are the smaller houses closer to campus. Summer is nice, but you really need to visit when the students are in town. It's a different place then. You can get an easy visual check on rentals when you drive down a street, they are the houses with handrails on the steps.

domergurl · 06-25-2008, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uplander

I think you will find this link helpful with regards to your question about Bloomington neighborhoods.
Neighborhood Map Gallery

There are scattered student rentals in the Elm Heights Neighborhood, but generally they are the smaller houses closer to campus. Summer is nice, but you really need to visit when the students are in town. It's a different place then. You can get an easy visual check on rentals when you drive down a street, they are the houses with handrails on the steps.

Yea, so the drunk students don't hurt themselves going down the stairs

gimme it · 06-25-2008, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uplander

I think you will find this link helpful with regards to your question about Bloomington neighborhoods.
Neighborhood Map Gallery

There are scattered student rentals in the Elm Heights Neighborhood, but generally they are the smaller houses closer to campus. Summer is nice, but you really need to visit when the students are in town. It's a different place then. You can get an easy visual check on rentals when you drive down a street, they are the houses with handrails on the steps.

That is exactly what we needed. Thanks so, so much for that website!!!

Uplander · 06-25-2008, 02:35 PM

You may also find useful information by googling
"Monroe County Indiana GIS"
City of Bloomington GIS" and
"IndianaMap"

There is a parcel layer on the first site with assessed values. Those are now supposed to be "market value" in Indiana. No guarantees, but they should give you an idea.

The IndianaMap is a statewide site. Might be useful to others as well.

There is school information here:
Search for Schools
There is a very big difference in the economic characteristics of the elementary school districts, check the free lunch statistics.

gimme it · 06-25-2008, 02:42 PM

Thanks again. I have already used Greatschools and it seems that Childs and Roger/Binford are the best with University Elem. in third place. We like an established neighborhood, with Elm Heights being our favorite. I saw a couple of nice houses in Southampton and Spicewood, and I would love any feedback on other established neighborhoods that you like. Hoosier Acres is lovely, but pricey. Also, the zoned schools are not the ones that are considered the "best".