Whether you are into nightlife, the arts, sports, good food, nature, or just want to live in a great community, Bloomington is known as one of the best college towns in the country.
USA Today named Bloomington "one of the top ten places for rich campus culture."
Rand-McNally selected Bloomington as one of the eight most desirable places to live in the United States, based on economy, personal safety, climate, housing, services, and leisure activities. And it is affordable: Periodic surveys conducted by the American Chamber of Commerce Researchers Association have shown that the cost of living in Bloomington is consistently at or below the national average.
Bloomington is distinguished by the people who live here, and by those who spend time here as part of the university. Home to a diverse and international community, it is marked by Midwestern charm, open-minded residents, and a peaceful, community-minded way of life.
Bloomington comes alive in the spring with blossoming red bud trees, magnolias, and dogwoods. Our trees explode with color every fall. The city is bordered by Yellowwood State Forest, Brown County State Park, and Hoosier National Forest. It is within a few miles’ drive of three lakes, including Lake Monroe (the largest in Indiana), and the Lake Griffy Nature Preserve, an IUB resource. Sycamore Land Trust maintains a number of free public nature preserves for hiking, birding, and observing wildlife.
Bloomington is not far from Indianapolis, Louisville, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Chicago. An amenable haven for student life, it is surrounded by many exciting Midwestern cities.
Never before have I been to a place where it was so easy to make friends. At the university, on the bus, in a store. Bloomingtonians are warm and welcoming, and that, above all, makes life livable in this town. Bloomington was chosen as one of the top ten college towns in the U.S. for its rich mixture of atmospherics and academia.
Edward B. Fiske, former education editor of The New York Times
The College of Arts