Life in Bloomington
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Bloomington
Housing and Visiting
Local Media
Films
Theater
Music
Museums
Restaurants and Bars
Recreation and Sports
Touring
Bloomington
Bloomington is located about one hour's drive south-west of Indianapolis, Indiana, among gently rolling hills just north of the Hoosier National Forest. We are 4 hours by car from Chicago to the north, St. Louis to the West, or Columbus, OH to the East, and 5 hours from Nashville, TN to the south. Though offering as many activities and cultural events as cities ten times its size, Bloomington is still surprisingly affordable, even by midwestern standards; see for example the following websites which allow one to compare costs across US cities:
http://www.homefair.com/homefair/calc/salcalc.html
http://www.bestplaces.net/col/
Bloomington has been rated one of the 50 best places to live in the US. For more information, please click here. And our campus is among the 20 most beautiful in the nation as you can see here.
Housing and visiting
Bloomington offers several housing choices, both on and off campus. On-campus housing includes apartment housing (usually for married couples or families) and dormitory housing. Students interested in campus housing should visit Residential Programs and Services. You may also e-mail that office at housing @indiana.edu for more information.
To live off campus or to learn more about the Bloomington community, we recommend the following web sites:
Graduate & Professional
Student Organization
Breakaway to Bloomington, Indiana
AreaGuides.net
The Indiana Memorial Union is located in the center of campus and is a good first stop for a first-time visitor. It houses a hotel, an auditorium where films and lectures are presented, several eating areas, conference rooms and lounges, the IU Bookstore and gift shop, a bowling alley, a billiards room, the IU Credit Union, a shipping store, and the Computing Access Center. The Bloomington Shuttle bus stops here on its route between Indianapolis and Bloomington. To help plan a visit to campus, and as a resource for further information, click on our link to the IU Visitor Information Center.
Local media
The major local and university newspapers are:
The Indiana Daily Student
The Herald Times
The IU Home Pages
The University operates its own non commercial radio and television stations, WFIU and WTIU. WFIU is a member of National Public Radio and broadcasts a wide range of programs and music (classical, opera, jazz, folk, etc.). WTIU televises its own programs as well as those of PBS. Both rely to a considerable extent on student technicians and announcers. Bloomington also has the regular array of commercial radio and television stations, including cable and pay per-view TV.
Films
There is no shortage of places to see films of all types on and around the Bloomington campus. On campus, individual departments sponsor the showing of films related to their disciplines, including the French films of the French Club and the Italian films of the Circolo Italiano. The student-run Union Board shows fun and quirky commercial films, and the City Lights Film Series presents older classic films from around the world in 16 mm. The Ryder Film Series is a well-established community effort to bring foreign and non-mainstream films to a Bloomington audience, and these films are shown at various locations almost every night of the week. In addition, there are two commercial movie theaters in Bloomington.
The Indiana University Film Studies Program, which offers a doctoral minor, has access to all rental distributors and can order films on request. Students doing research may use any film in the collection. French graduate students may borrow films from the growing video library in the department office. Students can also borrow from Media Services in the Herman B. Wells Library, which maintains a large collection of films on video cassette and DVD. The office of Instructional Support Services has an extensive collection of films that it will loan for use in classes. At the Monroe County Library, just off campus, students may rent videos and DVDs for educational or personal use as well.
Theater
The IU Department of Theatre and Drama opened its new performance facility in January 2002. Theatre and Drama presents two theater series each year, one more mainstream series in the larger theater with conventional seating, and one series of newer, more experimental plays in a smaller space with variable seating. In addition, a light summer series is presented at the Brown County Playhouse, about 20 miles west of Bloomington. The IU Auditorium brings Broadway shows and national musical acts to campus each year.
In addition to all the university offers, the cultural life of Bloomington blossoms off-campus as well. The John Waldron Arts Center is home to two stages and several workshop areas. Here local and regional artists perform theatre, music, comedy, and even circus productions. The Bloomington Playwrights Project is another forum for the enjoyment and exploration of local talent. The Buskirk-Chumley Theatre, previously a movie theatre, is another new performing center downtown. For more information, see the Bloomington Area Arts Council website.
Music
The IU School of Music is one of the largest and most renowned in the United States. Course offerings cover a wide range, from percussion to opera, classical to jazz, medieval to modern music. The School of Music presents over 1,000 concerts a year, most of them free, by faculty and student soloists, choral groups, jazz and chamber ensembles, and orchestras. At the school's modernist Musical Arts Center, one of the most advanced facilities of its kind in the world, at least six operas and several ballets are staged each year. The repertory ranges from traditional favorites to occasional world premieres. In addition, the African American Arts Institute and other specific musical organizations offer concerts and special events throughout the year.
Museums
The IU Art Museum, designed by I. M. Pei and Partners and dedicated in 1982, is one of Bloomington's most architecturally impressive buildings. It houses the University's excellent art collection as well as the art library. France and the early twentieth century are well represented. The collection contains drawings by Léger, Braque, Gris, and Watteau; paintings by Picasso, Léger, Toulouse Lautrec, Monet, and Pollock; and sculptures by Marini, Arp, Lipschitz, Maillol, and Rodin. The School of Fine Arts Gallery hosts exhibitions by students and local artists throughout the year.
Other museums of interest include the Mathers Museum (anthropology) and the Wylie House Museum (local history).
Restaurants and bars
Bloomington has many restaurants and bars, representing a broad array of ethnic tastes: the cuisines of Tibet, France, Italy, China, Japan, Korea, the Middle East, the Cajun south, Mexico, and Greece are all represented. Pizza is a particular favorite in Bloomington, as are bagels, deli sandwiches, and specialty coffees. Among Bloomington's bars, some graduate student favorites are Nick's English Hut, Bear's Place, and the Irish Lion. Live entertainment is also offered at nightclubs such as The Bluebird, Axis of Evil, and Jazz at the Station..
Recreation and sports
IU has much to offer the avid sports fan. To see the variety of spectator sports opportunities visit the Indiana University Athletics web site. Students can buy tickets to intercollegiate athletic events on the campus at substantially reduced prices. In addition, professional baseball, basketball and football teams play in nearby Indianapolis.
Indiana University opened its new, state-of-the-art Student Recreational Sports Center in the fall of 1995. This center includes an Olympic-sized pool, a full diving tower, five basketball courts, an elevated track, aerobics studios, and over 90 pieces of strength, conditioning, and cardiovascular equipment. The older Wildermuth Sports Complex offers similar facilities, including squash, racquetball, and tennis courts, as well as an outdoor track. The university organizes intramural leagues in softball, basketball, touch football, swimming, tennis, and soccer, as well as other less conventional sports.
The City of Bloomington also sponsors basketball and softball leagues for all ages. The youth and children's leagues provide coaching opportunities for interested IU students. The country around Bloomington, which includes the Hoosier National Forest, two state parks, several small lakes, and Lake Monroe--Indiana's largest lake--invites hiking, fishing, swimming, boating, and camping.
Touring
The country around Bloomington varies from fields and meadows to rolling woodlands. A short drive to the relatively undeveloped southern part of the state frees motorists of urban preoccupations. They find an abundance of picturesque state forests and parks where they may stop, have a picnic and admire the view without being disturbed. In Spring Mill State Park, visitors can see a reconstructed pioneer village with a working grist mill. South of Bloomington there are several abandoned quarries from which the limestone for most of the buildings on the Bloomington campus (and the Empire State Building) was cut. The architecture of the forty odd public buildings in Columbus, Indiana, designed by some of the world's leading architects, is quite remarkable. In Vincennes, on the Wabash River, the rebuilt Federal, Classic Revival, and Italianate buildings are also rather impressive. Bluesprings Caverns offers a splendid boat tour, and the scenic beauty of nearby Brown County makes for a nice day-trip, especially when the autumn leaves are turning.
