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I don't know if you're still around, tourist, but hi! I see you're coming to the History program; hope you like it. Anyway, some general info about Bloomington: The cost of living in Bloomington isn't too terrible, and as long as you're not concerned with living too close to campus, it's not difficult to find an apartment that is both inexpensive and quiet. I have a roommate, and I pay $295/month rent (plus electric) for a 2BR on the east side, which seems like an absolute steal considering the quality and size of our place (it's clean, super quiet, and about 800 square feet). Most of my friends live on this side of town, and as far as I know paying around <$400 for rent is pretty standard if you're in a 2BR with a roommate. It's a little far to walk or bike to campus, but the housing is cheaper and most places seem really nice. I've got to echo what someone else said about the apartments north of campus, by the stadium - word is that they're pretty expensive, and aside from getting noisy on game nights, that part of town gets crazy congested with game traffic, in my experience. The apartments that are downtown and really close to campus tend to be either extremely expensive or filled with undergrads - unless you're lucky enough to get into a building that caters to grad students (although I have heard that even these can get noisy thanks to the frat jungle nearby). I actually tagged along with a friend this weekend to look at some apartments for her, and both of the places we saw in that part of town were absolutely disgusting. (One of them was kind of traumatizing, actually.) Groceries are interesting in Bloomington because there really is a lot of variety. On the higher end of things you have fancy organic/homegrown places like Bloomingfoods and SaharaMart. (The latter has a really awesome wine selection, if you like wine.) I usually go to Marsh, which is a bit pricey but gives IU students a 10% discount on Saturdays, so it evens out. There are also several Krogers and at least one O'Malia's. There's a Walmart, too, and the Target in College Mall just expanded to include a produce section - so really, you have a lot of options and will surely be able to find a place that suits both your taste and your wallet. Transportation is decent; the buses run pretty regularly, especially if you're lucky enough to live by a 9 or 6 stop (they come by every 10-15 minutes; most other lines claim to be every 30 or 60 minutes, but too often it's really more like every 45 or 90). The weekends can be rough, though, since the schedules change and a lot of the buses don't run at all on Sundays. And on that note...parking on campus can be a real pain. The garages are really expensive, but the lots tend to fill up quickly, especially when the weather is bad. Generally it's a better idea to just take the bus, but if you ever really need to drive you can forget about parking near the library (or in any of the other lots that are close to the center of campus) unless you get there before 8:30 or after 5:00. As far as things to do...there are some friendly bars and nice cafes. The Runcible Spoon has good coffee and pancakes. The restaurant scene is excellent in general; a lot of privately-owned places operate out of converted residential houses, which is cool. College Mall is nice, but nothing to write home about; the area around Kirkwood is much more fun, I think. Can't really think of anything else...if anyone has any other specific questions about Bloomington, I'll do my best to answer them.