Bloomington, IL

[jharpershub]

Just received an interview for a postion in Bloomington, IL and was wondering if anyone knows how the area is? Social life? Etc?

[sgaw10]

I don't live there, but I visited the town once on a weekday. It is pretty small, and I didn't feel that there was much to do. Lots of older people and ISU undergrads. Take my insight with a grain of salt though

[Slinnea9]

Hey there! So I don't live there, but my entire extended family does and I visit often. Bloomington has a sister city Normal and there's plenty of things to do in "uptown" Normal. There's a bus system for both cities and there's like two huge malls. Bars and delicious restaurants exist in both towns and there is this walking/bike trail called constituion trail that runs throughout Illinois. It's honestly so great and I applied to ISU for my MA recently just because of that trail hahaha.
 It's about a 2 hour drive from Chicago but there is also a train that goes from Bloomington to the city and it's about a 40 min drive from Peoria which is like a pretty legitimate port city with nightlife. There's also a bus to go there. 

All in all, I think Bloomington is super cute, I enjoy it when I visit. Also, in Normal, there is this super crazy dude who decorates his house for christmas with like 500 Santas and some aliens. Honestly my childhood hero.

Hope that's helpful; let me know if you have anymore questions!