Bloomington, IN

[futuremexicanist]

Does anyone have any insight into whether or not it's worth it to get a parking pass? I'm an incoming first year in the History department and am unsure of where I'd be living. As someone noted, cheaper options are often farther and less accessible through public transit and I am unsure of using it being that I am not from the area (am very directionally challenged navigating stops and such). If anyone had any advice on apartment complexes to avoid, or if they've lived in graduate housing (listed as available on the website but provides a 404 error), I'd appreciate it!

[cropop]

8 hours ago, futuremexicanist said:

Does anyone have any insight into whether or not it's worth it to get a parking pass? I'm an incoming first year in the History department and am unsure of where I'd be living. As someone noted, cheaper options are often farther and less accessible through public transit and I am unsure of using it being that I am not from the area (am very directionally challenged navigating stops and such). If anyone had any advice on apartment complexes to avoid, or if they've lived in graduate housing (listed as available on the website but provides a 404 error), I'd appreciate it!

It depends on the parking pass.

An ST pass (pretty cheap) lets you park at the stadium area only and then you take a shuttle from there. The shuttles run very often and go all around campus, but can also be crowded at peak times. Stadium area also means you have to move your vehicle out of the stadium when there's home football games (some Friday nights) and can be annoying if there are home basketball games as they won't let you in without paying cash (but those are usually at night and if you're already parked, you're okay).

EM-S (if eligible) lets you park in various lots but has limited parking available so you generally have to arrive early (e.g. 7 AM). You can also park where ST parks.

EM-P (if eligible) is expensive but lets you basically park anywhere other than disabled/metered spots, including the garages for free. However, the non-garage EM-P spots also fill up but there's way more of them than EM-S. There's always room in the garages, though.

Basically, if you live in certain areas where transit is not ideal (West side, etc.), you'll at least want an ST pass so you can park somewhere. There are available parking options for free around, but it's usually on the street somewhere or at certain apartment complexes/businesses.

It's usually much better to try to live somewhere where transit is convenient or within walking distance. Parking at the stadium is kind of annoying at times, EM-S has few spots, and EM-P is quite expensive.

As for complexes, Google reviews are probably fine for most of them. If you don't like the partying scene (undergraduates, mainly) stay away from the stadium area. If the place provides a shuttle, it is more than likely geared towards undergraduates. Some graduates like to avoid those places.

I'm not sure what buildings are considered graduate housing on IU. I assume Campus View, Redbud, or Eigenmann or something else in that area. They're a bit far to walk to most classes but it's manageable. I think one of the shuttles goes by there too.

Edited April 1, 2020 by cropop

[Sigaba]

9 hours ago, futuremexicanist said:

Does anyone have any insight into whether or not it's worth it to get a parking pass? 

Based upon the information available at the following locations and @cropop's post, I'd say a permit is  probably not worth it if you don't have the money to spare easily.

https://parking.indiana.edu/maps-locations/index.html

https://parking.indiana.edu/permits/permit-rates.html?_ga=2.166767869.232146805.1585712153-413683175.1585712153

https://parking.indiana.edu/citations/pay-citation.html

https://sustain.iu.edu/commitment/transportation/tdm-final.pdf

The TLDR

I would recommend instead that you find housing that's a short distance from mass transit lines that run frequently enough to campus OR you take a first mile/last mile approach that sees you driving from your residence to a parking area that's a short distance from mass transit lines that run frequently enough to campus.

The money that you'd spend on your parking permit can be used to purchase transient parking as needed and/or to use a TNC (Lyft or Uber) when you're in a jam or the weather is especially bad and/or to buy a night/weekend permit.

In the event that you do park on campus, make sure that you observe all posted signs and markings. IU has just finished testing LPR (license plate recognition) and will likely deploy it on a wider scale in the not too distant future.

Some of the details

• The rate structure for permits, transient parking, and citations are likely too low to impact significantly where motorists choose to park and the risks they may take when it comes to parking policy compliance.
• Parking permits are serving as hunting licenses.
  • The intense competition for some spaces (arrive by 7 AM is not a good sign) coupled with a general overall availability of spaces suggest a number of larger policy issues .
• The fact that permit holders can add multiple vehicles to their account is not a good sign.
• The policies shaping "sustainable transportation options" are limited.
• The accuracy of a run of the mill LPR system is north of 95%. A new system is going to be closer to 100% accurate than to 99% accurate. This is to say that if you park where you ought not, you will likely get a citation. 

[cropop]

I'll note that IU parking enforcement is very good at giving out citations. This is even before any sort of plate reader. They are also great at towing when you are where you shouldn't be (at the stadium Friday nights of home football games, etc.)

The 7 AM comment is just an estimate. It could be 8 AM. There's a couple of lots near the history department (across the street) with EM-S spots and a lot with some spots by the Atwater Eye Clinic. I don't know where other lots are but IU has a thing where you can look it up. I rarely ever saw any spots open in EM-S at Atwater at 9 AM, but I never actually tried to get them (I had an EM-P).

There are also CH passes if you live on campus so you can park in CH lots. There are generally waitlists to get those but I don't know if there is a priority system or not.

Most people are much happier if they can walk, bike, take the IU shuttles, or the city buses that run frequently (e.g. the 6 route) to school. As I said, some housing places also have their own shuttles to school, but they are usually targeted towards undergraduates.

[Rispycat]

On 3/30/2020 at 8:12 PM, NicholeB said:

Yes! I need a roommate as well. DM me! Looking forward to meeting you.

Just a warning (lived in btown for 7 yrs), finding a house to rent is very difficult. Especially since most of the rental companies Hocking them are absolute scum. I honestly recommend a townhouse or apartment. Most semi affordable homes ($800-1500) in town are absolute slums. Think years of only ever being student rentals and no updates. The landlord's here are terrible. 

 

That said, if you do look stay away from Parker management, Pendragon management, and costley & co.  While other companies are also bad, these are the worst. They will rent you a bedbug or cockroach infested house and they will never maintain it. Move out you'll get gouged with $$$ of fees. 

[NicholeB]

On 4/2/2020 at 3:17 PM, Rispycat said:

Just a warning (lived in btown for 7 yrs), finding a house to rent is very difficult. Especially since most of the rental companies Hocking them are absolute scum. I honestly recommend a townhouse or apartment. Most semi affordable homes ($800-1500) in town are absolute slums. Think years of only ever being student rentals and no updates. The landlord's here are terrible. 

 

That said, if you do look stay away from Parker management, Pendragon management, and costley & co.  While other companies are also bad, these are the worst. They will rent you a bedbug or cockroach infested house and they will never maintain it. Move out you'll get gouged with $$$ of fees. 

This is absolutely valuable advice. Thank you very much for offering it! It is especially difficult now with all the chaos that it is almost impossible to view apartments and making a day trip up there doesn't seem like it would do much good. 

[cropop]

4 hours ago, NicholeB said:

This is absolutely valuable advice. Thank you very much for offering it! It is especially difficult now with all the chaos that it is almost impossible to view apartments and making a day trip up there doesn't seem like it would do much good. 

There's plenty of decent places in town. Unfortunately, most of them are fairly expensive (relative to Bloomington) and difficult to afford on what a lot of programs give for a stipend (sub 20K). Note that IU still (as far as I know) charges some fees per semester so make sure you account for that in your budget. It's usually about 1K/semester depending on the program. There was talk of getting rid of that but I don't know if they did.

If you find a place and you're not sure about it, feel free to post it and ask. Google reviews are generally pretty good, but you'll find a lot of them are tainted with people complaining about damage deposits. Not getting your damage deposit back is extremely common in student housing around here. Try to find places with lower deposits or stay away from housing catered to students (which is difficult if you want to live near campus). Deposits are usually less of an issue for grad students because they don't move around as much.

However, the places with good reviews are usually good.

Make an account at one.iu.edu if you want to browse the classifieds as soon as possible (google create IU account or something). This can be a great place to find roommates, if you want to go that route. You may also see general housing there, but only people with accounts can post so it's generally just students.

The sooner you look the better as they said. There are a lot of undergraduates and the idea is to beat them to the better housing. Places tend to also harass you to sign leases for the next year really early (some as early as October but most in January/February) so places come open early and are filled early.

[Rispycat]

On 4/6/2020 at 7:15 PM, NicholeB said:

This is absolutely valuable advice. Thank you very much for offering it! It is especially difficult now with all the chaos that it is almost impossible to view apartments and making a day trip up there doesn't seem like it would do much good. 

I just wanted to offer my thoughts. If you do find a single landlord (i.e. local renting one home) it can be good, but this are only found by luck. If you want to k ow about any local landlord's or rental cos feel free to message me. I've dealt with many, and most I haven't my friends have haha. I can also recommend a few places if you send me what you're looking for!

[you'll_never_get_to_heaven]

Lots of spots around Rogers St. north of 4th are up for rent right now. Not sure on pricing, but at least some houses in the area are affordable (my share of rent is $400 a month) and it's within walking distance of downtown and campus. Very close to a co-op grocery store and walking distance from a Kroger. Not many if any undergrad students, although it does get kinda weird.

[futuremexicanist]

Has anyone had experience renting with Bryan Park apartments? I am on the verge of signing the lease but haven't been able to find much and would like to hear some input about renting from them. I liked the apartment, I had a FaceTime tour, but am apprehensive about sending the deposit with little feedback on living there.

[uchenyy]

I'm currently working on my MA at IU. I'm moving to UNC for my PhD this August. DM me if you have any questions.

Edited May 5, 2020 by uchenyy

[you'll_never_get_to_heaven]

On 4/21/2020 at 2:12 PM, futuremexicanist said:

Has anyone had experience renting with Bryan Park apartments? I am on the verge of signing the lease but haven't been able to find much and would like to hear some input about renting from them. I liked the apartment, I had a FaceTime tour, but am apprehensive about sending the deposit with little feedback on living there.

I haven't lived there or known anyone who has, but it is a nice area. My friend lives in a house about a block away and the neighborhood is quite good and convenient.

[kso1634]

I'm going to be attending in the Fall in the French Linguistics program and have absolutely no idea what areas to go to or avoid, or how to find a potential roommate. Anyone also in this predicament for the fall?

[blopblop]

On 4/11/2021 at 7:03 PM, kso1634 said:

I'm going to be attending in the Fall in the French Linguistics program and have absolutely no idea what areas to go to or avoid, or how to find a potential roommate. Anyone also in this predicament for the fall?

I'm gonna be attending this fall too! I'll be in the French & Francophone studies program. I'm also looking for info, and a potential roomate!

[kso1634]

If you have Facebook there is an IU housing group! That's where I was able to find a roommate. She is from Austria and is entering the German studies PhD program. Although I must say we are now having problems figuring out how to find housing.

I'm also still waiting on more information from the department regarding the transition to Bloomington and my AI assignment.

Looking forward to meeting you this Fall!