matt and i on our polar bear next to the downtown public library
this is a review of the two homes i have lived: lincoln and bloomington.
bloomington pros:
-rain. (lincoln really lacks this. bloomington indisputably rains about every five days. mostly this is a blessing, but it can sometimes become a bit of an annoyance to get around with legions of raindrops and lake-like puddles).
-trees. towering trees. and lots of them. (lincoln has many trees. but bloomington’s trees could totally take out lincoln’s trees. b’s trees are twice as big and tall than lincoln’s. due to the rain, trees have the ability for more growth. and there are beautiful aspens here).
-numerous local/ethnic restaurants everywhere. (in lincoln this arena is completely lacking. in b town there is a whole street dedicated to just ethnic food. every house on the block is a different restaurant).
-downtown library. b’s central library is one of the best set up libraries i have ever been in. it’s clean, aesthetically pleasing, while also having a ridiculous amount of books, resources, help desks (plus others walking around whose sole purpose is to help you), great kid center, the resource lab is in the open with round desks and their media center is better than any blockbuster i have ever been to. (lincoln, please work on this….).
-historical homes and 200 year old limestone stacked walls (want to see a incredible home from the 1850s? in b town you can find it. in lincoln, there are some pretty old homes but not to this size or grander or age. there are homes here with walls that are so so old and outline the perimeter of their property. the walls dip in and out of woods, along roads and around large old barns–it doesn’t get too much better than this).
-hills (this can be hard sometimes while driving, but for the most part it gives the land an incredible amount of diversity).
-active downtown–all the store fronts are full with local boutiques and restaurants (in lincoln a lot of the main strips downtown either have bars or some local food, but there are many empty store fronts and not enough variety of suitable sit down dining).
bloomington cons:
-no road shoulders or curbs (not nice to those with car problems, bikers and for those who like to gaze at their surroundings while driving).
-30 mile an hour speed limit (in lincoln, it is 35 mph speed limit. it is taking some time to adjust. however, in b there are less cops and everyone goes 10-15 miles over the speed limit).
-independent coffee shops (matt feels there are fewer significant coffee venues in b than in lincoln. lincoln has the mills, the coffee house, indigo bridge, etc.–all booming and popular places to go whenever and for whatever).
-changing street names. a lot of street names here do not stay the same. (in lincoln the only street that really changes names is k into capitol park way into normal boulevard. in b, getting around is difficult and becomes quite complicated when you do not know what different names one street has. today, i just found out that hillside is really moore’s pike–they switch off at a round-about). whoever designed the streets must have been really bored.
-unlabeled streets. there are many streets in b that do not have signs posted on their corners.
-the majority of the population in b are students at IU. they do not work in b or live here. they do not lend to the community and leave during summers–a decent portion of professors also move to other places during the summer. consequently, there is less of an established community and work availability here. everyone is really here for the sake of IU. (unlike in lincoln, where many students work at local businesses and there are other communities other than that of the college community. there are families that are unrelated to the college community, etc.).
lady b 