About Bloomington

Life in Bloomington

Bloomington is a very affordable cosmopolitan mid-sized city, located in an unglaciated region of Indiana filled with rolling hills and forests. It boasts a vibrant cultural life, superb music, theater, and the IU Cinema, a world-class place for film.

While there is always more than enough to do in Bloomington, the larger metropolitan areas of Louisville, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Chicago are all within driving distance. This and other unique features make our community a great landing place for focused work and stimulation.

The city of Bloomington has nourished many successful students, giving them access to all of the resources of a superb Research 1 university and all of the amenities of a welcoming and comfortable place to live.

Warm + Welcoming

Bloomington is distinguished by the people who live here, and by those who spend time here as part of the university. Home to a diverse and international community, it is marked by Midwestern charm, open-minded residents, and a peaceful, community-minded way of life.

Check out our exciting small city

Diversity, inclusion, + cultural resources

Indiana University is unwavering in its commitment to create safe and welcoming learning environments that advocate access, diversity, equity, inclusion, and community for all. Learn more about campus cultural centers and institutes through the Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Multicultural Affairs.

Impressive + beautiful campus resources

Ours is one of the most beautifully landscaped and wooded campuses in America, marked by graceful limestone buildings. Cited as one of the five most beautiful campuses in the United States by Thomas A. Gaines in his book The Campus as a Work of Art, it includes wooded pathways and an arboretum.

The Indiana Memorial Union is one of the largest student unions in the country, with a hotel and conference facilities.

Besides the Herman B Wells full research library, the campus hosts a dozen satellite libraries, the Lilly Library rare books and manuscripts archive, and the archives of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction.

The Eskenazi Museum of Art includes remarkable works by Picasso, Braque, Davis, Rembrandt, Monet, Pollock, Rivera, as well as stunning ancient and non-Western collections.

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The surrounding terrain

Bloomington is bordered by Yellowwood State Forest, Brown Country State Park, and Hoosier National Forest and is within a few miles’ drive of three lakes, one of which is the largest in Indiana. Together, these resources provide almost unlimited recreational opportunities for Bloomington residents.

Never before have I been to a place where it was so easy to make friends. At the university, on the bus, in a store. Bloomingtonians are warm and welcoming, and that, above all, makes life livable in this town. Bloomington was chosen as one of the top ten college towns in the U.S. for its rich mixture of atmospherics and academia.

Edward B. Fiske, former education editor of the New York Times