Bloomington, Indiana
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Bloomington is a diverse city in south central Indiana. Located about 50 miles southwest of Indianapolis, it is the county seat of Monroe County. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the city had a total population of 69,291. Bloomington is the 7th largest city in Indiana.
Bloomington is the home of Indiana University's main campus (established in 1820) attended by about 40,000 students and the largest and original campus of the Indiana University system. It is also the home of the Kinsey Institute.
Bloomington's Indiana University campus is regarded one of the most beautiful university campuses in the U.S. In 1991, Thomas Gaines, a landscape artist, published a book, The Campus As a Work of Art, and in it he named the Bloomington campus one of the five most beautiful campuses in America. Most of the campus buildings are built of Indiana limestone. Bloomington has been named a Tree City for more than 20 years.
The city was the site of the Academy Award-winning movie Breaking Away, featuring the annual IU bicycle race Little 500.
Bloomington has sister-city relationships with Posoltega, Nicaragua and Santa Clara, Cuba.
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Geography
Image:Marching band.jpgBloomington is located at 39°9'44" North, 86°31'45" West (39.162147, -86.529045)Template:GR.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 51.6 km² (19.9 mi²). 51.1 km² (19.7 mi²) of it is land and 0.5 km² (0.2 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 1.00% water.
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 69,291 people, 26,468 households, and 10,454 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,356.0/km² (3,511.1/mi²). There were 28,400 housing units at an average density of 555.8/km² (1,439.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 87.03% White, 4.24% African American, 0.29% Native American, 5.26% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 1.10% from other races, and 2.01% from two or more races. 2.49% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
Of the households 17.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 29.2% were married couples living together, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 60.5% were non-families. 39.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.09 and the average family size was 2.76.
In the city the population was spread out with 12.7% under the age of 18, 42.3% from 18 to 24, 24.6% from 25 to 44, 12.6% from 45 to 64, and 7.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 23 years. For every 100 females there were 94.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $25,377, and the median income for a family was $50,054. Males had a median income of $32,470 compared to $26,100 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,481. 29.6% of the population and 10.3% of families were below the poverty line. 17.3% of those under the age of 18 and 7.6% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
Politics
City politics are dominated by the Democratic party with some influence by the Green party. Local Democrats are often referred to as Liberals but are better described by European style Democratic Socialism than Classical Liberalism.
The few Republicans elected to public office, to a lesser extent, also lean toward Democratic Socialism. They would not be classified as Conservative Socialists or Neo-Cons.
Bloomington was one of the first cities in the state to ban smoking in all public and private businesses, including private clubs. Public Private Partnerships and Tax Increment Finance (TIF) districts are currently popular.
County politics show a wider variety of political struggle than do city politics.
Famous residents
Note: This list does not include students attending Indiana University. Please see Indiana University Bloomington for famous alumni.
- David Lee Roth, former lead singer, Van Halen
- Hobie Billingsley, diving champion and coach
- Hoagy Carmichael, American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader
- John Merle Coulter, president of Indiana University
- Malcolm Dalglish, hammered dulcimer player, composer, and choral director
- Mike Davis, basketball coach
- Mick Foley, a professional wrestler
- Rex Grossman, football player
- Bobby Helms, writer and singer of Jingle Bell Rock
- Bobby Knight, hall of fame basketball coach
- Kathryn Janeway, a fictional character within the Star Trek Universe
- Jared Jeffries, basketball player, Washington Wizards
- David Starr Jordan, president of Indiana University
- Alfred Kinsey, founder of Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction
- Bill Mallory, football coach
- Scott May, basketball player, 1976 NCAA National Basketball Player of the Year
- Sean May, basketball player, Charlotte Bobcats
- Branch McCracken, basketball coach
- John Mellencamp, singer, songwriter
- Alfred Ryors, president of Indiana University
- Jeff Sagarin, statistician for sports, contributor to USA Today
- Janos Starker, cellist
- Herman B Wells, president of Indiana University
- Sam Wyche, football coach
- Jerry Yeagley, hall of fame soccer coach
Nearby points of interest
- Indiana University Bloomington
- Assembly Hall (Bloomington) - Five NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship banners on display.
- Brown County, Indiana
- Brown County State Park
- Hoosier National Forest
- Lake Lemon
- Lake Monroe
- McCormick's Creek State Park
- Morgan-Monroe State Forest
- Yellowwood State Forest
- Monroe County Airport
External links
- Bloomington City Government
- Bloomingpedia - Bloomington's own City Wiki (released July 2005)
- Breakaway Bloomington Indiana History Section
- Herald Times (Local paper)
- Bloomington Real Estate Information
- Pictures
- Bloomington Daily Photo
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de:Bloomington (Indiana) io:Bloomington, Indiana ja:ブルーミントン (インディアナ州) pl:Bloomington (Indiana) sv:Bloomington, Indiana