Bloomington is a medium sized town that is part of a pair of cities inextricably linked to one another (the other being
Normal, Illinois). Together, the two cities form a suburban-sized area which has a fair number of attractions, restaurants, and shopping centers due to two local Universities, a few Colleges, and the corporate headquarters for a
large corporation.
Bloomington, by itself, is home to a handful of high schools (
Bloomington High School and
Bloomington Central Catholic) as well as
Illinois Wesleyan University and
Heartland Community College.
It is located a little under two hours from
Chicago; under three hours from
St. Louis and
Indianapolis; and
a long damn way from any ocean. (
your mileage to these cities won't vary, but your travel time will).
One
distinguishing characteristic of Bloomington is the presence (made apparent by
massive office buildings) of
State Farm Insurance. Over 12,000 people in Bloomington and Normal are employed by the Insurance giant, and everyone else in the city knows it.
Mitsubishi has a fairly large facility in Bloomington, as well.
All in all, it's a pretty
stereotypical medium sized midwestern town, though I'm not sure if that's a
good thing or a
bad thing.
Location: 40° 29' N; 88° 57' W
Elevation: 829 feet
County: McLean
Population (2000): 64,808 (28,431 housing units)
Area: 16.71 sq mi (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 61701, 61702, 61709 (
State Farm Insurance only), 61710, 61791, 61799
Area Code: 309
Interstates: 55,
74,
39
Sources: http://www.census.gov -- http://www.placesnamed.com/b/l/bloomington.asp -- http://bloomingtonil.areaconnect.com