Bloomington

Bloomington Neighborhood Tour

Welcome to Bloomington, Minnesota! Bloomington was named one of the top Minnesota cities to live in and you’ll see why when you spend some time here. Bloomington has a lot to offer starting with a fantastic location with great proximity to Minneapolis. It’s just 10 miles south of the city right on the border on two of the biggest highways in the area. You can pick up both the 35W and 494 easily so commuting is easy. Bloomington also has the fifth largest population of all the cities in Minnesota with about 90,000 people. So Bloomington is ideal for people that want to live close to the city but not in the city and still want access to great shopping, restaurants, and activities.

A number of large corporations have set up headquarters and major business centers in Bloomington because of all that it has to offer. That means that good jobs are plentiful with top businesses like Seagate, HealthPartners, Toro, and Dairy Queen. That also means there’s lots of opportunities for entrepreneurs looking to start service businesses that rely on corporate clients.

Film buffs will recognize Bloomington as the primary location in the Coen Brother film A Serious Man. Bloomington’s reputation for having a large number of 60s style ranch homes led the famed directors to scout the city and eventually pick it to be the main location of the film.

There’s Lots To Do In Bloomington

Bloomington, like most of Minnesota, has no shortage of outdoor activities to keep you and your family busy. Over a third of Bloomington is permanently preserved parklands and there are two major parks: Minnesota Valley Wetlands, and Highland Park Reserve. So you and your family can enjoy outdoor activities all year long if you love the outdoors. There are also plenty of other activities like The Summer Fete in Normandale Lake Park every summer. With live music, food trucks, and one of the biggest fireworks shows in the area it’s a summer staple that residents always enjoy. The Bloomington Aquatic Center is another great place to spend some time with your family.

The Mall Of America

Bloomington is also home to one of the biggest attractions in Minnesota and in the country at large, the Mall of America. The Mall of America is so big that 7 Yankee Stadiums could fit inside with room to spare. Like any mall it’s filled with stores but you will find an incredible range of stores and shopping available in this mall. From high end designer shops to small boutiques the Mall of America has it all. It even has an Ikea.

But the Mall also has amazing restaurants where you can get fantastic food and see first run movies in state of the art theaters. It also has an entire amusement park indoors. It’s called the Nickelodeon Universe and there is Legoland too. If you went through every store in the Mall of American and spent just ten minutes in each store it would take 86 hours total to go through all the stores. Another fun fact about the mall is that it has no heating at all. The heat from all the lights inside the mall, the body heat from the shoppers, and heat from the sun through the skylights keeps the Mall at 70 degrees year-round.

Housing And Schools

If you’re moving to Bloomington with your kids you should know that Bloomington has great schools. Overall the school system got a B rating, but it has A rating for diversity and for academics. Diverse is a great word to describe the area’s homes too. Bloomington homes run the gamut from top tier luxury homes to very affordable starter homes. If you’re interested in a luxury home you will want to look on the west side in the Normandale Place neighborhood and the surrounding areas. This area has older homes that have been updated but still have their original character. The area is heavily wooded and private and homes here range from about $750k to one million dollars.

For more affordable options Central Bloomington is a great area to look. The average price of homes in this centrally located neighborhood is about $250,000.