r/BloomingtonNormal • • Sep 18 '19

Reposting of a lot of links and places to go/things to do in Bloomington-Normal

93 Upvotes

Updating a list from based off of a thread by /u/sunpoprain

Townies, please feel free to add your favorites below and I'll add them to the list, so when I repost for that sweet, sweet karma, I'll include them over and over again. Also, let me know if there is anything that needs to be taken off.

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If you've got a student ID, you can ride the Connect Transit buses for free... so use them to explore town a bit!

  • Uptown Normal - from food, to bars, to shopping... uptown has quite a bit to do. here's their website
    • Throughout the summer, they have quite a bit of free music on the Roundabout and they continue it until Early September, so take advantage of it! - -- Lounge About the Roundabout (Music on Wednesday and Saturdays to Sept 1) and the Connie Link Amphitheatre (Music and Activities through Sept 27th)
    • Some of my favorites include:
      • The Rock for Gyros,
      • DP Dough for Calzones,
      • Emack's for Ice Cream,
      • Pub2 for cheese balls,
      • Windy City Wieners has decent dogs and italian beef,
      • Normal Theater for all sorts of movies - seriously, they have a great variety and their late shows are getting mighty good!
      • Smoker's Den is a nice chill place to smoke a hookah and play cards/board games.
      • Coffee Hound and Coffee House are both quiet places to grab coffee/study; Sugar Mama has cupcakes and sugar cookies. Insomnia Cookies is also downtown.
      • The Garlic Press has lots of kitschy items and now has a candy/popcorn shop!
      • There are lots of little boutique stores uptown that my wife loves to frequent... I can't speak for them personally, but they seem nice.
      • The Children's museum is a fun place (even for adults) and they occasionally have "Big Kid" nights so there aren't a million little kids about.
      • There is also Graham Cracker Comics,
      • Waiting Room Records ,
      • Anderson's Barbershop and
      • Mother Murphy's

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  • Downtown Bloomington -
    • places to check out, Bobz Bay for used books and random odds and ends;
    • Red Raccoon Games for board games, RPGs and card tournaments;
    • again Smokers Den is a great place to relax;
    • the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts is a treasure and has plenty of shows to check out;
    • Next door to the BCPA is the Mclean County Arts Center -
    • the Grossinger Motors Arena and Pepsi Ice Center (formerly US Cellular Coliseum) has sports (football, basketball, hockey), Ice Skating and shows;
    • The Castle Theater has bands of all varieties;
    • a little off the beaten path is Green Top Grocery,
    • Bloomington Cycle is next to Green Top; Wilson Cycle is in Downtown proper.
    • Coffee Hound is really your only coffee option uptown;
    • Ivy Lane Bakery
    • Merlot and a Masterpiece will teach you to paint!
    • Refinery 309,
    • Fox and hound boutique,
    • gigi Botegga (while you're there, check out the art in the dressing rooms -- as long as it hasn't changed, it's a local artist that i'm near and dear to)
    • The Farmer's Market goes until October (I think), and its worth the Saturday morning trip
    • Tony's Tacos for your Mexican needs
    • Main St Scoop - Ice Cream
    • El Porton - for Mexican in downtown (technically not in downtown but really it's close enough, less than 5 minute walk)
    • Night Shop - Awesome little music venue - they've got breakfast! and has some great Gluten Free or Vegan options
  • Around town - I'm just going to start putting random stuff down, because I can, damnit.
    • Groceries - big box stories - Walmart (2 of them), Target, Hyvee, Meijer; slightly smaller - Jewel, Aldi, Schnucks, super small - Green Top Grocery, Fresh Thyme Farmer's Market
    • Restaurants - We have a metric f-ton of them in BloNo - We have a plenty of other non-chain establishments that I would HIGHLY recommend -
      • Flingers Pizza,
      • Kobe Hibachi grill,
      • Avanti's,
      • Green Gables and the Lake Road Inn,
      • Garden of Paradise,
      • Thai House,
      • Signature India,
      • Western Tap (great burgers),
      • Anju Above for sushi,
      • Fort Jesse Cafe. Amazing breakfast for an amazingly long wait (seriously set aside an extra 30 minutes)
    • Fusion Brew (Main and Dale) has (coffee/tea/bubble tea/slushies and has ample study space. Small parking lot though.
    • sports - There are plenty of intramural sports on campus, but there's also rec and competitive leagues all over town for softball, soccer, baseball - look them up on the city/town's parks and rec sites. We are also home to Upper Limits for rock climbing; we have 3 or 4 different disk golf courses; multiple golf courses; bowling at the pheasant lanes; lots of sand volleyball at Pheasant Lanes, Gill St, or the Wind Jammer; we also have dart and pool leagues as well.
    • Doughnuts - Grove St and Market St. bakeries are my favorite. Denny's Donuts is pretty tasty too. We also have Krispy Kreme and The Donut Experiment
    • Off the Beaten Path - if you like Nature, The ISU Horticulture Center is on Raab Rd. check it out. Also, the Constitution Trail is fantastic and can get you pretty much anywhere you want to go in town, its wonderful to walk or bike. Just North of Bloomington is Lake Bloomington and Comlara Park. South of Town is Funk's Grove and the Sugar Grove Nature Center. Radar Farms is also just north of town (off or Raab Rd) and is fun for an afternoon.
    • Non-Profits and ways to meet people - a tip from someone who has been through plenty in town - get involved, get active. meetup.com has plenty of spaces to meet people - there are LOTS of non-profits in town and they're all looking for help/volunteers. I'll go ahead and throw a plug in for the bnjaycees. **seriously** get involved involved in your community in whatever way you want or can.
    • Libraries -- You've got access to 3 libraries (4, if you count heartland community college's). The City/town's libraries come with a boatload of extra resources, like being able to rent movies, audio books, language courses, etc... and plenty of activies to do. and of course, they all have books.
  • A Note about cars - pay attention to where you are parking, the local tow companies are quick to tow you from unwanted lots or from downtown after around 7pm (not sure on that exact time). Bloomington Normal happens to be unique that they have Lots of police in the area - Bloomington PD and Normal PD are the most obvious. We are also home to ISU PD (which are State police), we also have the Mclean County Sheriff's department in town. So, pay attention to what you are doing and how fast you are going. All of them... and I mean ALL of them, love to give out DUI's - so do yourself a favor and don't drink and drive. We have plenty of cab services, we also have Uber and Lyft.... and again, I will mention Connect Transit. Also, In winter during blizzardy conditions, Town of Normal often issues parking bans for parked cars on the street until snow has been cleared. Jaywalking might get you a ticket, especially near the beginning of the semester
    • If you are looking for easy parking in downtown both parking garages (on Front st or Market st) are free to park on the weekends and after 6 pm. In Uptown the parking garage connected to Amtrak has free, anytime, one hour parking and is again free all weekend and after 6 pm on weekdays (you still have to take a ticket though).
  • Outdoors stuff:
    • Lake Bloomington
    • Evergreen Lake
    • Lake Clinton
    • Constitution trail
    • Refuge Food Forest
    • Sunnyside community Garden and food forest (haven't been, but the internets say its there)

The links I normally hit when I'm looking for stuff to do in around around town:

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Graveyard of places that are no more since I started this list in 2017:

  • Fresh Market
  • Merry Ann's Diner for Breakfast foods,
  • Bonafide Thai~~~~
  • Babbitt's Books

r/BloomingtonNormal • • 45m ago

My dashcam caught a suspect running from police on Vernon

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• Upvotes

r/BloomingtonNormal • • 6h ago

Poop and scoop

15 Upvotes

Why are people not picking up their dog 💩 ?? I have two dogs and pick up their 💩 every time. If I run out of bags on a walk, I’ll come back and pick up the 💩 . These people act like they’re going to die if they pick up their dog’s 💩. THEN DON’T GET A DOG IF YOU CANT PICK UP THEIR VERY LARGE PILES OF 💩. The lack of respect for communal areas is wild. The property (Young America) management doesn’t answer the phone or emails. Won’t enforce dog bag dispensers to stop this problem. Pay over 1,500$ for rent and they can’t/won’t enforce the poop and scoop ordinance. There’s also people running and kids playing in this communal area; the lack of common sense that if god forbid a dog eats your dogs 💩 they could get sick and die. Someone can step in it or a child fall in it because they’re clumsy it could happen. DON’T GET A DOG IF YOU’RE NOT GOING TO A GOOD DOG OWNER!

** Also we have people come take care of the lawn here. I’m sure gardeners can agree this makes the job lot harder when coming to a site and spending extra time picking up dog poop. These men have other jobs to do in their day and doing extra work they’re not getting paid for makes them somewhat irritated.


r/BloomingtonNormal • • 5h ago

Roommate?

6 Upvotes

Considering looking for a roommate, but I am nervous about squatters rights in Illinois/Bloomington?? I would be opening up my house, but I wanted to make sure if I asked the person to leave, I have the ability to do so. Would I be able to type up a contract type thing?? I'm not sure where to start researching. 🤨


r/BloomingtonNormal • • 9h ago

Looking for kimbap in Bloomington Normal

6 Upvotes

Do any of the Korean places in Bloomington-Normal sell simple kimbap rolls? I am not seeing it on any online menus anywhere. If someone knows of a place that has them, please let me know! Thanks.


r/BloomingtonNormal • • 1d ago

H&A Property Management LLC — Broadmoor Park + Cortez Apartments — AVOID AT ALL COSTS

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20 Upvotes

Tom Ryan managed Broadmoor-Cortez apartments for 20+ years. There were many content long term tenants. Repairs were completed, tenant needs were addressed, and reasonable accommodations were provided without delay. He let tenants live their lives freely, kept us informed, and was not intrusive. We were always notified when water was turned off/going to be turned off, building repairs were needed, and of updates that would disrupt the peace (adding siding).

Was it perfect? No, because nothing is, but life was good, until H&A Property Management. Tom changed under their leadership, which means, it was them, not him.

The new manager and property management company are overbearing, aggressive, and there is no quiet enjoyment. I highly  recommend avoiding anything they manage or own at all costs. 

The number of tenants leaving increased significantly since they took over. Three out of six units in our building are vacant — my neighbor wants out of her lease — a lot of us want out.

Beware: If you exercise any rights — civil, disability, human, and/or tenant — there will be immediate unrelenting consequences. You have no right to rights. Politely to exercise rights again? Absolutely not. Set a boundary? It will erode every boundary? Identify harm? It will be used immediately and continually. Present options, attempt to resolve the situation, try to compromise? Nope. Exerting power and control seems to be the only objective. IDHR, HUD, and FHA for FHEO mean nothing. 

There will be no communication about things that impact you and your building.  

  • Early morning remodeling before 8am Monday - Saturday?
    • No. 
  • Knockdown texture spraying USG Ultra Lightweight? 
    • NO — NOT A WORD —  nobody should be breathing this and certainly not tenants with asthma or health conditions. 
      • Limestone (calcium carbonate)
      • Kaolin clay
      • Perlite (a volcanic glass)
      • Attapulgite (another clay)
      • Proprietary ingredients that aren't listed
      • Respirable crystalline silica 
  • Covering mailboxes with plastic preventing access to mail delivery and your mailbox? 
    • No. 
  • Turning water off in the building?  
    • No. I found out when I tried to wash my hands and that's how my neighbor found out too.

The pics of the building with nothing down on the floors is my building. The picture of the door is the entrance from back hallway into my bedroom — the fine dust gets through the gaps — it's horrible for a tenant with asthma. The other buildings have neatly covered floors and heaters, there was no attempt to cover our floors, the heaters are covered half ass. We are not the first — we are not the last — we are the outlier. Would the floor be messy with the paper down? Yes, but, at least they tried.

There will be excessive AppFolio blasts via text and email — it is exhausting. You can unsubscribe from texts — tenants cannot stop the emails — found mine in spam.

  • Jul 28 - 4:18 PM - Welcome new manager
  • Jul 28 - 4:22 PM - Asphalt repairs starting at 6 PM
  • Jul 29 - 10:31 AM - Clarification - don't park on the asphalt - you'll be towed. 
  • Jul 29 - 3:46 PM - Street parking allowed on Arcadia and Fairmont until Friday evening
  • Jul 30 - 11:50 AM - Restripe - Cortez don't park by dumpsters, Broadmoor park on the street by 6 PM - you'll be towed
  • Jul 31 - 10:55 AM - Grill safety - keep grills 15 ft from buildings
  • Jul 31 - 4:42 PM - New after-hours emergency maintenance number
  • Aug 21 - 9:59 AM - Quarterly pest spray - Broadmoor Aug 25, Cortez Aug 26
  • Aug 31 - 10:26 AM - Cortez only - motorcycles in maintenance garage must be removed
  • Aug 31 - 12:48 PM - Office closed Monday Sep 7 for Labor Day
  • Sep 3 - 1:29 PM - Office closed Friday Sep 4 until 9 AM Tuesday Sep 8 for Labor Day
  • Sep 8 - 10:41 AM - Toilet use - only flush toilet paper or you pay for repairs
  • Sep 9 - 11:30 AM - No smoking in apartments - lease violations and charges

The continuous contact from this manager is intrusive. The 'reminders', the you' statements, all CAPS, demands, and threats are too much. It is heavy handed and too forceful. 

I have never lived anywhere with this level of contact, at most, there might be a quarterly newsletter, and pest control reminder. 

Research: Lincoln Towers in Springfield (code violations + Adam Dorosheff), H&A EMR LLC Adam Dorosheff again and Mesa Insurance), Civic Center LLC, The Jefferson/Prosper (Indiana), River Rock (Indiana), etc.


r/BloomingtonNormal • • 1d ago

Read, watch, or listen: Recap of McLean County Clerk's debate in Normal

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42 Upvotes

r/BloomingtonNormal • • 5h ago

Do you pick up your dog poop?

0 Upvotes

When you’re dog 💩 in a strangers yard or communal area (public sidewalks, trail, park, and ect.), are you picking it up? Or acting like it didn’t happen?

53 votes, 6d left
All the time, why wouldn’t you?
No ( tell us why not in the comments!)

r/BloomingtonNormal • • 1d ago

CROCKETT WINS DEBATE; CLERK DEFENDS CHILD PREDATOR

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76 Upvotes

Gasps let out at tonight’s McLean County Clerk Debate as the current Clerk defended her ex employee charged with watching CP on the clock at her office.

Crockett led with professionalism and an expert take down of her failed leadership; kept it clean.

We gotta elect this guy. Clean up that office and get her OUT!


r/BloomingtonNormal • • 1d ago

Live debate between Joshua Crockett & Kathy Michaels

47 Upvotes

happening now on WGLT Facebook and Joshua Crockett is absolutely EVISCERATING Kathy. She has so obviously just given up.

link to watch: https://www.facebook.com/WGLTFM/videos/959264570560960

WGLT said they will post the full debate tomorrow at 7pm.


r/BloomingtonNormal • • 2d ago

REPUBLICAN LEADERS SUPPORT CROCKETT: Former Republican Party Chair Mike O’Grady and Retired Sheriff Mike Emery endorse Crockett for Clerk

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57 Upvotes

I am honored to have such a strong number of bipartisan supporters who agree that it’s time for change in the County Clerk’s office. Fiscal responsibility and accountability should know no party. I hope to earn your vote on or before November 3rd.


r/BloomingtonNormal • • 1d ago

Legal Help - Young America

13 Upvotes

Hi there. I have noticed that various people have had poor experiences with Young America scamming them. They are currently trying to charge me a ridiculous amount of money for normal wear and tear/painting at move-out. Over 1k for painting.

In addition, they never followed through with pest control whenever we asked them to spray, yet they still charged me a monthly fee. I'm also pretty sure the apartment was not properly insulated... and I suspect my roommate and I have been breathing in black mold.

My question is: does anyone have any suggestions for legal help? Any success stories or tips when disputing Young America charges?

Thank you for your assistance.


r/BloomingtonNormal • • 2d ago

Local MAGA misses the point. Again.

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25 Upvotes

Interesting post by Beirne, currently running for County Board on the East side. He rightly calls out MAGA and lists the details of how their fuckery has direct impact locally, but they instead pile on, muddy the waters and double down with their insanity and totally prove his point.

He doesn’t call out his Trump loving ICE-supporting MAGA opponent, he calls out the movement THEN tells the same people spreading lies that he still wants them to have lower taxes.

Until we’ve got some actual boring and sane Republicans who know what they’re doing, the local Democrats are doing a pretty good job picking up the slack.


r/BloomingtonNormal • • 2d ago

Dog teeth cleaning

9 Upvotes

Best place to get my dogs teeth cleaned and not too overly expensive??


r/BloomingtonNormal • • 2d ago

Event Battle of the Bands 2026 (Castle Theatre)

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17 Upvotes

Killer lineup this year, my band R. Snider will be there along with some stellar up and coming and established bands. Hope to see y’all there!


r/BloomingtonNormal • • 2d ago

German Shepherd Rescue?

6 Upvotes

Anyone know of any German shepherds available for adoption in the area? Our shepherd needs a buddy


r/BloomingtonNormal • • 2d ago

In a pinch with health insurance premiums?

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13 Upvotes

I am a reporter for WGLT and I'm working on a story about rising healthcare premiums, specifically related to employer-provided healthcare.

NPR has reported that employers are saying 2027 will see the largest increase in health benefits since 2003, increasing by an average of 8% next year - well above inflation.

This comes at a time when wages are not keeping pace and our other monthly bills (energy, rent, groceries, gas, etc) are almost all going up as well.

I'd like to talk to someone in Bloomington Normal who works full time and gets health insurance through their employer, and is concerned about how expensive the insurance is getting. If this is you and you're willing to be interviewed, please message me here.


r/BloomingtonNormal • • 3d ago

An Expensive Reading Intervention in Unit 5

21 Upvotes

Unit 5 continues to use Reading Recovery for 1st graders who struggle with reading. For those who don't know, Reading Recovery is an expensive one-on-one reading intervention created by Marie Clay and is based on the whole language reading model. Although Reading Recovery likes to show evidence that the program works, both long term studies of students who went through Reading Recovery show that by third or fourth grade those students are actually worse at reading than similar students who didn't go through the program. Timothy Shanahan goes into the studies and gives some speculation of why Reading Recovery actually harms students. https://www.shanahanonliteracy.com/blog/how-can-effective-teaching-do-harm

Hopefully Unit 5 is eventually going to move away from expensive interventions that harm kids and don't follow the Science of Reading. The adoption of UFLI as Tier 1 instruction in grades K-2 gives me some hope.

Edited to fix link.


r/BloomingtonNormal • • 3d ago

This coming Saturday!

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19 Upvotes

r/BloomingtonNormal • • 3d ago

Free Halloween Tuba Concert at Soderstrom Castle in Peoria

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25 Upvotes

Come enjoy a free outdoor concert featuring an ensemble of tubas performing favorite Halloween tunes at the third annual Trick or Tuba. The concert starts at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 25, at Soderstrom Castle on Grandview Drive overlooking the Illinois River.

Bring a lawn chair or blanket, and costumes are encouraged!

Calling all tuba players! We’re looking for more tuba, euphonium, baritone, and sousaphone players to help us beat last year’s record!

Sign up to play here: https://forms.gle/EguDPMyVaEML6or29


r/BloomingtonNormal • • 3d ago

Jeweler recommendations

6 Upvotes

Hi everybody!

I’m in need of a good jeweler somewhere here in town to help me downsize a ring by two or three sizes. I wanted some feedback on a trustworthy jeweler because this ring means a lot to me.


r/BloomingtonNormal • • 4d ago

24 dollars a person at Rader Farms. Wtf

82 Upvotes

Title.

How does it cost 100 for 4 people to walk around a farm?

Plus you will need to probably buy food and why go to a pumpkin patch and not get a pumpkin? Can't wait to find out how much that will cost.


r/BloomingtonNormal • • 4d ago

Photo Model Needed

20 Upvotes

Looking for a photo/video model for a short promotional video in Bloomington, IL.

No speaking is required. The video will simply involve slowly walking through a doorway and smiling naturally at the camera.

Details:
- Ages 30–80 welcome
- Open to all genders
- Approximately 1 hour maximum
- $100 compensation
- Filming in Bloomington, IL

If interested, please send a recent face photo for consideration. No modeling experience necessary. Just looking for someone comfortable, friendly, and natural on camera.


r/BloomingtonNormal • • 3d ago

Events for adults on Halloween?

5 Upvotes

r/BloomingtonNormal • • 4d ago

Pokemon Go players looking for friends?

18 Upvotes

I walk the constitution trail almost every weekend playing Pokemon go. Would be nice to have company sometimes! With winter coming of course I’m open to go out to eat or go to convention centers or the mall to walk around and play. Might be a long shot but I’m specifically looking for fellow ladies here!