Why I ♥ Bloomington

There’s a lot to love about Bloomington. Like any college town, there is definitely a town-gown struggle. However, it isn’t as bad as it is in other places because, as far as I see the Bloomington culture, it coincides with the liberal culture and values of the non-university citizens.

There’s a lot of community media resources: The Ryder, The Bloomington Alternative, WIUX-LP, and WFHB. These resources are community driven with lots of participation from the locals and, I have to say, are pretty grungy and low rent in appearance. They do have a lot of heart.

My current vice is WIUX-LP, the student radio station, which plays an extremely eclectic mix of tunes. The vice is recent because it wasn’t that long ago that the station could barely be heard off campus, but in the last year or so, they were granted a low-power license by the FCC and now blanket the central areas of Bloomington. Unfortunately if you get too far south of Rogers Road, the signal fades and becomes static all too quickly.

It’s the heartiness and slant of these publications I love: The Bloomington Alternative has an opinion and isn’t afraid to make sure you know what that opinion is; kind of like a British newspaper.

The best part is that all of these are honest, down home, and friendly publications.

Of course, not all local media is going to be like that. Bloomington has acquired, since I moved from town, a snooty pretentious magazine: Bloom. Bloom is the kind of magazine that complains about patrons of a “flat bread” restaurant not knowing the difference between “flat bread” and “pizza.” (And after having dined at Trulli Flatbread, I believe the answer centers on the price; one must pay through the nose for pretension.) I once read a war about the quality of Corned-Beef sandwiches in town; with the editor (a New York native) serving as sole judge and jury.

I suppose there is a need for a pretentious glossy four-color magazine about Bloomington to serve the snooty-class; but I don’t think it really reflects the down-home earthy liberal nature of Bloomington.