<p>I noticed with such a flat, sprawling campus, a bike might come in handy. Do students ride bikes much? When we visited UC Davis last month, bicycles were all over the place. Bikes RULE in Davis. I was thinking that if my daughter decides to go to IU it would be nice if she could buy an inexpensive cruiser bike from the local Target or Walmart. AND a good lock. Does this sound like a good idea? It sure seems like it would help to navigate across campus in a timely fashion. At Davis and Stanford they have those traffic roundabout circles for bikes. I hear it can pretty crazy when everyone is rushing to class. Of course, at IU the winter might not be the best time to ride a bicycle. :)</p>
<p>Bikes make getting to and from classes a lot easier.</p>
<p>Ohmygosh. I don’t know how they withstand the winter, but I must have seen over 200 bikes parked at one building alone (Read). So…YUP!</p>
<p>I saw a lot of bikes when I was there.</p>
<p>Also, just for the record, the IU campus is not flat.</p>
<p>Personally, I’d recommend starting without a bike and seeing if one would be helpful after a handful of weeks on campus. It might depend on what dorm you’re in and where classes are, etc. My D does not have a bike and has expressed no interest in getting one.</p>
<p>That’s what we plan to do (if my daughter ends up at IU, of course. :)) I figure she can see how it goes and if she feels a bike will make it easier to get around, she can just buy a cheapie at one of the local discount stores. Or even find a used one. Play it by ear! :)</p>
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<p>Tulare wrote:</p>
<p>Personally, I’d recommend starting without a bike and seeing if one would be helpful after a handful of weeks on campus. It might depend on what dorm you’re in and where classes are, etc. My D does not have a bike and has expressed no interest in getting one</p>
<p>Well, I met without HUGE hills to climb. 
When you say it’s not flat, do you mean there are some gentle, rolling areas? I was thinking more like UCLA where you have to climb a somewhat steep grade to get to the dorms. Not as bike-friendly in my opinion, vs. somewhere like UC Davis. I figured IU fell into the latter category or maybe somewhere in between. We’ll find out when we visit in the Spring! :)</p>
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<p>LoonLake wrote:</p>
<p>Also, just for the record, the IU campus is not flat.</p>
<p>As far as flatness goes, I have to agree that the IU campus is pretty much flat. I guess it depends on where you are comparing it to, but I was stunned at the flatness compared to the LA area when I arrived on campus in 1985. I actually never realized how mountainous southern California is until I saw the midwest.</p>
<p>However, if you don’t take your bike inside during the winter, it can rust. And the dorm rooms are not that big.</p>
<p>LOL I guess it’s all relative. I suppose when some say Bloomington isn’t “flat” it’s being compared to other areas of Indiana where you can look out at the horizon forever. I live in an area with all types of terrain and levels. In fact, UCSC sits atop a hill looking down over the ocean. And, we’re surrounded by the Santa Cruz Mountains covered by very tall redwoods. Nothing flat about this place! </p>
<p>I actually didn’t care for that long climb up to the dorms at UCLA. Could be that my feet hurt after our tour in the middle of summer. </p>
<p>Good point about the bikes getting rusty. It wouldn’t be so bad if your family lived close by and you could store your bicycle there during the wet winter months. I definitely can’t see one in a tiny dorm room! I suppose if someone really wanted to have a bike outside they could cover it well with a plastic tarp. Well, my daughter might not even want one, anyway. ;-)</p>
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<p>Ghostfire13 wrote:</p>
<p>As far as flatness goes, I have to agree that the IU campus is pretty much flat. I guess it depends on where you are comparing it to, but I was stunned at the flatness compared to the LA area when I arrived on campus in 1985. I actually never realized how mountainous southern California is until I saw the midwest.</p>
<p>However, if you don’t take your bike inside during the winter, it can rust. And the dorm rooms are not that big.</p>
<p>Compared to LA or to the Santa Cruz area, IU-B is definitely flat. </p>
<p>I think the people in Indiana need to realize that if you go just 10 miles inland from Santa Cruz, which is at sea level, and travel towards Los Gatos/San Jose, you will be at the top of a 3,000 foot mountain–and this is a place where it will occasionally snow–while everywhere in the “flats” (like Salinas or most of the Central Valley) you will never get any snow year-round.</p>
<p>Mountains near LA are over 7,000 feet high, and the Sierra Nevada range in the eastern part of the state of California has many mountains over 13,000-14,000 feet high (the highest in the country along with the Rocky Mountain range in Colorado/Wyoming/Montana).</p>
<p>One could get a bike cover (for the winter elements). Just sayin’…</p>
<p>That’s what I’m thinkin’…</p>
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<p>R12…wrote:</p>
<p>One could get a bike cover (for the winter elements). Just sayin’…</p>
<p>Calcruzer, have you checked out UC Davis? Would you say the IU campus is about as flat as Davis? It’s perfect for bike riding. We can handle THAT kind of flat. Thankfully, the buildings and trees break it up.</p>
<p>But we’re not talking “Iowa cornfields flat”, are we? Those areas where you can see forever and ever into the distance and there’s nothing but flat land? There are two types of areas I’m not accustomed to…really flat without a lot of trees or hills and the dry,sandy desert. It would take some getting used to, that’s for sure! But the few photos I’ve seen of the Bloomington and Monroe County area seem nicer.</p>
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<p>Calcruzer wrote:</p>
<p>Compared to LA or to the Santa Cruz area, IU-B is definitely flat. </p>
<p>I think the people in Indiana need to realize that if you go just 10 miles inland from Santa Cruz, which is at sea level, and travel towards Los Gatos/San Jose, you will be at the top of a 3,000 foot mountain–and this is a place where it will occasionally snow–while everywhere in the “flats” (like Salinas or most of the Central Valley) you will never get any snow year-round.</p>
<p>Mountains near LA are over 7,000 feet high, and the Sierra Nevada range in the eastern part of the state of California has many mountains over 13,000-14,000 feet high (the highest in the country along with the Rocky Mountain range in Colorado/Wyoming/Montana).</p>
<p>The southern third of Indiana tends to be hilly. Bloomington’s county is very hilly by Indiana standards, but the campus itself is fairly flat, with enough relief to make it very attractive. </p>
<p>Here is a relief map of Morgan County. Bloomington is in the flattest part of the county. It is the pink area in the center of the map.
<a href=“http://igs.indiana.edu/Survey/Bookstore/images/covers/coversxlarge/SRTM53.jpg[/url]”>http://igs.indiana.edu/Survey/Bookstore/images/covers/coversxlarge/SRTM53.jpg</a></p>
![http://igs.indiana.edu/Survey/Bookstore/images/covers/coversxlarge/SRTM53.jpg[/url]](http://igs.indiana.edu/Survey/Bookstore/images/covers/coversxlarge/SRTM53.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>Here is a campus map which shows buildings, streets, greenery, etc. Gets a little hilly north of Tenth Street.
<a href=“http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~dgerman/52ndMTD/BL3d.jpg[/url]”>http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~dgerman/52ndMTD/BL3d.jpg</a></p>
![http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~dgerman/52ndMTD/BL3d.jpg[/url]](http://www.cs.indiana.edu/%7Edgerman/52ndMTD/BL3d.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>You can click on both maps to enlarge them.</p>
<p>North of Indianapolis…you can practically SEE Chicago it’s so flat.
Southof Indianapolis… small rolling hills. There are a couple on campus, but…mostly not.</p>
<p>bthomp1 and R124687 describe it well. Lots of rolling hills, but fairly flat on campus. I think it’s a bit downhill/uphill going from the Northwest dorms down to the main campus and back, but it’s not like Iowa cornfields at all. The eastern end of the campus is also rolling–with the IU Auditorium at a higher spot than just south of there–and then rising back up slightly to the Music Center and gardens behind it. </p>
<p>Probably the “flatest” part of the campus is on the south end near 3rd street, where it is fairly flat compared to the rest of the campus. I think this is why the sororities are probably located in this area–it made for easy walking for women back in the day when the sexes weren’t considered equal–and when women still wore shoes with heels to school everyday. The fraternities are on the northern part of the campus–where it is more hilly–and where there are more open fields.</p>
<p>Sounds good to me! :)</p>
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<p>Calcruzer wrote:</p>
<p>bthomp1 and R124687 describe it well. Lots of rolling hills, but fairly flat on campus. I think it’s a bit downhill/uphill going from the Northwest dorms down to the main campus and back, but it’s not like Iowa cornfields at all. The eastern end of the campus is also rolling–with the IU Auditorium at a higher spot than just south of there–and then rising back up slightly to the Music Center and gardens behind it. </p>
<p>Probably the “flatest” part of the campus is on the south end near 3rd street, where it is fairly flat compared to the rest of the campus. I think this is why the sororities are probably located in this area–it made for easy walking for women back in the day when the sexes weren’t considered equal–and when women still wore shoes with heels to school everyday. The fraternities are on the northern part of the campus–where it is more hilly–and where there are more open fields.</p>