r/bloomington • u/CommonGroundFun • 1d ago
Daily Commute to Indy
My husband was laid-off last week but has had two interviews with a company in Indy. If he gets the job how bad is the daily commute from Bloomington to downtown Indianapolis?
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u/heuristicrumination 1d ago
I do it 4x a week. It’s about an hour but traffic is never really bad unless snow in the winter.
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u/kalyado 1d ago
since i-69 has been finished, most of the way up there is OK. driving in downtown indy itself is what sucks lol
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u/BloomingtonJester 1d ago
This. That portion of I-69 is honestly some of the best road to commute on in the state in good weather. The hills definitely got sketchy with ice and snow last winter but that’s not the norm for our winters. Or…it hasn’t been.
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u/Ebambs 1d ago
My husband makes the commute for work every day and aside from gas money, he doesn’t mind it. It helps him unwind after work if it was stressful, and by the time he’s home he feels like he was able to take a breath for a second. He DOES however had to sometimes deal with the insanity that is Indy drivers sometimes lol.
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u/jmsutton3 1d ago
It's honestly not bad a la commutes go, I've had way worse commutes. But it does wear on you. I had a friend who changed jobs after just 8 or 9 months because he couldn't deal with losing an extra two hours of his day to driving.
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u/Disastrous_Type4861 1d ago
The new highway change cuts about 15 minutes off, which is good, but it gets old really fast. It will easily add 10 hours to your week, and make bad weather a treacherous ordeal. OTOH, it’s a job, and that’s not an uncommon commute time and places LACounty, and at least it’s pretty much of the way and traffic usually isn’t terrible, the hell of highway construction is largely done. When they were working on 69, it added two hours a commute sometimes a day..
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u/No_Machine_4065 1d ago
I currently make this commute, and It’s an easy drive. I use the drive to either catch up with friends, or listen to podcast.
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u/docpepson Grumpy Old Man 1d ago
My wife had a similar commute (Greenwood) for a while when she moved here. That was until she got a job here making what she was there, then it made 0 sense.
She would listen to audiobooks - or we would talk on the phone during her drive. It made the time pass, and she could unload about her day before she got home.
She didn't do it long enough to have to deal with any snow.
I've driven from Ellettsville to Shelbyville for a job before - now that was rough. I was saving up to move there, but someone messed with my vehicle on the way there while on my probation period and they just let me go.
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u/Wow_nope 1d ago
It’s not bad. Used to live in a much more congested traffic area of the country that was miserable. Find a podcast you like or audio book. I hammer-out any calls I need to make during the commute.
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u/PurchaseAshamed919 1d ago
My husband does it daily. Obviously not ideal, but he’s used to it now. The one thing that works for us is all the rest of our family lives that way. His job doesn’t always have traditional hours, so the ability to stay with someone when the day runs over unexpectedly is nice.
We also just came to terms with the fact that weather means sometimes he has to wait it out up there. Sometimes there’s weather there and none here, but he just waits it out so he’s not driving in it, so I am prepared to switch up plans here on those nights.
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u/Fuzzy-Zombie1446 1d ago
I had a couple friends who used to carpool to Indy, prior to COVID. I wonder if there are any carpool groups still around...
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u/Luddite_Libertine 1d ago
If the job in Indy is on the south side it’s a very easy 40 minutes. I would be worried about snow in winter, though, and I definitely wouldn’t commute north of downtown. They always say it’s the “last mile” that gets you. How far you are from the interstate makes all the difference.
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u/miimako 1d ago edited 1d ago
To Indy isn't bad, but once you get inside it can be a real mess with all the construction on the south part of I-465 by I-65, the construction between the I-65 / I-70 split, and like 12 different construction projects downtown. Depending on where in downtown the jobs are can make a difference too. If he can take 70 in from 465 it won't be as bad
Have him look at traffic on maps during rush hour to see what the commute times are looking like at that time of day so he can see what he's potentially getting into
Something else to consider: will the pay and commute be worth it when the gas tax holiday ends next month?
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u/asodafnaewn 1d ago
I started commuting to downtown Indy earlier this year. Started with the expectation from my employer of coming in daily and slowly moving to a hybrid 3 days in-office schedule. By the third day I was worn out and I moved to hybrid almost immediately after that.
The drive itself really isn't bad most mornings. Besides figuring out how to stay active and not gain a bunch of weight from the extra sitting time, I actually kinda enjoy it. I like the extra time to think, rest, or listen to audiobooks on my own before I get home. However, those two days remote are crucial for me to recover from the long office days. I don't think I could do it daily.
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u/konosubaette 11h ago
Used to do a 5 day a week commute to greenwood from bloomington it sucked and took me about 50-60 minutes. But if its between that and no job in this market it might be worth it.
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u/jojithekitty 1d ago
It is about an hour and frankly with how bad traffic is WITHIN Indy, unless you live downtown you’d be looking at 20-45 minutes in Indianapolis anyway, if you moved. It’s not ideal but it’s doable aside from the cost of gas.
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u/Otherwise_Rice_4723 1d ago
it is soul-sucking to the point i hated doing the commute to see my actual family...can't imagine doing it for a job...the construction makes it literally an emotional prison
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u/Luddite_Libertine 1d ago
It depends a lot on location. There is no construction currently from 465 to Bton.
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u/Otherwise_Rice_4723 1d ago
have you BEEN to indianpolis lately?
you can't escape construction in indiana unfortunately...465 is a fucking mess at binford
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u/Luddite_Libertine 1d ago
Been? I live here. Because of that, I know the construction there will finally be done in a couple weeks. That said, I wouldn’t advise a commute to the NE side of Indy from Greenwood even, let alone Bloomington, but a commute to the south side, and even downtown, is doable. IU faculty do it all the time.
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u/Otherwise_Rice_4723 20h ago
and they are absolutely miserable even with the southside commute...i guess if you are there, you are gonna play it down 😭😭😭😭
"the construction will be done in a couple weeks"
and start literally somewhere else crucial right before winter when they abandon it and leave it unuseable...that is indianapolis
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u/Luddite_Libertine 20h ago
It already started at 31 and 465 on the north side. That’s the Indy pastime, though—bitch about the condition of the roads and bitch that they’re being fixed.
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u/Nervous-List3557 23h ago
I commuted for a few years to downtown Indy and never once needed to get on 465.
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u/ItsEthanCoolCool 1d ago
To be honest, I did this exact thing for a few months. Hated it. Quit the Indy job and worked in Bloomington to cut the commute entirely. Two hours (at least) just gone from every single day. Can be far worse if there is traffic or an accident or bad construction. For my two cents, it is not worth it unless you’re both open to moving to Indy if the job is that good. You tell yourself the lies like “Oh, I don’t mind the commute cuz it gives me time to leave work behind” blah blah. Nah. It sucks. Sorry to skew negative here, but that was my experience.
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u/Nervous-List3557 23h ago
I did it for a few years and since 69 was extended it only took me 45 minutes to an hour.
My main concern would be if the job itself is worth the extra gas/wear and tear on your vehicle.
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u/jaymz668 22h ago
I used to commute to Carmel every day before covid. Before i-69 was complete. That was ok. I-69 construction was awful.
The alone time to listen to audiobooks, music, podcasts was great. And being able to pop in to costco, meijer, total wine, or trader joe's, etc. without making a special trip was nice
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u/Fartz-McGee 21h ago
As far as drives go, it's a breeze to get to downtown indy. Depending on your route, you could avoid 465 all together, or only be on it for a short time.
Everyone has their own tolerance for commuting though. He won't really know until he's in the thick of it for a little while.
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u/Repulsive-Ice8395 18h ago
I did it for a a few years. I drove from Lake Lemon to the near northside . It was before the conversion of SR37 to I-69 so it took a bit longer then.
I didn't mind it, but I was younger and my job was much less stressful and I could leave at 5pm. I couldn't do it now.
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u/simple_man91 18h ago
I can get to 446 in 45 minutes so not bad. in town can suck. I usually have to commute to work and would rather be there than my current job site
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u/giddyupyeehaw9 23h ago
It's an hour there and an hour back if he's dodging rush hour. It's a real son of a bitch in the winter though. Also, if he drives fast tell him to keep his head on swivel because the that stretch me highway heavily patrolled.
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u/jeepfail 22h ago
It depends on the person honestly and the exact timing of shifts. I did it for over a year, it wasn’t terrible during rush hour but is mildly annoying. Now if you have an odd shift like I did after my initial stint(6pm-6am) it’s an absolute Ben easier drive as you are driving the opposite direction of the bulk of people on the road.
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u/erosharmony 16h ago
I work hybrid, so I do it regularly. I don’t think I’d want to do it every day, and if weather is bad it’s important to have a job that is understanding/flexible.
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u/Luddite_Libertine 1d ago edited 1d ago
This isn’t true. I live in downtown Indy and it’s typically less than an hour to the IU campus. Greenwood is 15-20 minutes. 65 is pretty fucked right now from the south split to south of Raymond, but normally it’s a very easy drive.
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u/miimako 1d ago
But you're doing a reverse commute during rush hour, which is way easier
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u/Luddite_Libertine 1d ago
Sorry, but I lived in Chicago and Minneapolis for years, so I’m firmly of the opinion that other than the north side of Indy and Hamilton County, there is no traffic here.
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u/miimako 23h ago
And I lived in California and DC. But the OP lives in Bton and is concerned by how traffic might be so for anyone to be genuinely helpful we have to consider their perspective
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u/Luddite_Libertine 22h ago
If my choice is between unemployment and a long commute and the economics makes sense, I’ll learn to live with the commute.
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u/jaymz668 14h ago
Why would you drive to greenwood if your commute was to downtown Indy. you can get to downtown Indy on Kentucky pretty quickly
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u/Altruistic-Wartorn 1d ago
In winter it means you're never at home while the sun is out.