Off-Campus Life at Indiana University: Kirkwood, Greek Row, and Where Hoosiers Actually Live

The short answer

Off-campus life matters at Indiana University because most of a student's time is spent outside the classroom, and in Bloomington a lot of that time happens beyond the Sample Gates. Kirkwood Avenue, the Greek houses along Jordan Avenue, the neighborhoods where upperclassmen rent, and traditions like game days and the Little 500 shape what being a Hoosier actually feels like day to day. If you are visiting IU, plan to see campus and the town around it together.

We call it the other 75%: the places where students actually spend their time. Here is what that looks like at IU, written by the students who live it.

Why off-campus life matters at IU

Bloomington is a true college town. Campus runs straight into Kirkwood Avenue, Kirkwood runs into the downtown square, and most of what students care about sits within about a 15-minute walk of the Sample Gates. That closeness is a big part of why IU feels the way it does. The friendships, study spots, weekend routines and first apartments that define a student's four years mostly happen in town.

For families, especially out-of-state families who have never been to southern Indiana, understanding the town is half the decision. Where will your student eat on a Tuesday night? Where do sophomores live? How far is the walk home from Kirkwood? Those questions matter as much as which lecture hall a class is in.

Kirkwood Avenue: where campus meets Bloomington

Kirkwood is the street every IU student knows. It starts at the Sample Gates, the limestone entrance IU built in 1987 when it closed the old stretch of Kirkwood through campus to cars, and runs west to the Monroe County Courthouse square.

What you will find walking it:

Kilroy's on Kirkwood, about 100 yards from the Gates and an undergrad staple for decades, known for its breadsticks as much as anything
Nick's English Hut, open on Kirkwood since 1927 and home of Sink the Biz, with a stairwell signed by generations of Hoosier athletes
Village Deli for breakfast and brunch, Soma for coffee, Uptown Cafe for Cajun food, and FARMbloomington for seasonal, locally sourced dinners
Peoples Park, a small public park at Kirkwood and Dunn, and the murals that make this stretch a favorite for photos
The Buskirk-Chumley Theater near the square, a 1922 silent-movie house now used for concerts, festivals and shows

In warmer months the city closes parts of Kirkwood to traffic for outdoor dining and events, and the university now opens basketball season with Hoosier Hoops on Kirkwood, a block party right on the street. If you only have an hour off campus, walk from the Gates to the square and back.

Want to see Kirkwood with someone who actually lives here? A Tour College Towns private tour covers campus and Kirkwood with a current IU student, and you only see what you care about. Private Tour: $150 flat for your whole group. Not able to visit yet? Book a 30-minute Ask a Hoosier video call for [$XX]. [Request a tour](URL)

The square and Fourth Street

Past the end of Kirkwood is the courthouse square, ringed with locally owned boutiques, bookstores and restaurants. This is where students take their parents to dinner and where a lot of Bloomington's year-round events happen.

One block south, Fourth Street is Bloomington's international restaurant row, a stretch of converted Victorian houses serving food from all over the world. Between Kirkwood, the square and Fourth Street, IU students have hundreds of places to eat without ever getting in a car. On Saturdays, the community farmers market downtown is a weekend habit for plenty of upperclassmen.

Greek row and Greek life at IU

Greek life is a big part of the social fabric at IU. Nearly 8,000 students, around 24% of undergraduates, belong to a fraternity or sorority, spread across more than 70 chapters and four governing councils: the Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Association, National Pan-Hellenic Council and Multicultural Greek Council. Fraternities and sororities have been part of IU since 1845.

Most of the large chapter houses are concentrated on the east side of campus along Jordan Avenue and the surrounding streets, which is what students mean when they say Greek row. Because so many chapters are housed, the houses themselves are a big part of the experience:

Students who live in their chapter's house can qualify for an exemption from IU's on-campus residency requirement, so many Greek members live in the house as sophomores
Many housed chapters expect members to live in for at least a year
Every prospective member completes IU's Prospective Member Orientation before recruitment

Greek life also runs through IU traditions. Fraternity and sorority teams ride in the Little 500 every spring alongside independent teams, and philanthropy events fill the calendar all year.

If Greek life is on your list, IU itself suggests asking current members about cost and weekly time commitment. Seeing the houses in person and walking the distance from Jordan Avenue to your student's likely classes gives you a much better feel than photos.

Where IU students live after freshman year

IU requires first-year students to live on campus, and the university points to better grades and involvement for students in the residence halls. After that, students choose between staying on campus, moving into a Greek house, or renting in town. By junior and senior year, a large share of students live off campus.

The main areas students talk about:

Downtown and near Kirkwood: walk to everything, including the Gates, the square and most of the bars and restaurants, priced accordingly
North Walnut, North College Avenue and the East Third Street corridor: dense student apartment buildings close to campus
Elm Heights and Prospect Hill: historic neighborhoods with older houses, duplexes and a quieter feel, a short walk or bike from campus
Bryan Park area: quieter blocks of houses near one of the city's best parks
Green Acres and the east side: a popular student area across Union Street, with apartment complexes