Bloomington is a beautiful city with picturesque lakes, ponds, and parks combined with an exciting and healthy business and hospitality industry. In the past four decades, Bloomington has grown from a semi-rural village to its current status as Minnesota's third largest city.

Bloomington is a city of contrasts where one can find deer grazing along the river in the shadow of a major metropolitan airport, a 10-mile strip of hotels, fine dining, and the Mall of America. Over one third of Bloomington is preserved for parks and recreation. The 45-square miles of parks includes the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, one of four urban wildlife refuges in the country, and the Hyland Lake Park Reserve, where deer, pheasants and wild songbirds refuse to let city distractions interrupt their habitat. 

History

For hundreds of years, Bloomington's natural features played a major role in attracting visitors. The Ojibwa and Dakota tribes first journeyed along its picturesque bluffs, rolling woodlands, and pristine waterways in search of game. Before the turn of the 19th century, French Canadian fur trappers frequented water channels of the Minnesota River, Nine Mile Creek, and the chain of lakes in search of valuable pelts. Early settlers arrived in Bloomington in the 1840s, settling in the area by Fort Snelling at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers. The fort was a draw for settlers seeking safety and provisions from the U.S. Government as they pushed westward. In the 1840s, two brothers, Gideon and Samuel Pond, settled here and built the city's first school and mission. The Pond House known simply as the "Brick House" is now on the National Historic Register and is one of Bloomington's historical attractions. By 1852, Bloomington was becoming an important travel hub. The Bloomington ferry, the only major crossing on the Minnesota River, operated for nearly forty years until a bridge was finally built. The township of Bloomington formed in 1858 changing to a city in 1960. The decades of the 1950s and '60s propelled Bloomington into explosive growth, increasing its population by nearly two-thirds. Thousands of sports fans regularly flocked to the "Bloomington Strip" to watch sporting events. From the '60s to the '90s, Bloomington grew to become Minnesota's third largest city. 

Business and Retail Hub

More than 6,000 companies are headquartered in Bloomington and collectively employ over 100,000 people. Companies like Ceridian Corporation, Diversified Pharmaceutical Services, Health Partners, Thermo King Corporation and The Toro Company are some of the state's largest. What attracts these businesses to Bloomington is the proximity to the airport, major metro highways, and hospitality facilities. The "Bloomington Strip" is home to numerous hotels where business travelers and tourists alike stay when they visit the metro. This combination of amenities has made Bloomington a retail center with several malls including the Mall of America, one of the largest entertainment and retail attractions in the world. 

Parks and Recreation 

Fully a quarter of Bloomington's land is set aside for 100 parks occupying more than 3,000 acres. These parks include neighborhood playgrounds, community parks, playfields, regional parks, conservation areas, historic parks, an indoor ice arena, and golf course. 

Bloomington School District 271 is home to 10 elementary schools and two middle schools in addition to the two well-known high schools, Kennedy and Jefferson. The district works with 11,000 students from a variety of backgrounds and produces quality results. Bloomington is also home to numerous higher education facilities like Normandale Community College, Northwestern College of Health Services, and National American University.

-Home Owner's Reaource Guide