Local Information :

Bloomington is divided into two areas by Interstate 35W. The area west of I-35W is locally known as "West Bloomington," and the area east is called "East Bloomington."

West Bloomington is mostly residential, along with several large office buildings and hotels along Interstate Highway 494 in the north; East Bloomington contains most of the industry and destination retail centers, and the majority of Bloomington's lower-income housing. While according to the Census Bureau, Bloomington is one of the major cities of the Metro Area (formerly the "Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Area", now the "Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Metropolitan Statistical Area"), Bloomington is culturally and socially a suburb of the two larger cities, and few people refer to the area as anything other than "Minneapolis-St. Paul" or the "Twin Cities Metro Area."
Many locals will refer to themselves as either from "East" or "West" Bloomington, but the line between the two is somewhat blurry, with some residents claiming I-35W as the boundary, and others placing it as far west as France Avenue.

Geographically, Penn Avenue is a closer approximation of a half-way point, although because Bloomington is bounded on the south by the Minnesota River, the "West" side contains more area. Residents are further divided in to "East" and "West" groups due to Bloomington being served by two high schools, John F. Kennedy High School and Thomas Jefferson High School, in the east and west respectively. The determining boundary for high school attendance runs mostly along France Avenue, although both schools have open enrollment. Despite the two schools being only about a 5 minute drive away from each other, school-age children and their parents often identify themselves as from "East" or "West" according to which school the children will eventually attend.

Bloomington's third high school, Lincoln High School, was sold to the Control Data Corporation in the mid 1980s. Now controlled by General Dynamics, it is used primarily for defense contracting work, although Bloomington Public Schools is a tenant. The stadium there is still used by both Kennedy High School and Jefferson High School for home football and soccer games.

The city is home to a large contingent of employers, providing more than 100,000 jobs. Benefiting from its location near major transportation routes and the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, Bloomington is a major hospitality center with about 7000 hotel rooms.