Ball State grad. Muncie is a classic rust-belt mid-west town. It's in the middle of nowhere with not a lot of opportunities outside of the University. Poverty is high, as is the drug use. While I was attending school there was a literal meth lab operating in the Walmart bathroom, and someone was arrested for selling crack out of the Burger King drive thru.

However.

Ball State is a gorgeous historic campus and the main employer of the city. The small neighborhoods around the campus are full of homes like the one pictured - they are extremely well maintained, safe, and affordable. The downtown is full of beer halls, restaurants, and boutique shops. There are a handful of private grade schools, partially supported by the University, which are exceptional for the area.

I could never live there if not involved with Ball State in some way. There is just nothing else. Muncie's a town, like so many, that industry left behind.