How is Bloomington/Normal?

So, I'll start with I'm from Louisiana, live in Metairie (just outside New Orleans) now. With recent events, yes I mean the election, and my own beliefs, I kinda don't want to be in a red state anymore. Plus my studies for software engineering, my career in IT, I was gonna hit a wall here anyway. My family is originally from Illinois, my grandfather was the one back in the day who moved down here. So me returning would be that, kinda undoing that move. I originally was looking at Champaign-Urbana and someone said to check out Bloomington. From the streetview, plus like Rivian, 2 colleges, plus overall low crime, seems promising. Should it be on the short list? For reference I want to be somewhere reasonably safe, but like clearly, I live really close to New Orleans, and have done long walks in downtown NOLA at 9 PM before, I doubt anything in Bloomington would really scare me. McLean County being blue is a plus for me, and my gf (we do live together) is legally blind, she can't drive due to eyesight, she wants to be somewhere walkable, and downtown adjacent rentals appear to be really affordable. Most things I'm seeing are wins, is that the case? Or are there caveats to know about?