Do you consider Northwest Indiana the suburbs of Chicago? (Naperville: home builders, subdivisions)

[urza216]

Originally Posted by packmanbears

Gary and all those other towns are big, and independent making them not a suburb of chicago.

Gary has 80,294 people according to the last Census. This is less than Aurora, Naperville and Joliet which all are closer to 150,000 than 80,000. Evanstan, Illinois only has approximately 4,000 less people than Gary, Indiana. Most NWI suburbs have less than 50,000 people though, less than Oak Park, Illinois. Would you mind specificing what "those other towns" you're referring to? Other than maybe Hammond, it make absolutely no sense.

East Chicago - Pop. 29,698
Merrillville, Indiana - Pop. 35,246
Schererville, Indiana - Pop. 29,243
Griffith, Indiana - Pop. 16,893
Highland, Indiana - Pop. 23,727
Dyer, Indiana - Pop. 16,390
Saint John, Indiana - Pop. 14,850
Munster, Indiana - 23,603

[urza216]

Originally Posted by reppin_the_847

If you follow this flawed reasoning, then Waukegan, Aurora, Joliet, Elgin, etc. wouldn't be suburbs either, yet they are. Even Kenosha can arguably be called the most distant suburb of Chicago IMO (I can see people disagreeing on that one a bit more though).

Kenosha isn't really a suburb of Chicago. That's like saying Kankakee is a suburb of Chicago. Kenosha and Kankaka are kinda sorta suburbs of Chicago but not really. I can hop in my car and get to Kankakee in a half an hour. Some folks in the south suburbs work in Kankakee and near Kankakee. Many folks in Kankakee work in the south suburbs or the south side of Chicago (some even work downtown). In spite of these connections, I still don't consider Kankakee a suburb. It's too far out and too much of a world onto itself. And it really isn't "dependent" on Chicagoland either even if it would suffer a lot without it. I see Kenosha as the Kankakee of the north side..

[sunnyandcloudydays]

could also be that the people on the opposite side of the state lines have a different state capital different counties, laws, school systems within the school systems you have school conferences , law enforcement, different political jurisdictions all these play into a community

although these may seem like small issues they do have differences

same probably holds true for Indiana and Kentucky or areas around Cincinnati (ohio and Indiana) just does not seem like an isolated issue with the Illinois and Indiana borde
Even parts of Michigan and Indiana heck they call that Michiana like we call Indiana and Illinois Illiana
Kentucky and Indiana Kentuckiana

In a broader sense we share a region
we share the same recreational activities
we share lake michigan
we use the same airports
we share the local media
work together

Overall it seems the area has more in common than differences

[LIS123]

Originally Posted by sunnyandcloudydays

could also be that the people on the opposite side of the state lines have a different state capital different counties, laws, school systems within the school systems you have school conferences , law enforcement, different political jurisdictions all these play into a community

although these may seem like small issues they do have differences

same probably holds true for Indiana and Kentucky or areas around Cincinnati (ohio and Indiana) just does not seem like an isolated issue with the Illinois and Indiana borde
Even parts of Michigan and Indiana heck they call that Michiana like we call Indiana and Illinois Illiana
Kentucky and Indiana Kentuckiana

In a broader sense we share a region
we share the same recreational activities
we share lake michigan
we use the same airports
we share the local media
work together

Overall it seems the area has more in common than differences

I would definitely consider NWI to be a part of suburban Chicago. From my view, the suburban part of a metro area does not have to be in the same state as the area's anchor city. In this light, NWI would definitely be considered suburban Chicago. As this post mentions, many NWI residents use the same employers, airports, shopping, etc as people living on the IL side of the Chicago metro area.

For me, the tough part is deciding how deep into NWI one must go to reach the end of the Chicago metro. Does Valpo still count? What about Michigan City? That's harder for me to decide than whether or not NWI is part of Metro Chicago.

[sunnyandcloudydays]

Originally Posted by LIS123

I would definitely consider NWI to be a part of suburban Chicago. From my view, the suburban part of a metro area does not have to be in the same state as the area's anchor city. In this light, NWI would definitely be considered suburban Chicago. As this post mentions, many NWI residents use the same employers, airports, shopping, etc as people living on the IL side of the Chicago metro area.

For me, the tough part is deciding how deep into NWI one must go to reach the end of the Chicago metro. Does Valpo still count? What about Michigan City? That's harder for me to decide than whether or not NWI is part of Metro Chicago.

As another poster mentioned before - to me valpo is close to chicago but not metro chicago same holds true for rockford, dekalb,antioch just because its close does not mean it shares certain measures which make up a metro.
A line has to be drawn someplace. The last decade this line kept reaching out farther we will have to see what this decade will do to the geographical footprint of the metro.

[reppin_the_847]

I see your point, but Metra Rail does go all the way to Kenosha, but doesn't extend down to Kankakee. Only the Amtrak train stops in Kankakee. Winthrop Harbor & Zion (IL) are literally the next two towns south of Kenosha and I believe they are considered Chicago suburbs, although distant. Just like you said plenty of folks from Kankakee work in the south suburbs (and vice versa), plenty of folks from Kenosha work in Lake County (IL) and possibly a few vice versa. But here's the big kicker man. Wikipedia tells us that the Chicago Metropolitan Statistical Area and Chicago Combined Statistical Area include Kenosha & Kankakee lol. NW Indiana is included as well. Check it out:

Chicago metropolitan area - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Originally Posted by urza216

Kenosha isn't really a suburb of Chicago. That's like saying Kankakee is a suburb of Chicago. Kenosha and Kankaka are kinda sorta suburbs of Chicago but not really. I can hop in my car and get to Kankakee in a half an hour. Some folks in the south suburbs work in Kankakee and near Kankakee. Many folks in Kankakee work in the south suburbs or the south side of Chicago (some even work downtown). In spite of these connections, I still don't consider Kankakee a suburb. It's too far out and too much of a world onto itself. And it really isn't "dependent" on Chicagoland either even if it would suffer a lot without it. I see Kenosha as the Kankakee of the north side..

[urza216]

Originally Posted by reppin_the_847

I see your point, but Metra Rail does go all the way to Kenosha, but doesn't extend down to Kankakee. Only the Amtrak train stops in Kankakee. Winthrop Harbor & Zion (IL) are literally the next two towns south of Kenosha and I believe they are considered Chicago suburbs, although distant. Just like you said plenty of folks from Kankakee work in the south suburbs (and vice versa), plenty of folks from Kenosha work in Lake County (IL) and possibly a few vice versa. But here's the big kicker man. Wikipedia tells us that the Chicago Metropolitan Statistical Area and Chicago Combined Statistical Area include Kenosha & Kankakee lol. NW Indiana is included as well. Check it out:

Chicago metropolitan area - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Amtrak isn't for commuting. However, every day a number of commuters in Kankakee County take the River Valley bus that goes to the Metra station in University Park. Normally the River Valley only goes around Kankakee County but this specific route goes up the Metra station in UP. There's plans in the works to extend Metra Electric all the way down to Kankakee with stops in Bradley, Bourbenais and Manteno and other stops in eastern Will County than just University Park. This makes sense to me..

The Wikipedia link is interesting but not surprising to me.. Hmmm.. I see that Michigan City is included too.

[sunnyandcloudydays]

The google link is for the CSA Combined Statistical Area
I dont know who sets these boundaries but it has to be tied someplace into some government monies (who knows)

For some reason people still associate population numbers with success
obviously we dont want a declining population but seriously how many people can you jam into an area before it becomes unmanageable?

[tlm12283]

Patterson, New York is 70 miles from NYC and is considered a suburb. What is important to note however would be that they have a commuter rail. I have friends in Patterson with business in NYC that do the commute. I believe Valparaiso is as close to Chicago and Kankakee County. I know of one person in particular that works in Streeterville but lives in Kankakee County.

[reppin_the_847]

Interesting point. Patterson does have better rail service to NYC when compared to towns of similar distance from Chicago. It appears to be right on the Harlem line that connects Wassaic (NY) to Grand Central Terminal. Being out in Putnam County, I'd imagine that it is quite the contrast from the density and hectic nature of NYC, its 5 boroughs and its many, inner-ring suburbs. Patterson is clearly an exurb, just like Kankakee or Kenosha should probably be considered exurbs of Chicago rather than suburbs.

Originally Posted by tlm12283

Patterson, New York is 70 miles from NYC and is considered a suburb. What is important to note however would be that they have a commuter rail. I have friends in Patterson with business in NYC that do the commute. I believe Valparaiso is as close to Chicago and Kankakee County. I know of one person in particular that works in Streeterville but lives in Kankakee County.