Do you consider Northwest Indiana the suburbs of Chicago? (Evanston: houses, live in)

[CHICAGOLAND92]

I posed this same question on the NWI board a while back. I think it will be interesting to see the response on the Illinois side.

As you may or may not know, NWI has a large suburban population outside of the old industrial cities of Gary, Hammond, and East Chicago. While some residents of the suburban towns still work in these former industrial powerhouses, many residents no longer have ties to these areas. Family may live there and memories may exist, but as far as jobs, not so much (besides for steel plants & gas refineries). In fact, some would argue present day NWI is more connected to Chicago than the former big three cities of Lake County. Many people have spilled over from the south suburbs of Illinois over the past couple of decades.

However, there seems to be a disconnect when discussing NWI's ties to the Chicagoland area. Although NWI has been included in Chicago's metropolitan area since the 1950s, it seems as if many do not necessarily consider our portion of the area to be a part of Chicagoland. This can be due to the fact that for many years, NWI's growth was centered around the northern cities and not necessarily Chicago. When Gary started suffering from white flight, many located in places such as Highland, Merrillville, Munster, etc. Fast forward to today, and it's evident that these towns & more (Schererville, Dyer) are growing because of the Chicago area. Yet this "close but not close enough" mentality still prevails.

Do you feel Northwest Indiana is truly a part of the Chicagoland area? Why or why not?

[Vlajos]

The US government does.

[urza216]

There are only four kinds of people who would ever answer no:

1) North Siders
2) West siders
3) Sheltered south siders
4) South siders angry about white flight (and somehow the thought that white flighters left the metro area completely makes them feel better)

Seriously, Lake County, Indiana touces Chicago's southeast side. Come down to the south suburbs and then NW Indiana, sometime.. Hell, come to the Hegweich neighorhood in Chicago and Hammond, Indiana sometime.. You'll see they're two parts of the same area.

[thePR]

Yes, they have plenty in common geographically, and mentally as the rest of Chicagoland. It also touches Chicago!

[sydbarrett]

Originally Posted by urza216

There are only four kinds of people who would ever answer no:
1) North Siders

Nice way to label and stereotype people. Born and raised Chicagoan here that lives on the North Side that says YES.

[urza216]

Originally Posted by sydbarrett

Nice way to label and stereotype people. Born and raised Chicagoan here that lives on the North Side that says YES.

When speaking in generalizations, I am always very careful about my wording. Nowhere did I say that all northsiders don't consider NWI the suburbs of Chicago nor did I even say the majority of them do..

Btw, I forgot the fifth one:

5) City-Data nerds who have unique ideas about what defines suburbia and the metro area (although this does overlap with #4 a little bit)

[sydbarrett]

Originally Posted by urza216

Btw, I forgot the fifth one:

5) City-Data nerds who have unique ideas about what defines suburbia and the metro area (although this does overlap with #4 a little bit)

Whatever that means.

[reppin_the_847]

I gotta say, Hammond (Indiana) is literally 25 minutes from downtown Chicago when there is no traffic. This is like driving from Evanston to Chicago in terms of drive time. So yes, it is definitely part of the Chicago metro area, including the surrounding NWI towns. Let's not forget that plenty of Amtrak trains include Hammond as a last stop before Chicago, and there is a commuter rail line known as the South Shore Line that runs all the way from South Bend to Chicago and serves many folks in the NWI region that commute regularly or occasionally to Chicago. It's too bad that there is no commuter rail to the more inland towns such as Merrilville, Valparaiso, etc.

[westburbsil]

Was this ever in question? Of course it is. I live in Geneva which is considered part of Chicagoland and it takes me probably twice as long to get downtown as it would from many parts of NWI

[rfr69]

I would say no. Not really sure why juts how I feel. I know it's kinda arbitrary and a stupid breakdown but I would say it's close to Chicago, hell I would even say it's in the Chicagoland area but I wouldn't call it a Chicago suburb.

Kinda funny I feel this way b/c I do consider say AUrora to be a Chicago suburb even though it's further away than many NWI cities but that's just how I consider it. NOt sure if its that its a diff state or what, just how I feel.