Living in NW Indiana, do you feel part of the Chicago area or disconnected? (Whiting: casino, eat)

[artemis]

Originally Posted by EddieOlSkool

No disagreement here. But I take it you haven't been to the extreme portions of SWMI. They align with Chicago, too. Now as a Chicagoan would I say that SWMI is the burbs of Chicago? No that's a long stretch. But, the culture is more Chicago than a place like North Central Indiana or Holland, Michigan.

I have been to SW Michigan. I am from NW Indiana.

[Humboldt1]

Lake County, Porter County and Laporte County are connected to Chicago as much as Dupage, Will, Lake, Kane and even McHenry, Kendall, and Grundy.

Michigan City is no less a suburb of Chicago than Yorkville, it just happens to be in Indiana.

I am from an hour southeast of Indy and the Region is aligns much more with Chicago an the rest of Indiana.

Btw, I know a couple of people who commute to Chicago from New Buffalo, Mi and one from Long Beach, IN.

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by artemis

I have been to SW Michigan. I am from NW Indiana.

You don't see the cultural alignment? New Buffalo even has its own style of hot dog with mustard, relish, onions, Vienna Beef, celery salt, tomatoes, pickle spear, sport peppers, & a poppy seed bun.

[artemis]

Originally Posted by EddieOlSkool

You don't see the cultural alignment? New Buffalo even has its own style of hot dog with mustard, relish, onions, Vienna Beef, celery salt, tomatoes, pickle spear, sport peppers, & a poppy seed bun.

I get my Vienna beef hot dogs in NW Indiana. No need to go to Michigan for that.

(really?)

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by artemis

I get my Vienna beef hot dogs in NW Indiana. No need to go to Michigan for that.

(really?)

My point was that if Chicago didn't influence New Buffalo and it was "its own thing", it wouldn't have copied our hot dog. They don't eat them like that elsewhere in Michigan, probably not even in Grand Rapids where they still have Coney Island locations.

[artemis]

And my point is NW Indiana people don't go to New Buffalo to eat hot dogs.

Sheesh, why would want to?

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by artemis

And my point is NW Indiana people don't go to New Buffalo to eat hot dogs.

Sheesh, why would want to?

Who said they should? That's not even part of the discussion.

[artemis]

Why would you know that.

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by artemis

Why would you know that.

Who cares why I would know it? You're getting off topic so much I don't even know why. How or why I know it has no bearing on this discussion.

[ColdAilment]

I've never lived in Lake County Indiana, but I have lived in Lake County Illinois, just directly north of Cook County, and I've also lived in St. Joseph County Indiana, just three counties east of Lake County Indiana.

Living in Lake County Illinois was unique. Whenever people asked where I lived I'd tell them, "Northern Chicago Suburbs" which in and of itself is a vast area, technically Kenosha Wisconsin is part of the Chicago Metro area. I could actually see the Chicago Skyline from my work on a good clear day, even though I was about 40 miles from downtown. Everything is Chicago related, there are no local news stations in Lake County that just give the news in Waukegan, Gurnee, Grayslake, or Lake Forest, everything is Chicago or Milwaukee related, there is Lake County newspaper media though.

I think a lot of it really depends on how often you visit the city, and is it for business or sporadic day trips. People who live in the suburbs but work in the city probably do identify very much as a Chicagoan, then there were people like me who lived and worked in the distant suburbs; I think I identified more with the region than the city. I was in Chicagoland, just more loosely affiliated with the city since I mainly only took pleasure trips to the city once every month or two. Lake County Indiana is very similar to the Illinois counties in a way though, they still have emissions testing, where the rest of Indiana does not. Lake County, Porter County, and LaPorte county are all on Central Time, as they affiliate more with Chicago, the rest of Indiana is on eastern time. And yes, the South Shore goes from the South Bend airport all the way to Millennium Station in downtown Chicago, it's been very reliable when I've had to use it, and a fair price too, considering how much parking in the city runs.