Living in NW Indiana, do you feel part of the Chicago area or disconnected? (Indianapolis: middle-class, apartment)

[PILMAN]

Originally Posted by Chuckity

Michigan City is nothing like South Haven.

And that's the least of your problems in your posts regarding NWI ... you really have no idea of what you speak.

What are you implying the least of my problems ?

What in stating is that based on my time there, I found Michigan city to have more in common with south haven Michigan as a resort town except more run down in the neighborhoods, however the lake front and homes appeared more so similar than what you would find in chicago or the suburbs.

[Chuckity]

Originally Posted by PILMAN

What are you implying the least of my problems ?

What in stating is that based on my time there, I found Michigan city to have more in common with south haven Michigan as a resort town except more run down in the neighborhoods, however the lake front and homes appeared more so similar than what you would find in chicago or the suburbs.

So you're saying Michigan City is a resort town?

[PILMAN]

Originally Posted by Chuckity

So you're saying Michigan City is a resort town?

I'm not specifically saying Michigan city is a resort town, I'm saying the beach front is similar to south haven Michigan, if anything it looks like there were attempts to develop Michigan city into some sort of resort town yet at the same time an industrial town which would explain the large number of factories and coal fired power plants, Nictd runs right through the residential streets, honestly I have no idea what they were trying to do with the town as its very disorganized, there's a huge state prison literally right nearby, run down neighborhoods, then you head towards the beach and there's nice houses yet some sort of water cooled plant that resembles a nuclear plant right next to the shopping outlet which is rather confusing, some of the locals say it's a extended suburb of chicago and take the Nictd into chicago but as I mentioned, it does not feel or look like chicago, the only similarities are some of the locals from chicago or the suburbs.

One could argue El Paso is part of Mexico because you can see Juarez but they are still separate. That's not taking credibility away but borders define states and countries as well as counties.

[subject2change]

You're fixated on Michigan City, but Michigan City is a long way from Munster, Schererville, Dyer, etc- a lot farther away from them than the city of Chicago is. If you're basing your opinion on Michigan City, you're talking about the farthest outskirts of Northwest Indiana. The majority of the region, Lake and much of Porter county, is most definitely closely connected to Chicago, La Porte County less so. If Michigan City is all you know of NWI, your opinion is skewed.

[Northwest Indiana]

Originally Posted by subject2change

You're fixated on Michigan City, but Michigan City is a long way from Munster, Schererville, Dyer, etc- a lot farther away from them than the city of Chicago is. If you're basing your opinion on Michigan City, you're talking about the farthest outskirts of Northwest Indiana. The majority of the region, Lake and much of Porter county, is most definitely closely connected to Chicago, La Porte County less so. If Michigan City is all you know of NWI, your opinion is skewed.

EXACTLY.

It's like me saying "Geneva, Batavia, and other towns along the fox river are not suburbs because De Kalb doesn't resemble Chicago.." WTF?

[subject2change]

The wordage one person uses doesn't mean a lot, but I thought of something that I think demonstrates the difference between the easternmost towns in Northwest Indiana and those closer to Illinois. I was in La Porte last week, and heard someone telling someone else "We're going to Chicago this weekend." It sounded jarring to me, and that's because I think most people living in the closer towns would say, "I'm going downtown", or "I'm going into the city". It's a different mindset.

[skobabe8]

Originally Posted by subject2change

The wordage one person uses doesn't mean a lot, but I thought of something that I think demonstrates the difference between the easternmost towns in Northwest Indiana and those closer to Illinois. I was in La Porte last week, and heard someone telling someone else "We're going to Chicago this weekend." It sounded jarring to me, and that's because I think most people living in the closer towns would say, "I'm going downtown", or "I'm going into the city". It's a different mindset.

A very small, yet VERY accurate observation.

[Humboldt1]

My brother lives in Laporte. He considers himself to be part of the Chicago Region. Some of their neighbors even commute to jobs in the Loop but this is the exception rather than the rule. On the weekend it takes me 80 minutes to get from Oak Park to Laporte. During the week that same trip might take 2 hours. My brother actually worked an internship 10 years ago in Naperville and it took him 100 minutes each way from Laporte.

I don't think anyone is disputing that Munster is much closer to Chicago than Laporte. I work with several people who office downtown from Munster. I have never worked with anyone who lives in Laporte but did work with a guy who lived in Valporaiso and a lady who commuted from Long Beach.

Rockford and South Bend are both relatively close to Chicago but not part of the metro area.

[Nikko12]

Originally Posted by Worldtravelingman1

Hey there. I'm a young guy from LA originally but lived all over. Currently in Europe however plan to return to the US to set down some roots. I like Chicago, however the state of Illinois has some crazy ridiculous laws and insane taxes! Lol. I prefer to live in a suburb anyway however if I choose Chicago as the main city I would be looking at the areas surrounding it that aren't in IL. What I want to know is, do you feel like you're part of the Chicago area? Similar to how someone from Northern NJ or SW Connecticut would feel that they are connected to the NY area? I work from home so I wouldn't be commuting. I would like to live in a stable, safe and established community, the kind of place where someone would wan to raise kids, yet still not go mad from boredom if you aren't married/have children due to access to the core city.

As far as transit, you guys have the South Shore line yes? How reliable is it?

This is a curiosity question, you guys have similar accents to a Chicagoan? Or is it more standard Midwestern?

I consider Northwest Indiana a part of the Chicago area, I would compare us to the Northern NJ to NYC. All of our news comes from Chicago, we are in the same time zone as Chicago (most of Indiana is EST, we are CST). Our politics are similar to Chicago as well. We usually know more about what is going on in Illinois than Indiana.

Most of the area is pretty suburban, safer areas include Munster, Highland, Dyer, Schererville, St. John, Crown Point. If you venture further out, Chesterton and Valparaiso are good choices as well, and slightly cheaper.

I commute to Chicago for work and take the South Shore line. For the most part it is pretty reliable. Most of the time it is no more than 5 minutes.

Our accents are mostly probably that of Chicagoan, I would guess

[nwi.guy]

NWI is great, but not necessarily for a guy like you.
Unless you want to live in a complete ghetto (Hammond, Gary, East Chicago, Whiting, Lake Station) then you won't find much to do. Any good towns, specifically in lake County which is as close as you're going to get, are an hour drive to Chicago without traffic. (Crown Point, Saint John, Scherrillville) there's an amtrack in Dyer also. Overall, if you want to live in a good town without boredom for you, that's also close to the south shore, you're stuck in South Bend more than 2 and a half hours from the city. Hope that helps.