Do you consider Northwest Indiana the suburbs of Chicago? (Hammond: train, pine)

[sunnyandcloudydays]

You really cant evenly compare a metro like New York (twice as large as Chicago)
This is comparing apples and oranges
On top of this I am not even familiar with Patterson New York but just based on nyc's population alone you would tend to think the metro area would stretch a little farther out even considering the density on the east coast.

valpo just does not have the make up of a suburb yes i am sure you have a few people who do a commute but it just simply does not share the same
characteristics to make it a suburb.
Most people who live in the valpo area are dependent on valpo for their everyday life work, shopping, medical facilities the social ties and to an extent monetary ties are separated.

It is close to Chicago but that just doesn't mean its a burb of that city

same would go for Kokomo Indiana close to Indianapolis but does not mean its a burb of Indianapolis

The definition is an outlying part of a city

[sunnyandcloudydays]

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.

with respect to people in valpo and kankakee as these are fine communities - the areas are not even remotley similar to the cities ,towns ,burbs etc on the east coast
you have an entire diff circumstance out there and very little if anything at all in common

[tlm12283]

I have had the pleasure to go to Valparaiso and its downtown is probably as good or even better than any downtown in the Chicago area suburbs. Most likely better. Use the Google maps to view its downtown which is located on Lincolnway. It is nice and hilly. Has many nice middle income subdivisions. And is about an hour's drive on the Indiana Toll Road to downtown Chicago. I also like Ogden Dunes which is 45 minutes drive on the toll road or an hour on the train I believe. Chesterton, many people like but I don't favor it. We know of one person that lives there and likes it. He is a doctor in Chicago and lives in Sand Creek in Chesterton.

I could agree Kankakee County is not as well positioned because of its transportation issues. It could be taxing to drive the Metra Electric. It has lower taxes than neighboring Will County and some of the same home builders also build there in some instances such as Centex or Hartz (if they still even exist). Same houses for less money. If you work in the Southwest Suburbs, Kankakee County would be perfectly fine and is also an hour's drive to Chicago.

I would say it is equally comparable to NYC. While NYC's exurbs have far better transportation options, Patterson is similar to both Porter County and Kankakee County. An hour's drive is not bad for neither if needed or even the trek for Kankakee County citizens to go to Metra Electric which is 15 or 20 minutes. Compared to NYC it takes you an hour sometimes to get on the George Washington Bridge and I know for a fact you will have wished you could swim the Hudson without catching numerous disease for dred of sitting at the Lincoln Tunnel for 2 hours if lucky so would be the case for just taking the expressway to its exurbs.

[tlm12283]

Also, I was wondering what places like Yorkville and Antioch are considered.

[sunnyandcloudydays]

Valpo and Kankakee are both nice areas - you seriously cant even remotley compare chicago burbs to new york burbs the whole population base is so different for one thing practically the whole east coast is a megapolis
chicago metro csa is what 10mil vs. new york 18 mil - these are just figures off the top of my memory but the two just do not compare
Yorkville is way way out there and Antioch is way way out there albeit close to chicago just like kankakee and valpo i dont consider any of them burbs that is my opinion and that is the nice thing about the boards is all perception
but there is just no way you can compare new york metro to chicago metro the sheer size has different mechanics all the way around

[Tex?Il?]

Yes, northwest Indiana is absolutely part of Chicagoland. Whether people like it or not.

Now, many people choose to disown northwest Indiana because they feel it makes their region less appealing, but it is absolutely part of Chicagoland.

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by sunnyandcloudydays

Valpo and Kankakee are both nice areas - you seriously cant even remotley compare chicago burbs to new york burbs the whole population base is so different for one thing practically the whole east coast is a megapolis
chicago metro csa is what 10mil vs. new york 18 mil - these are just figures off the top of my memory but the two just do not compare
Yorkville is way way out there and Antioch is way way out there albeit close to chicago just like kankakee and valpo i dont consider any of them burbs that is my opinion and that is the nice thing about the boards is all perception
but there is just no way you can compare new york metro to chicago metro the sheer size has different mechanics all the way around

New Yorks CSA is more like 22 million. And it makes it even more difficult on the east coast, as New Jersey is practically all suburbs between New York and Philly.

Chicagos CSA is just about a hair below 10 million even when you include those far flung places like Valpo and Kankakee, Antioch, and Yorkville. They are definitely within the close Chicago sphere of influence even if they are not exactly suburbs.

People from those areas will tell people outside the midwest that they are from the Chicago area. Which is fine. If people from even inner ring suburbs say they are from Chicago, then what is to stop people who live in those places from saying the same.

[Sandy Eggan]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

The US government does.

Big Deal!

[Sandy Eggan]

When I worked the B&O we considered ourselves in Chicago at Pine Junction (South Chicago).

But how far out do you go these days? Portage, Valparaiso, Walkerton ?

[sunnyandcloudydays]

Originally Posted by Tex?Il?

New Yorks CSA is more like 22 million. And it makes it even more difficult on the east coast, as New Jersey is practically all suburbs between New York and Philly.

Chicagos CSA is just about a hair below 10 million even when you include those far flung places like Valpo and Kankakee, Antioch, and Yorkville. They are definitely within the close Chicago sphere of influence even if they are not exactly suburbs.

People from those areas will tell people outside the midwest that they are from the Chicago area. Which is fine. If people from even inner ring suburbs say they are from Chicago, then what is to stop people who live in those places from saying the same.

New york was 18.8 and chicago was 10.8 2010 census and they all absorb far flung places (probably due to some government funds or whaterver)

agree they could have a sphere of influence but the east coast is just so much different than the midwest
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Yor...Bridgeport_CSA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago...,_IL-IN-WI_CSA
Everyone in a csa no matter where its located encompasses a large footprint
I just disagree that valpo is a burb of chicago or antioch or kankakee - yeah you will get a few of the stragglers who commute maybe they work 2-3 days in the city etc.. but those areas to me are not burbs. schererville, dyer, hammond, munster all seem to be suburbs as the commuting patterns clearly dictate. You would think you need to draw a line someplace