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*sigh* I know things inevitably change, and I'm in the minority among people who follow this forum, but I'm really not sure about this holy grail you guys are chasing. If you talk to long-time residents of St. John, most of them seem wistful for the days before the new developments came in. I remember a friend in Wilmington IL saying in the 90's when the housing boom was starting, that she wanted to form a "No Progress Party" and of course she was exaggerating but I know exactly what she meant. As mentioned, Schererville has "loads of shopping." I truly don't see what's lacking there. As also mentioned, the region has loads of traffic, and the lack of options for through-streets, developments will only make that worse. Homewood, without nearly the shopping of this area (and with very liveable traffic conditions) is consistently touted as a great place to live on the suburban Chicago forum. Northwest Indiana, with the exception of a very few towns, is a great place to live. It will inevitably grow, but I don't think there's any reason to push for major changes or for a "next great town".
My question to you would be: Why would you not want your town to be great? You want to settle for average, nothing spectacular, just-get-by-without-becoming-Gary type of a mindset? If a town doesn't continually try to improve itself, it will get left behind the pack and become stagnant. That will lead to lower property values, riff raff entering the town and school systems, and the downward cycles begins. Unfortunately, I feel like there are a towns in NWI that are very much on the brink of this.
However, the point was to determine what town will be the most attractive in the next decade or so. Could you honestly tell me that if you bought a house in Munster in 1995, you're not happy with the improvements of the town and the increase you've seen in your property values? I'd find that hard to believe. I understand St. John residents' reluctance to welcome new developments within their town, but I also don't hear them asking the appraiser to assess their home value at 1980's levels back when it was "the St. John they wanted".
svillechris, brings up a very good point. And Highland, Indiana is the perfect example of a town that seems just fine with being barely above average and NOT a Gary or Hammond. But let's take a look at another town...Griffith...Griffith never really did anything to improve the town..all most of the residents cared about was "low taxes, low cost of living, etc." But as we can clearly see now, they are starting to suffer as property values remain stagnant and other towns (even Highland to an extent) pass them by. They settled for average...but as other towns improved, Griffith's "average" became "below-average" by not taking measures to improve the town...They are just NOW doing improvements to the main roads in town (work that is about 15 years overdue). The schools used to be okay when the average student went to work at the mill after graduating...but as those jobs are very limited now, college is usually the only option for a good career and Griffith does a POOR job of preparing students for college....It is fine if they want to remain a small town...However, they are not making any progress by just reminiscing of the "good ole days"...
I'm not saying I don't want my town to be great. I'm questioning what "greatness" is. To bring up Homewood again, any time someone on the Chi suburb forum asks for a recommendation for a town in the South Suburbs, it's the most-often mentioned. As I see it, this is based on schools, an attractive downtown area, some good restaurants, convenience, and liveability, ie parks and lack of congestion. It's pretty built out and the extent of the shopping is the Halsted street corridor with Jewel, Kohls, K-mart, Target, Home Depot, Menards and various small shops. A lack of high-end shopping doesn't seem to make anyone think this isn't a great town. The lack of new developments doesn't seem to lower people's opinion. I just dont want to see overgrowth that will increase the congestion that, in my opinion, is this area's worst attribute. Are all "great" towns great for the same reasons? Do they all have the same attributes? Should Lowell be just like Schererville with a lake? I think these are both great towns now.
I'm not saying I don't want my town to be great. I'm questioning what "greatness" is. To bring up Homewood again, any time someone on the Chi suburb forum asks for a recommendation for a town in the South Suburbs, it's the most-often mentioned. As I see it, this is based on schools, an attractive downtown area, some good restaurants, convenience, and liveability, ie parks and lack of congestion. It's pretty built out and the extent of the shopping is the Halsted street corridor with Jewel, Kohls, K-mart, Target, Home Depot, Menards and various small shops. A lack of high-end shopping doesn't seem to make anyone think this isn't a great town. The lack of new developments doesn't seem to lower people's opinion. I just dont want to see overgrowth that will increase the congestion that, in my opinion, is this area's worst attribute. Are all "great" towns great for the same reasons? Do they all have the same attributes? Should Lowell be just like Schererville with a lake? I think these are both great towns now.
Okay now you have made yourself a little more clear. And you are right, a lack of high-end shopping does not necessarily mean a town is bad at all. However, this is one department that NWI is not served in. Let's be honest...the wealthier a town is, the more tax money it receives and the more stable it usually is...overall, this is the truth (especially in NWI). Back in the mid 90s, the MAIN thing drawing people to this area was "cheaper to live but still close to Chicago!" or "Build new in NWI for the price of buying old in Illinois"...those things worked and brought loads of [upper income] people here...But guess what? Many of those people not only came for home price deals, but for quality schools as well..and those needs were met...however, now with the increases in cost of living (COL) in NWI, people are starting to wonder if it is still worth it to move here as opposed to staying in Illinois where, yes, it is a little more expensive, but there are many more amenities and schools that are good too. I have said this before and will say it again...
"Northwest Indiana CANNOT continue to attract residents solely because it is cheaper than Illinois"
The gap is shrinking...and NWI is slowly becoming more expensive to live...and to be honest, someone who wants to shop at higher end stores like Neiman Marcus or Nordstroms or Bloomingdale's is probably not going to want to live in NWI...because they WILL be underserved! And typically even though others may seems that those folk are just wasting money on expensive stuff, they are usually the same folks who do not accept anything but the best and this includes housing and education!...What would be the point of moving here when all the amenities are back towards the city or north suburbs or west suburbs? When an area begins to lose its desirability to people willing to spend money or invest long-term, an area begins to change and become attracted to more transient, less stable, and less investment oriented individuals...why? Because it is cheap and that is all they care about...Schools? Who cares, as long as they scrape by with C's.....shopping? Dollar stores, pawn shops...restaurants? fast-food, fast-food, fast-food........
Munster and Saint John have done a GOOD job at maintaining their focus of providing a town where those with middle and upper-middle income are provided with services and education that rival some of the better places in the west and north suburbs...However until we get more high-end shopping, and other high-end development, I cannot say that we have done an EXCELLENT job. Some may feel that I am being classist...however, look at a place like Deerfield or Northbrook and then look at a place like Munster and Saint John...the housing stock is pretty similar just more expensive in Northbrook and Deerfield. Many of the folks work in the same types of jobs and have the same level of education. Northbrook and Deerfield both have excellent schools, great recreation and parks system AND high-end shopping to support the needs of the population and keep the area attractive. Munster and Saint John are just lacking in the high-end shopping and soon, this is beginning to hurt the area, imo.
Lastly, you ask "are all great towns great for the same reasons?"
My answer is no. However, ALL great towns serve ALL of its residents, not just some. I feel as though Munster, Saint John, and even Dyer and Schererville have not adequately served their higher-income residents. The rest of the population has been served with all the Wal-Marts, Targets, Aldi's, Dollar Stores, Pay Day loans, etc....How about some Nordstrom (or Nordstrom Rack), Whole Foods, Banana Republic, Williams-Sonoma, etc. Many people are TIRED of driving to the west and north suburbs or the city for all of these things.
And we don't even need to bring up the lack of commuter rail service in NWI. That is self-explanatory.
The reason why I am picking St. John is because it has many of the same attributes that Munster has (minus the more convenient access to Chicago). Munster is already developed and I guess is now considered a desirable mature community. This is one of the reasons why we are choosing to relocate there from Carmel. I feel like St. John is headed down the same track to becoming another beautiful mature community that northwest indiana can be proud of!
Well, if I understand you correctly, then that means any town that gets an ikea? Ha! Well I guess NWI is SOL then. The only place an Ikea could locate is by Crown Point (at the new I=65/109th Avenue interchange) and since that would draw away from the people there who currently go to Bolingbrook or Woodfield, that will probably not happen! .....unless you know something we don't?
I noticed 1 vote for Crown Point. Would you mind expanding on why you see this happening? I have my doubts but I'd like to hear your reasoning.
I voted for Dyer for the same reason I dislike living in CP. CP is, in my opinion, where "Indiana" starts (as opposed to the Region) from a cultural perspective. Downtown is nice yes, but many areas of the city are remote and inconvenient. While this is due entirely to where I live, if I need something I have to make a special trip to get it...whereas other areas of the Region are much more readily accessible and I could take care of things "on the way" somewhere else. This doesn't seem like it is a big deal, but it gets old fast. There is a bit a money in CP and it seems that amenities should be following, but they are not yet.
In my opinion, these are also the types of rededevelopment that signal that a town is an awesome reinvestment. It sparks further teardowns like this that can do a town some good (if done in a tasteful manner). Munster has had numerous teardowns and it is increasing. I know Schererville has had a good amount too, but this is refreshing to see! It seems like this woman is doing this in a respectable manner.
[url="http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/schererville/article_c1b4e5c3-ac5f-5a74-bebc-2d1efb2d3078.html"]Woman wants to demolish home, build three more[/URL
In my opinion, these are also the types of rededevelopment that signal that a town is an awesome reinvestment. It sparks further teardowns like this that can do a town some good (if done in a tasteful manner). Munster has had numerous teardowns and it is increasing. I know Schererville has had a good amount too, but this is refreshing to see! It seems like this woman is doing this in a respectable manner.
[url="http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/schererville/article_c1b4e5c3-ac5f-5a74-bebc-2d1efb2d3078.html"]Woman wants to demolish home, build three more[/URL
What do you all think about this?
I don't know.
Something just isn't sitting right with me with this story. I can't put my finger on it.
Hmmmm ... I need to mull this one over a bit.
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St. John gets my vote!
.....unless you know something we don't? 
