Looking to move possibly to Northwest Indiana... (Fort Wayne, South Bend: lease, houses)

[valpoguy]

I absolutely refuse to use the term "the region". Maybe it's because I'm not from here, but that's got to be the dumbest term ever! Every place is part of a "region". No one region is "THE region", and if one is, it sure as hell ain't NW Indiana. I just say NWI or Chicagoland.

[domergurl]

Sorry man ... NW Indiana is the region ...

[valpoguy]

To townies, maybe. I've found people from Illinois and the rest of Indiana haven't even heard of the term unless they've lived here, and then they don't use it. It makes me cringe, so I don't use it. It sounds pretentious, and there's never been a place with less reason to be pretentious.

[domergurl]

There's nothing pretentious about the region, nor the people who grew up there. The term region rat has no pretense to it at all. And Valpo people are not region rats.

[valpoguy]

I've never even heard "region rat", just people pretentiously referring to it as "THE region", as if that makes it more special than any other region. Could be a Valpo thing. I obviously don't understand the context or history, nor do I care to. I'm too busy plotting my escape.

[artemis]

Originally Posted by domergurl

My Whiting born and raised husband contends that the region is Lake County only. I beg to differ. I include Porter County too. But the true region rats are those from northern lake county.

Well, that would be ME. hehe

5 counties make up NW Indiana, they are Lake, Porter, LaPorte,
Newton & Jasper counties. Or so I have been told.

I've never thought of Lafayette as NW, I guess they would be West Central Indiana, but that covers a lot of real estate as well.

[domergurl]

You probably know my husband then.

[rrah]

Born and bred in Lake County, this "region rat" would be happy to shed a little pretentious light on the subject. Two rivers go through much of the area, the Grand Calumet and the Little Calumet. I never heard the term "region" growing up, but did hear the term "Calumet Region." It wasn't until I was an undergrad at IU that I heard "Da Region." I've always thought it came from "Calumet Region." If my memory of 3rd grade Indiana history serves me at all, I believe the rivers were named after the Native Americans that first settled the area (not the tribe name, but the "peace pipe" they used. Don't quote me on that though. Third grade was a LONNNNNNNNG time ago! I believe it also referred to the region of Indiana responsible in the for tons of steel production--ie the steel region of the state.

Pretentious or not, Lake County is the region. Even pushing it out to Crown Point or St. John is kind of stretching it a bit in my mind.

FYI--Everytime I meet a Hoosier from another part of the state and am asked where I was raised, most will react with...."Oh, the Region."

[artemis]

Originally Posted by rrah

Born and bred in Lake County, this "region rat" would be happy to shed a little pretentious light on the subject. Two rivers go through much of the area, the Grand Calumet and the Little Calumet. I never heard the term "region" growing up, but did hear the term "Calumet Region." It wasn't until I was an undergrad at IU that I heard "Da Region." I've always thought it came from "Calumet Region." If my memory of 3rd grade Indiana history serves me at all, I believe the rivers were named after the Native Americans that first settled the area (not the tribe name, but the "peace pipe" they used. Don't quote me on that though. Third grade was a LONNNNNNNNG time ago! I believe it also referred to the region of Indiana responsible in the for tons of steel production--ie the steel region of the state.
Pretentious or not, Lake County is the region. Even pushing it out to Crown Point or St. John is kind of stretching it a bit in my mind.

FYI--Everytime I meet a Hoosier from another part of the state and am asked where I was raised, most will react with...."Oh, the Region."

There you go! Most of downstate Indiana didn't want much to do with us. We were so closely associated with the Chicagoland area, plus our part of the State was so "smelly". As my former neighbor used to say, "It smells like money to me." Many families depended on the steel mills, Indy liked the tax $$ that the steel mills generated. Like it or not, NW Indiana was built on the steel industry.

[valpoguy]

Originally Posted by rrah

Born and bred in Lake County, this "region rat" would be happy to shed a little pretentious light on the subject. Two rivers go through much of the area, the Grand Calumet and the Little Calumet. I never heard the term "region" growing up, but did hear the term "Calumet Region." It wasn't until I was an undergrad at IU that I heard "Da Region." I've always thought it came from "Calumet Region." If my memory of 3rd grade Indiana history serves me at all, I believe the rivers were named after the Native Americans that first settled the area (not the tribe name, but the "peace pipe" they used. Don't quote me on that though. Third grade was a LONNNNNNNNG time ago! I believe it also referred to the region of Indiana responsible in the for tons of steel production--ie the steel region of the state.

Pretentious or not, Lake County is the region. Even pushing it out to Crown Point or St. John is kind of stretching it a bit in my mind.

FYI--Everytime I meet a Hoosier from another part of the state and am asked where I was raised, most will react with...."Oh, the Region."

"Calumet Region" would make much more sense than "The Region". I wish they still called it that! Thanks for the explanation. People around here definitely think all of NWI is "The Region", and not just Lake County. I would imagine that has changed as the suburban sprawl has extended to the South and the East. Since I don't even use the term, though, I'll leave that argument to someone else.