Live in Whiting or Commute to Whiting? (Indianapolis, Hammond: apartment, rent)

[pberg]

New job in Whiting..I do not know the area as far as travel/congestion/etc. I will be renting an apartment so what advice can you give me as far as economic advantages to the travel time/stress vs. the rent payment and Whiting as an address? I think it looks less expensive to the south..Crown Point? Merrillville? But what's traffic like? Worthwhile to live in town or travel out? Thanks!

[domergurl]

Depends, Whiting is an interesting place. You have people who have lived there for generations and you have people moving in from EC/Hammond/south Chicago. If you are single and want to be extremely close to the lake and chicago, go for it. I think it would be an adventure. If you have a family, it's kind of hit or miss. The schools are so so, a lot go to private schools. I personally think that Whiting is a gold mine waiting to be tapped for suburban growth ... if they had a commuter rail line into Chicago, you wouldn't be able to afford the place soon after. As of now, it's kind of like an oasis among the smokestacks and grit of the region.

[rrah]

My parents owned a business in Whiting for 20 or so years and one sister lived there for about 10 years. If you have children, make sure the schools are the Whiting schools and not the Hammond schools. I'm a very surprised that Crown Point and areas to the south are less expensive. Pros for Whiting: Generally you can get to downtown Chicago in about 1/2 hr or so using the skyway, proximity to Lake Michigan with a nice (or at least it used to be nice) lake front park, pretty small town atmosphere. Cons: Whiting smells bad a lot of the time due to the BP factory on Indianapolis Blvd and another factory that did something with corn (who would guess corn syrup would stink?), housing stock is old (maybe a pro), Whiting used to be a pretty insulated place. People need to know you for quite awhile before you would be accepted there.

Traffic--keep in mind it's been at least 7-8 years since I've driven through Whiting on a regular basis--Main traffic areas were/are Indianapolis Blvd and Calumet Ave and where they come together. Also coming off the Skyway. Traffic hours depended upon the hours of the factories. Weekends were/are quiet.

I don't know if they still do this, but Whiting used to have one heck of a July 4th parade!

[domergurl]

The parade is still really good and the Pierogi fest is a nationally recognized event ... who knew? There are 3 smells that permeate Whiting, gas from the BP refinery, soap smell from Lever Brothers and the Cargill plant (previously Amaizo), which trucks in trainloads of corn and processes it into various corn products (the Staley plant in Lafayette smells the same way).

[pberg]

Well, we settled on Whiting and so far so good. Found a nice apartment (old) but safe and reasonable. Hammond is the school district I needed..so we will find out more about that as we go. Yes, the BP is there, but it is a quaint old area.

[rrah]

Glad you're enjoying it thus far. Have you made it to the lakefront yet? I really miss Lake Michigan!

[domergurl]

And now that BP was put down ... maybe the lakefront will stay relatively nice. I took my kids over to Washington Park beach in MC earlier this year and my kids had so much fun! I used to spend many weekends at the Lake and watching my kids revel in it made me think how much I took it for granted. Lake Michigan is an important resource to keep clean.