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Is St. John Township (Dyer, Schererville, and northern 2/3 of St. John) becoming more diverse right now? As census estimates have come out, Dyer and Schererville aren't growing anymore and the northern 2/3rds of St. John is only slightly growing, due to land availability. With such prime location and proximity to more black & Hispanic areas, you'd think the township would be diversifying. Are minorities from Illinois moving to Tri-Town in droves? Just wondering if Lake County people are observing these potential trends or not.
Is St. John Township (Dyer, Schererville, and northern 2/3 of St. John) becoming more diverse right now? As census estimates have come out, Dyer and Schererville aren't growing anymore and the northern 2/3rds of St. John is only slightly growing, due to land availability. With such prime location and proximity to more black & Hispanic areas, you'd think the township would be diversifying. Are minorities from Illinois moving to Tri-Town in droves? Just wondering if Lake County people are observing these potential trends or not.
St. John Township has had noticeable diversity for the past 20 years or so, but it was mostly in Dyer and Schererville and concentrated in the Briar Ridge area. Racial diversity is increasing but more so, economic diversity is increasing as well. I wouldn't say that minorities from Illinois are moving anywhere in NWI in "droves" with the exception of poor minorities in Chicago being pushed out into cities such as Gary. But minority population is pretty much increasing everywhere in suburban Lake County and some minority groups more than others (like a lot of Asians moving to Munster, Hispanics to pretty much everywhere, and Blacks to Portage, Winfield, Winfield, Crown Point). In Tri-town, it appears that most racial minorities are in Dyer in the areas along the state line (north and south, mostly in newer, high-end subdivisions) or in Schererville close to the eastern edge near the border of Merrillville in neighborhoods such as Foxwood, Fox Run, Northwoods, and Autumn Creek. You can also add the Hidden Creek apartments and Pine Island subdivision both in Crown Point (unincorporated Lake County) that have higher minority populations. The two newer neighborhoods in all of NWI that truly shows diversity AND integration is Village Circle and Hearthstone in Dyer. These are very middle-class neighborhoods that really appear very diverse. Take a drive through in the summer and you will see many White, Black, Hispanic, and Indian families throughout those two neighborhoods. St. John is not very diverse at all and minority populations appear to be spread out through town although mostly on the newer subdivisions on the east side.
Diversity in St. John Township will definitely increase, but I would not say very drastically. Winfield and Center Townships in Lake County (more so Winfield) are becoming more diverse as well. In the long-run, I expect more drastic racial demographic changes there due to a lower price-point for new construction compared to St. John Township.
Last edited by Northwest Indiana; 09-01-2015 at 07:16 PM..
St. John Township has had noticeable diversity for the past 20 years or so, but it was mostly in Dyer and Schererville and concentrated in the Briar Ridge area. Racial diversity is increasing but more so, economic diversity is increasing as well. I wouldn't say that minorities from Illinois are moving anywhere in NWI in "droves" with the exception of poor minorities in Chicago being pushed out into cities such as Gary. But minority population is pretty much increasing everywhere in suburban Lake County. In Tri-town, it appears that most racial minorities are in Dyer in the areas along the state line (north and south, mostly in newer, high-end subdivisions) or in Schererville close to the eastern edge near the border of Merrillville in neighborhoods such as Foxwood, Fox Run, Northwoods, and Autumn Creek. You can also add the Hidden Creek apartments and Pine Island subdivision both in Crown Point (unincorporated Lake County) that have higher minority populations. The two newer neighborhoods in all of NWI that truly shows diversity AND integration is Village Circle and Hearthstone in Dyer. These are very middle-class neighborhoods that really appear very diverse. Take a drive through in the summer and you will see many White, Black, Hispanic, and Indian families throughout those two neighborhoods. St. John is not very diverse at all and minority populations appear to be spread out through town although mostly on the newer subdivisions on the east side.
Diversity in St. John Township will definitely increase, but I would not say very drastically. Winfield and Center Townships in Lake County (more so Winfield) are becoming more diverse as well. In the long-run, I expect more drastic racial demographic changes there due to a lower price-point for new construction compared to St. John Township.
Makes sense, and those apartment complexes you mentioned are in the town limits of Schererville, but with a Crown Point address, goes back to when Schererville was cornfields and Crown Point had the closest post office, thus the zip code is 46307(CP). And I feel that people of all races from places in Illinois such as Homewood-Flossmoor, Lansing, Lynwood, Crete-Monee, Sauk Village, etc would be attracted to NWI because of mostly better schools and lower taxes. This could increase diversity in St. John Twp. I feel like Dyer has more middle-middle class areas in the older parts of town that could diversify as whites die off. Not sure about Winfield in terms of blacks, definitely Hispanics, but Crown Point, yeah no doubt. South of 101st is starting to diversify more now. Heck, 2 of CPHS's varsity running backs are black, and that's the first time we've seen that at CP.
On another note, my town of Valparaiso is starting to diversify more, mainly on the east side where affordable housing is more so available. It's been nice seeing more and more different faces when I drive down Vale Park.
Makes sense, and those apartment complexes you mentioned are in the town limits of Schererville, but with a Crown Point address, goes back to when Schererville was cornfields and Crown Point had the closest post office, thus the zip code is 46307(CP). And I feel that people of all races from places in Illinois such as Homewood-Flossmoor, Lansing, Lynwood, Crete-Monee, Sauk Village, etc would be attracted to NWI because of mostly better schools and lower taxes. This could increase diversity in St. John Twp. I feel like Dyer has more middle-middle class areas in the older parts of town that could diversify as whites die off. Not sure about Winfield in terms of blacks, definitely Hispanics, but Crown Point, yeah no doubt. South of 101st is starting to diversify more now. Heck, 2 of CPHS's varsity running backs are black, and that's the first time we've seen that at CP.
On another note, my town of Valparaiso is starting to diversify more, mainly on the east side where affordable housing is more so available. It's been nice seeing more and more different faces when I drive down Vale Park.
While Crown Point has a higher Black population overall than Winfield, the Black population in Winfield Township is higher than in Center Township overall. The Black population in CP school is mostly coming from Winfield which geographically, seems a bit strange, but that seems to be what it is. The newer housing in Winfield in cheaper than newer housing in CP-Center Township. The minority population in CP school, especially at the high school and some elementary schools in the city is still low; however, things can change rapidly as occurred in Merrillville which went from predominantly white (whiter than most other NWI districts) to predominantly minority "overnight" (and some other districts further northeast and northwest like Munster, Highland, and Hobart that some thought would be waaaaay more diverse given their locations are not as diverse as one would think they should be.
I think pretty much all primarily white towns in the area are diversifying more and more each year. It seems to be a slow, gradual process very much unlike the change we saw in Merrillville. I think that's not just an NWI change but the norm across the whole US. Here's something I bet most didn't realize when it comes to diversity in the area ... School Town of Munster is over 21% Hispanic.
I think pretty much all primarily white towns in the area are diversifying more and more each year. It seems to be a slow, gradual process very much unlike the change we saw in Merrillville. I think that's not just an NWI change but the norm across the whole US. Here's something I bet most didn't realize when it comes to diversity in the area ... School Town of Munster is over 21% Hispanic.
Munster has had a noticeable and stable Hispanic population for quite some time, which is increasing. It is also more evenly spread across the town where as the Black population seems to be only in the northwest part of town ("lower" middle class town homes) and the southeast part of town ("upper" middle class large homes) and the Asian population mostly in the southern half of town. In LC, the Hispanic population seems to be growing as well as the schools are at 15%. In the towns, the population that seemed to be primarily in northwest Dyer is now seen throughout the tri-town area. Hispanic population will probably be in the 10-30% range of most NWI towns in the years to come or at least mixed race. I imagine that most the growth in Hispanic population will not necessarily be first or even second generation immigrants either. I still do feel that Crown Point down the road could become much more diverse than ti-town or Munster. No, it won't change like Merrillville, but the north part of Crown Point as well as Winfield is by far the most diverse area south of Rt. 30 right now.
Last edited by Northwest Indiana; 09-03-2015 at 04:29 PM..
Munster has had a noticeable and stable Hispanic population for quite some time, which is increasing. It is also more evenly spread across the town where as the Black population seems to be only in the northwest part of town ("lower" middle class town homes) and the southeast part of town ("upper" middle class large homes) and the Asian population mostly in the southern half of town. In LC, the Hispanic population seems to be growing as well as the schools are at 15%. In the towns, the population that seemed to be primarily in northwest Dyer is now seen throughout the tri-town area. Hispanic population will probably be in the 10-30% range of most NWI towns in the years to come or at least mixed race. I imagine that most the growth in Hispanic population will not necessarily be first or even second generation immigrants either. I still do feel that Crown Point down the road could become much more diverse than Tri-Town or Munster. No, it won't change like Merrillville, but the north part of Crown Point as well as Winfield is by far the most diverse area south of Rt. 30 right now.
Though Crown Point (inside and outside CP School District lines) and Winfield are continuing to diversify, I still think Dyer and parts of Schererville will definitely become less non-Hispanic white/more diverse. As we've seen lots of white south suburbans and some southwest suburbans move to Tri-Town because of schools and taxes, we should also see the same from other racial groups.
Hypothetically speaking, a middle class black or Hispanic person from Crete, Homewood-Flossmoor, Lansing, or South Holland would be way more likely to move to Tri-Town than Crown Point-Winfield. But as most on here might see it, CP-Winfield will gain most the black population from Gary-Merrillville, not Illinois. We'll see what happens. It'll be interesting to see the 2020 Census stats, to see how communities and school districts have racially/socioeconomically changed.
Though Crown Point (inside and outside CP School District lines) and Winfield are continuing to diversify, I still think Dyer and parts of Schererville will definitely become less non-Hispanic white/more diverse. As we've seen lots of white south suburbans and some southwest suburbans move to Tri-Town because of schools and taxes, we should also see the same from other racial groups.
Hypothetically speaking, a middle class black or Hispanic person from Crete, Homewood-Flossmoor, Lansing, or South Holland would be way more likely to move to Tri-Town than Crown Point-Winfield. But as most on here might see it, CP-Winfield will gain most the black population from Gary-Merrillville, not Illinois. We'll see what happens. It'll be interesting to see the 2020 Census stats, to see how communities and school districts have racially/socioeconomically changed.
I think the fact is when we look at what various groups believe to be acceptable living environments as compared to others, in the long-term, Black and Hispanic south/southwest suburbanites are in general less inclined to move across the border than Black and Hispanic Gary, Hammond, EC, and some Merrillville residents are inclined to move to Crown Point and Winfield. Aside from demographic changes and high taxes for what you get, the south suburbs have a lot more appeal for people than Gary, Hammond, EC and Merrillville do. The schools in general are better, higher income areas even with high minority populations, and more transit options to the city. While most of the growth in the west lake area had been due to white flight from the south suburbs, a significant amount of the growth now is from people leaving very nice areas (such as Frankfort, Mokena, Orland Park, Tinley) and as those places are predominantly white (some even Whiter than the NWI areas they are moving to), it makes sense that most of the people moving will be White. There is not nearly as much White Flight anymore from Dolton, Calumet City, South Holland because...well, the White people who are left there either cannot afford to move or do not want to move at all. Much of the Black population on the Illinois side is either hesitant to move over to Indiana (because if they knew their White neighbor moved there, they may PERCEIVE--true or not--that they moved for a reason and that they would not be welcome) or they are completely content with where they live especially since there are actually significant predominantly minority upscale areas in the south suburbs where there really is not the same in NWI. The Black population in some north Lake County areas may have the same perceptions but are more willing to take the risks because of the chance of a significantly improved life for them.
I know what I wrote is long and detailed, so to sum it up: I find it much for likely for Gary and Merrillville minority residents to move to Crown Point and Winfield than I do for minority residents to move from Crete, H-F, South Holland to Munster, Highland, and the Tri-town area.
I do agree that the latter would probably be more likely to move to Tri-town over Crown Point and Winfield, but overall, when we talk about moving IN GENERAL, I see more migration from minorities in Gary and Merrillville residents than I do from minorities in the south suburbs. In fact, most minorities that I have known in the south suburbs whom plan on moving or have moved usually completely leave the midwest for places in the south (like Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia).
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