Considering NW Indiana in the future (as an alternative to chicago suburbs) (Gary: real estate market, crimes)

[knighthood82]

Originally Posted by Kluch

This seems more like a "con" in regards to living in NW indiana then (if working in chicago). Is the major upside then (just) property taxes? Just want to make sure I understand the entire financial landscape in regards to moving.

It is a "con" but most in most cases this would be easily outweighed by the property tax savings. If your income is $200K annually you would end up paying $3K more a year in income taxes by living in Indiana but I doubt you could find 2 comparably priced homes in either state and your savings in property taxes by living in Indiana would be less than $3K. Illinois also has many more hidden fees than Indiana including county and municipal sales taxes on top of the state rate, taxes on various services, real estate transfer taxes, village vehicle sticker taxes, taxes on staple groceries, prescriptions, ect., all of which are not taxable in Indiana.

[jvr789]

Also keep in mind that the recent increase in IL income tax rate did nothing to actually solve the budget/pension problem there. It doesn't result in a "balanced" budget. It just basically delayed a bond rating downgrade to junk status. IL will either have to raise taxes in other ways or start to cut some services. Perhaps Cook County or Chicago will implement an income tax and then the Lake County Indiana income tax will end up being a wash anyway (credit offset). It appears the state of IL is starting to pull back on funding for localities which in turn may result in this outcome as localities must make up the difference.

I agree with the example above - the lower housing costs and lower property taxes, among other things, will still make living in NWI more affordable (for now). Also, I think there is less risk that your exit price (when you finally go to sell your property) will be eroded by tax increases. This has been witnessed in many areas of IL already.

[richb]

Northwest Indiana needs to do more as a stand alone community. If we continue to be too connected and dependent to what happens economically in Chicago, it will hurt us as it continues to decline (yes, it is declining).

We need to spend less time on trains few people will end up using to Chicago and more time on having the jobs right here in Northwest Indiana. (Granted most employed people already work here). The economic conditions that drew people from Illinois are the same for businesses. They should come here.

Remember we are about 700,000 people, which by itself is a pretty large metro area. We need to identify as our own area, not just the forgotten, somewhat unwanted, out of state, chunk of Chicagoland.

[Ned B]

^I disagree with this hard stance. I think we need to maintain and strengthen our connections with Chicago while also developing local business opportunities.

Chicago is a huge business powerhouse and no matter what it's issues, that is not changing. The amount of office space in the Loop continues to grow despite the city, county, and state's problems. For a neighboring example, take a look at Detroit. It has fallen much further and longer, but it's downtown continues to be a major employment center. The type of businesses that currently exist in downtown Chicago are not going to readily open up shop in a suburban office park. That is why city centers continue to be strong long after the surrounding neighborhoods have rotted away. Even if a major shift from Chicago to NWI were to happen, that is still several decades in the making.

At the same time, I agree that NWI needs to focus on growing business opportunities, but that too is a huge undertaking. It takes regional planning to allocate where new commercial centers will develop and it will take turning around Gary, East Chicago, and Hammond. Right now NWI is split between bedroom communities that resist most commercial development and once great but faded industrial cities, with a few retail centers in between.

[hellob]

Without Chicago, the area would be depressed.
The days of having a decent job in the mills are long gone.
Health care is about one of the few areas that you can do well locally. Just look on indeed and see how many local $8-10 jobs there are compared to 50k.

[flamadiddle]

Originally Posted by hellob

Without Chicago, the area would be depressed.
The days of having a decent job in the mills are long gone.
Health care is about one of the few areas that you can do well locally. Just look on indeed and see how many local $8-10 jobs there are compared to 50k.

That's for sure, in fact, NWI would be a vast wasteland without Chicago.

OP, I understand the desire to save some tax dollars, but there's no comparison between NWI and the Western Chicago burbs. I'd highly recommend visiting each area before making a decision.

[Kluch]

Originally Posted by flamadiddle

That's for sure, in fact, NWI would be a vast wasteland without Chicago.

OP, I understand the desire to save some tax dollars, but there's no comparison between NWI and the Western Chicago burbs. I'd highly recommend visiting each area before making a decision.

I hear you. I'm relatively familiar with the west chicago suburbs now. My wife is even more so having grown up in that area. I'm not completely against living near chicago but both my wife and I are concerned about the economic stability, cost of housing and cost of living in general with chicago suburbs. It's the one major thing which has made me try and find a "loophole" to our situation - trying to be closer to family while also not committing financial suicide (somewhat). Even her family has said not to move back close to them because of Illinois financial state. A place like munster seemed to check all the boxes (theoretically). Plus I like the idea of being close to the lake/beach for family outings.

[hellob]

Originally Posted by Kluch

I hear you. I'm relatively familiar with the west chicago suburbs now. My wife is even more so having grown up in that area. I'm not completely against living near chicago but both my wife and I are concerned about the economic stability, cost of housing and cost of living in general with chicago suburbs. It's the one major thing which has made me try and find a "loophole" to our situation - trying to be closer to family while also not committing financial suicide (somewhat). Even her family has said not to move back close to them because of Illinois financial state. A place like munster seemed to check all the boxes (theoretically). Plus I like the idea of being close to the lake/beach for family outings.

Munster is good. I'm from there. The only thing is that there is a fair amount of property crime, attempted and successful break ins, thefts. We had one garage break in, one attempt, an unattended mower stolen and a brick thrown at a car window, plus a few of those sketchy people who pretend to be town workers. People in my neighborhood have been burglarized. I'm not saying that it's unsafe but if you subscribe to the police newsletter, you'll see that there's at least a dozen things like that per week.
If you like older, vintage homes Whiting is a viable candidate. The beach is right there and the homes are way cheaper. I think Whiting is really starting to get hot bc I see homes under contract in 1-2 days.

[Kluch]

Originally Posted by hellob

Munster is good. I'm from there. The only thing is that there is a fair amount of property crime, attempted and successful break ins, thefts. We had one garage break in, one attempt, an unattended mower stolen and a brick thrown at a car window, plus a few of those sketchy people who pretend to be town workers. People in my neighborhood have been burglarized. I'm not saying that it's unsafe but if you subscribe to the police newsletter, you'll see that there's at least a dozen things like that per week.
If you like older, vintage homes Whiting is a viable candidate. The beach is right there and the homes are way cheaper. I think Whiting is really starting to get hot bc I see homes under contract in 1-2 days.

Geez I knew Hammond wasn't the best area but I didn't know the crime extended all the much into munster. Good to know. We will definitely have to look at those suburbs more in the future assuming we get serious about moving.

[flamadiddle]

hellob, are the steel mills still active near Whiting? Looks pretty nice there, but the high school is 60% Hispanic.

https://www.usnews.com/education/bes...1/student-body