NW Indiana's border limits (South Bend, Gary: home, airport, metro area)

[WildWestDude]

This is a section on NW Indiana.
So what would you say is this area's border?
Are La Porte,Rensselae and nearby areas included? Is this a geographical and/or cultural definition? Do we stop at the eastern time zone?..........

[Chuckity]

Here's what I would include as NWI -

Start at Michigan City and think of 421 as the dividing line down to Wanatah. Start curving southwest towards Kouts, head towards Demotte & then Lake Village and then up the Illinois line.

(Demotte & Lake Village are debatable to me - but they're really more NWI than anything else.)

Renssalaer is absolutely not, neither is North Judson or Knox. I can toss a coin on LaPorte - but I'd include them with the South Bend area before I would NWI.

[domergurl]

I DECIDE!! I'M THE DECIDER .. ER, THE MODERATOR!!!

Just joking ... I would consider NW Indiana, Lake, Porter & LaPorte Counties. But I'm flexible.

[artemis]

I would probably throw DeMotte & Roselawn into the mix, so many of the residents work at the mills. But they are borderline.

I would put LaPorte in with South Bend. My daughter says she is closer to SB than Valpo.

[artemis]

Cultural definition? That would be Lake County, hands down.

I grew up in Gary with the children of Italians, Greeks, Poles, Serbs, Blacks, Hispanics, etc. Most came to NW Indiana to work in the mills.

[artemis]

As far as plain old culture ......... Chicago is 1/2 hour up the Skyway.

[WildWestDude]

Originally Posted by domergurl

I DECIDE!! I'M THE DECIDER .. ER, THE MODERATOR!!!

Just joking ... I would consider NW Indiana, Lake, Porter & LaPorte Counties. But I'm flexible.

OK, can we please have the western NWI border at least solid and non-shifting?

You people think that in the near future that Newton, Jasper and Starke make be part of the Region? Remember that not too long ago Lowell and Demotte were considered the boonies
The Chicagoland area is not about to shrink in size. Its SE side seems to be growing just like the rest of it.
People consider Waukegan, St Charles and Peotone part of the Chicagoland area also and those areas are quite a distance from the urban core.
Is a southern highway metro bypass still considered? If I remember it was suppose to connect I-65 to I-57 and westward in order to relieve the I-80/94 congestion and completely avoid the metro area. If this highway is to materialize and a third airport possibly being build in Peotone ,expect lots of growth even in those southern NWI counties.
I bet on the slightest hint of this people will start snatching up lots of farmland.

[Chuckity]

Okay, I propose that Northwest Indiana be comprised of the following counties:

Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Starke, Pulaski, Jasper & Newton

All in favor say aye ...

[Chuckity]

Originally Posted by WildWestDude

Remember that not too long ago Lowell and Demotte were considered the boonies

I grew up on Chgo's south side - our family had a summer home on Lake Dale. That ride seemed to take FOREVER and I thought we were out in the middle of nowhere. (And 25 years ago I think it was!)

[rrah]

I don't think Newton, Jasper, and Starke will ever be part of the Region. (That highway has been discussed for decades just as the extension of 355 has been discussed for years.) The Region is more than a geographical place, but also an attitude and maybe a history. That history doesn't exist in those places.

I propose we differentiate NWI and the Region. Porter County is NW, but definitely, imho, not part of the Region.