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Old 12-22-2009, 08:51 PM
 
Location: Somewhere below Mason/Dixon
9,433 posts, read 10,704,058 times
Reputation: 15898

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Chicago area wraps around the whole lower tip of Lake Michigan. anywhere from south of Benton Harbor Michgian all the way around to Kenosha Wisconsin seems VERY Chicagoish to me. Basically anything you might be able to see from the top of the sears tower on a clear day.
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Old 12-22-2009, 10:02 PM
 
Location: Chicagoland
4,027 posts, read 7,256,426 times
Reputation: 1332
Quote:
Originally Posted by grmasterb View Post
one season. Before that we made the playoffs for two seasons with a qb the bears tossed away. When is the last time the bears even had a qb worth discussing?
1988.
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Old 12-22-2009, 10:39 PM
REM
 
368 posts, read 991,180 times
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I'm from indy and i can deff see a cultural difference between NWI and indianapolis. very similar to chicago.
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Old 12-23-2009, 03:20 AM
 
Location: Chicago
15,585 posts, read 27,427,270 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by domergurl View Post
it's no more "out" than some places where people commute from within Illinois.
I was speaking about the "other planet" thing.
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Old 12-23-2009, 07:22 AM
 
Location: City of North Las Vegas, NV
12,600 posts, read 9,336,365 times
Reputation: 3486
Quote:
Originally Posted by denaix232 View Post
Well the government considers us in NWI as Chicagoland. We are the only part of Indiana that is in a different time zone because of Chicago and that's never going to change. I was just in Hyde Park a few weeks ago and they asked where I live. I told them and they replied, "oh, you're just right around the corner." To date, I haven't noticed any discriminations or making me feel like I don't live in Chicagoland. Maybe it's just the people you come in contact with. There will always be someone no matter where you go not agreeing with something.
You do get snobbed from people that live in the northern and northwestern suburbs when you tell them that you live in NW Indiana.
Most don't have a clue about the area and the one thing that they might know is Gary and factories.
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Old 01-07-2010, 02:35 PM
 
4 posts, read 12,360 times
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^ Very true. They think Northwest Indiana is Gary. I told some friends in the northern suburbs that I live right over the Chicago border in Indiana and they said "Oh so you live in Gary." I told them that I lived in Whiting and they told me they had never heard of it. It does very much have to do with political boundaries to them. They think they live in Chicago and I don't even though my neighborhood is 20 minutes from downtown and has the character of a Chicago neighborhood, while theirs is a sprawling suburb a little over an hour from downtown.
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Old 01-07-2010, 08:30 PM
 
Location: Chicago
15,585 posts, read 27,427,270 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ikcyzrteip View Post
...They think they live in Chicago and I don't even though my neighborhood is 20 minutes from downtown...
Well you do not live in Chicago and neither do your friends. I am not sure what you are so mad about.

Your friends are boobs.
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Old 01-19-2010, 02:08 PM
 
320 posts, read 713,679 times
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I from the South Suburburbs. Quite frankly, I think that NWI gets overlooked b/c of Geo political boundaries and its rustbelt, urban and crime rep (Gary, Hammond and E. Chi). People are only familiar with Gary, East Chicago, Hammond, Michigan City and Valpo. People in Chicago only know about Gary b/c of it's steel mills, crime, The Jacksons and Casinos. Hammond b/c it's the closest city near Illinois where people can get cheap gas, cigarettes and fireworks..oh yeah.. and the casinos. East chicago...Casinos!! Michigan city has the outlet malls (not generally considered Chicagoland, but a somewhat in proximity) and Valpo for obvious reasons.

Also with the great expansion of the Western and Southwestern burbs, people generally overlook NWI, unless they are sick of the casinos in Aurora, Elgin and Joliet. I lived in Cal City for two years. Despite the fact that I lived 3 blocks from from Hammond, crossing State Line Rd was like entering a whole new world!!! For some some strange reason, I felt safer in Cal City. Eventally, I began to drive around the area for myself and found that there really is more than corn than Indiana! (lol) I saw some very very gritty lookin hoods north or Ridge Road and some very gorgeous communities south of it (*Expeption***Miller Beach/Odgen dunes lakeshore area east of Gary are freakin gorgeous).

Also, I was surprise to see literally miles of shopping and restuarants on Indy Blvd and Route 30. I was shocked to see that Southlake Mall is way better than River Oaks and rivals Orland Square. All this on top of the fact that it's closer to Chicago's downtown than most western and northern suburbs and it's low cost of living should make it one of the most desirable areas to live in.

However, I do have my reasons for why NWI isn't Booming the way it should and why chicagoans over look the area. But I'll discuss that in another reply. This one has gotten too damn long!! Sorry!!
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Old 01-19-2010, 02:17 PM
 
Location: Hoosierville
16,875 posts, read 14,221,732 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by suburban_boy View Post
I from the South Suburburbs. Quite frankly, I think that NWI gets overlooked b/c of Geo political boundaries and its rustbelt, urban and crime rep (Gary, Hammond and E. Chi). People are only familiar with Gary, East Chicago, Hammond, Michigan City and Valpo. People in Chicago only know about Gary b/c of it's steel mills, crime, The Jacksons and Casinos. Hammond b/c it's the closest city near Illinois where people can get cheap gas, cigarettes and fireworks..oh yeah.. and the casinos. East chicago...Casinos!! Michigan city has the outlet malls (not generally considered Chicagoland, but a somewhat in proximity) and Valpo for obvious reasons.

Also with the great expansion of the Western and Southwestern burbs, people generally overlook NWI, unless they are sick of the casinos in Aurora, Elgin and Joliet. I lived in Cal City for two years. Despite the fact that I lived 3 blocks from from Hammond, crossing State Line Rd was like entering a whole new world!!! For some some strange reason, I felt safer in Cal City. Eventally, I began to drive around the area for myself and found that there really is more than corn than Indiana! (lol) I saw some very very gritty lookin hoods north or Ridge Road and some very gorgeous communities south of it (*Expeption***Miller Beach/Odgen dunes lakeshore area east of Gary are freakin gorgeous).

Also, I was surprise to see literally miles of shopping and restuarants on Indy Blvd and Route 30. I was shocked to see that Southlake Mall is way better than River Oaks and rivals Orland Square. All this on top of the fact that it's closer to Chicago's downtown than most western and northern suburbs and it's low cost of living should make it one of the most desirable areas to live in.

However, I do have my reasons for why NWI isn't Booming the way it should and why chicagoans over look the area. But I'll discuss that in another reply. This one has gotten too damn long!! Sorry!!
I gotta ask, what are the obvious reasons Chicagoans are familar with Valpo?
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Old 01-19-2010, 04:28 PM
 
320 posts, read 713,679 times
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One major problem I see with NWI besides the Geo/political climate and the whole rust belt image is the racial and economic divide.---B4 I move on, you also have to consider the fact that NWI problems are closely related and very intertwined with the problems in the entire Chicago Southland area.---With that said, NWI is primarily Black, White and Hispanic (hispanics are more recent than the other two groups), but for the most part, area is very segregated. North of Ridge road consist to mostly "Inner City" minorities and some whites and South of ridge road is mostly middle-class/wealthy whites and some minorities. Most Minorities live in areas that is going through very serious urban decay. This started in Gary (once NWI's cultural center) and since has spread into Hammond, East Chicago and Whiting. However, South of ridge road has gone through tremendous urban sprawl or suburbanization and due to some very intense "white flight", which has added to the problems of the region.

**A side Note***, Adjacent to NWI is the South Burbs of chicago, which consist of the most wealthy AA's in the entire Chicagoland region. Due to the massive influx of Middle-class Black's, whites began to move further Southwest as well as into NWI. B/c the suburbs of NWI is overwhelmingly White and very hostile to "outsiders", most of these Blacks have no desire to move into NWI. To me, this ads on to the problem.

Anyway, because investors primarily focus on NWI's Suburbs (where the rich Whites are), there is no interest in devoping the Inner city (where the poor minorities are). Therefore, NWI, on one end, is stuck with ugly run-down, crime-ridden, gang-infested muder capital cities with empty downtowns and on the other end, suburban-like, cookie-cutter, bland neighborhoods that lacks uniqueness, quality entertainment/nightlife and real culture (Museums, Parks, operhouses, theatres). Ironically, more people go to Gary, Hammond and East chicago for entertainment than any of the suburbs to the south (with the execption of the Star Plaza). This is what makes NWI very unattractive for most chicagoans.

The real problem is that there is no real cultural center or middle ground that everyone black or white, rich or poor, gay or straight, protestant or jew, democrat or republican can enjoy. NWI lost its cultural center with the fall of Gary. Also, the high umemployment rate and social/economic change of the Gary created a serious cultural disconnection by people from the suburbs. Therefore, the people of NWI was forced to create cultural and economic ties to Chicago, but the people never fully integrated with Chicago folks. The Majority of the new residents have more ties to chicago than NWI. So they really have no no real interest in NWI, but to live in. The reasons people move to NWI are b/c of it's low cost of living, proximity to Chicago or they might work there. The only real unique area is Miller Beach and its lacking in many categories.

Solution. The people of NWI is in dire need of an area where people from all backgrounds can enjoy. Something thats unique, diverse, bohemian, culturally rich, glitzy, fashionable and entertaining in one package. Something similar to downtown Chicago or even something like lincoln park or Hyde Park. The area also needs a business district so that people from Dyer or St. Johns don't have to travel so damn far to work--NWI is close to proximity to chicago, but it's far as hell from the the jobs in near O'hare and the Western Burbs. More business in NWI will bring more of features mentioned above. Therefore, I think that a new urban center is need. This will not only help NWI, but the entire Southland region.

Once again, sorry for the long post. I'm out
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