Hammond , Indiana????? (Gary, East Chicago: apartment, crime rate, homes)

[westtexas28]

Hi

Can anyone give me any info on the Town of Hammond ???

Is it a nice place , are there things to do , what is the Crime rate like etc

I have a chance to buy a place here but I am not too sure about the area , so any advice would be great

Thanks

[Grandma(in waiting)]

You may want to post your question over on the NW Indiana subforum here: http://www.city-data.com/forum/northwest-indiana/

From my perspective, Hammond is much like the rest of NW Indiana...there are good neighborhoods and bad neighborhoods. The cities in that area are all part of what is called "the region" (part of the Chicago metro area, and although some Hoosiers and Chicagoans may dispute that, geography doesn't lie) and used to be a lot better than it is now. Unemployment is high and as a result, so is the crime rate. Hammond is safer than Gary, but some of the problems Gary has do spill over. There are definitely safer towns in the region to live.

You may also wish to read this discussion: Northwest Indiana Discussion • View topic - Do you feel Safe in Hammond?

[SoHoVe]

The above poster pointed you in the right direction. There are still some alright neighborhoods and some pockets of beautiful old homes. Much of the area is now lower income and really not upwardly mobile. With that being said, there is not really much of anything to do in Hammond. Fortunately, Chicago isn't a very long commute. I think it all depends on what is important to you. If you just want to live cheaply it might be a place to consider. If you want to live somewhere a bit nicer, newer, cleaner, safer and with less of an industrial working class feel there are communities in the area which might better suite your needs.

[WildWestDude]

The more southern parts of Hammond are better. The city is long past its prime. It was OK there some 40 years ago.

[Chuckity]

Relative to other NWI towns ... Hammond is positively huge. There's crappy areas, apartment areas, industrial/commercial areas and pockets of absolutely gorgeous vintage homes.

The answer on whether or not you should buy into Hammond would depend on lots of different things - first of all being where exactly the property is located.

Most of Hammond is populated by blue collar working folks - no silver spoons here. It gets a bad rap sometimes - you know, the whole one bad apple thing and it's proximity to Cal City in Illinois and East Chicago ... but most Hammond residents are decent people who look out for the neighbors and take care of their property.

Maybe a mod could move this over to the NWI forum for some more input?

[domergurl]

ok ok ok!!! we had a swimmeet that started at 7am this morning! I just got home!!!