Do you consider Northwest Indiana the suburbs of Chicago? (Orland Park: 2013, condo)

[Peer79]

Originally Posted by urza216

It's ironic because there's only one collar county that actually touches the city. It's Lake County, Indiana..

Dupage county abuts O'hare airport, so technically Dupage county also actually touches the city. Prior to the recent airport expansion, there was actually a neighborhood west of O'hare in Chicago city limits and also in Dupage county.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by PILMAN

Proximity doesn't define what is a suburb or part of Chicago, city limits and state lines do, legally lake and porter county are under Indiana jurisdiction.

It's more complicated than that, and has more to do with what percentage of people in a given town commute which direction, flows of capital, and economic activity. And of course, cultural identity.

I have family in Hammond going back a few generations, and they certainly have always considered themselves part of Chicagoland. The term "suburb" became popular as "bedroom communities" popped up after World War II that had nearly all land use tied up in residential and retail. But places like NW Indiana, Aurora, Elgin, Waukegan, etc. all existed as larger nodes of economic activity before "Chicagoland" gobbled them up. These cities have always been satellites in Chicago's orbit, and now MOST people consider all of them "Chicago suburbs".

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by linicx

The only Chicago suburbs are in Cook County.

This is very much false. The "Chicago Suburbs" extend in to AT LEAST eight different counties, and even if you contest some of the exurbs, you can't deny that DuPage is nearly entirely comprised of "Chicago suburbs", as are significant parts of Will, Lake, Kane, and McHenry counties.

[PILMAN]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

It's more complicated than that, and has more to do with what percentage of people in a given town commute which direction, flows of capital, and economic activity. And of course, cultural identity.

I have family in Hammond going back a few generations, and they certainly have always considered themselves part of Chicagoland. The term "suburb" became popular as "bedroom communities" popped up after World War II that had nearly all land use tied up in residential and retail. But places like NW Indiana, Aurora, Elgin, Waukegan, etc. all existed as larger nodes of economic activity before "Chicagoland" gobbled them up. These cities have always been satellites in Chicago's orbit, and now MOST people consider all of them "Chicago suburbs".

As much as you would like to believe that, that's not the case. I've lived in Chicago city limits, and was born in the suburbs in Arlington Heights which is part of Cook County, i've also lived in Michigan City, Indiana so I can speak from experience.

Simply commuting to a town doesn't make it a suburb, not much more than how I live in the panhandle of Florida and many people commute from Alabama to Pensacola for work or vice versa, that doesn't make pensacola a suburb of mobile or mobile a suburb of pensacola because of commuter distance. It's the same with New York and New Jersey or Washington DC and Baltimore.

You can say that Northwest Indiana is part of the Chicagoland Metropolitan Area but officially it is not a suburban area of Chicago regardless of proximity of the city.

Simply supporting a sports team doesn't make it part of Chicago anymore than me supporting the bulls and cubs and making northwest Florida a Chicago suburb.

Northwest Indiana does have many differences and some similarities.

Even outter ring suburbs that are part of Cook County are still served through the court systems, hospital services, taxes, regulations, culture, food, etc. Many of the outer suburbs are highly diverse and you will find a lot of similarities that you will find in Chicago.

I found no similarities in NorthWest Indiana other than the South Shore Line and the fact subway uses Giardiniera. I found no similarities in the grid setup, housing, jobs, diversity, or culture. That's not to say Northwest Indiana is bad, I simply see very large differences with the similarities being that many people who either lived in Chicago or descend from people who lived in Chicago moved there for tax reasons and cost of living.

The fact of the matter is that you can find many similarities in many cities, just like if you go to El Paso, it borders Juarez, but the fact is once you leave that line, your no longer in Texas, you've crossed into Mexico, the same with going from Chicago into Indiana it is across state lines and regardless of similarities they are still 2 different states, there is a reason northwest Indiana is considered part of Indiana and not Illinois and quite frankly I don't really see much of an issue with that, Indiana probably has better taxes and more rights than Illinois.

I don't have an issue with people from Indiana saying they are from near the Chicago area or part of the Chicago metropolitan area, it just sounds weird to hear someone claim it as a Chicago suburb, the people of Chicago already have a hard enough time accepting suburbs as a part of Chicago and understandably so due to city limits.

[urza216]

Originally Posted by PILMAN

As much as you would like to believe that, that's not the case. I've lived in Chicago city limits, and was born in the suburbs in Arlington Heights which is part of Cook County, i've also lived in Michigan City, Indiana so I can speak from experience.

Simply commuting to a town doesn't make it a suburb, not much more than how I live in the panhandle of Florida and many people commute from Alabama to Pensacola for work or vice versa, that doesn't make pensacola a suburb of mobile or mobile a suburb of pensacola because of commuter distance. It's the same with New York and New Jersey or Washington DC and Baltimore.

You can say that Northwest Indiana is part of the Chicagoland Metropolitan Area but officially it is not a suburban area of Chicago regardless of proximity of the city.

Simply supporting a sports team doesn't make it part of Chicago anymore than me supporting the bulls and cubs and making northwest Florida a Chicago suburb.

Northwest Indiana does have many differences and some similarities.

Even outter ring suburbs that are part of Cook County are still served through the court systems, hospital services, taxes, regulations, culture, food, etc. Many of the outer suburbs are highly diverse and you will find a lot of similarities that you will find in Chicago.

I found no similarities in NorthWest Indiana other than the South Shore Line and the fact subway uses Giardiniera. I found no similarities in the grid setup, housing, jobs, diversity, or culture. That's not to say Northwest Indiana is bad, I simply see very large differences with the similarities being that many people who either lived in Chicago or descend from people who lived in Chicago moved there for tax reasons and cost of living.

The fact of the matter is that you can find many similarities in many cities, just like if you go to El Paso, it borders Juarez, but the fact is once you leave that line, your no longer in Texas, you've crossed into Mexico, the same with going from Chicago into Indiana it is across state lines and regardless of similarities they are still 2 different states, there is a reason northwest Indiana is considered part of Indiana and not Illinois and quite frankly I don't really see much of an issue with that, Indiana probably has better taxes and more rights than Illinois.

I don't have an issue with people from Indiana saying they are from near the Chicago area or part of the Chicago metropolitan area, it just sounds weird to hear someone claim it as a Chicago suburb, the people of Chicago already have a hard enough time accepting suburbs as a part of Chicago and understandably so due to city limits.

Perhaps this has something to with you living way the hell out in Michigan City. We were talking about Lake County, Indiana, remember? It's the same south side suburban culture in Highland, Indiana as Tinley Park.

You forgot another reason why people are moving to Indidna - the same Chicagoland south side white flight that's been going on for generations. I doubt too many white flighters are running as far away as Michigan City though. They never run THAT far..

You're right that Michigan City might not be a suburb.. It's part of Michiana.

[Lookout Kid]

Hammond, Munster, Merillville, and many others are clearly Chicago suburbs. There is nothing magical about a state line. Most of New York City's suburbs are in New Jersey and Connecticut.

[dudenamedric]

I have to say the I'd consider only some of the communities in Lake County, IN to be suburbs of Chicago. I used to live in Valpo, and went all through Porter County doing deliveries. Besides Valpo's bus to Chicago and the South Shore Line near Chesterton, I didn't feel the Chicago vibe at all. Porter was definitely Indiana heartland in my eyes. The Chicago feeling got more apparent the further west I drove, but even the smaller communities in Lake County I wouldn't really consider suburbs. Crown Point, to me, doesn't feel like it's connected to Chicago in any way. Communities like Griffith didn't really feel that way to me either. If anything, Griffith seemed more a suburb of Gary. The main ones that felt like suburbs to me were Munster, Dyer, and Hammond. Never went through E.C. or Whiting so I can't comment on those. Of course this is all purely my opinion, so I could be wrong.

[WildWestDude]

Originally Posted by dudenamedric

I have to say the I'd consider only some of the communities in Lake County, IN to be suburbs of Chicago. I used to live in Valpo, and went all through Porter County doing deliveries. Besides Valpo's bus to Chicago and the South Shore Line near Chesterton, I didn't feel the Chicago vibe at all. Porter was definitely Indiana heartland in my eyes. The Chicago feeling got more apparent the further west I drove, but even the smaller communities in Lake County I wouldn't really consider suburbs. Crown Point, to me, doesn't feel like it's connected to Chicago in any way. Communities like Griffith didn't really feel that way to me either. If anything, Griffith seemed more a suburb of Gary. The main ones that felt like suburbs to me were Munster, Dyer, and Hammond. Never went through E.C. or Whiting so I can't comment on those. Of course this is all purely my opinion, so I could be wrong.

That vibe is lost on the Illinois side also. Try going to Plainfield, St. Charles, Deerfield or even closer suburbs and you will find the same thing

[urza216]

Originally Posted by dudenamedric

I have to say the I'd consider only some of the communities in Lake County, IN to be suburbs of Chicago. I used to live in Valpo, and went all through Porter County doing deliveries. Besides Valpo's bus to Chicago and the South Shore Line near Chesterton, I didn't feel the Chicago vibe at all. Porter was definitely Indiana heartland in my eyes. The Chicago feeling got more apparent the further west I drove, but even the smaller communities in Lake County I wouldn't really consider suburbs. Crown Point, to me, doesn't feel like it's connected to Chicago in any way. Communities like Griffith didn't really feel that way to me either. If anything, Griffith seemed more a suburb of Gary. The main ones that felt like suburbs to me were Munster, Dyer, and Hammond. Never went through E.C. or Whiting so I can't comment on those. Of course this is all purely my opinion, so I could be wrong.

If you think Porter is Indiana heartland, you know nothing about Indiana. Perhaps that's also part of the problem. Indiana has more white Baptists than any non-southern state. This isn't reflected anywhere in NWI. Come down and actually see "Indiana culture" and then go back up and you'll figure out what a bastard child "Da Region" is.

[dudenamedric]

I'm referring to the rural areas in Porter County, where it's mostly farmland or prairie. I don't know much about the rest of the state, but I know it looks about the same. I'd love for you to elaborate on your thought.