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You know, I kick back and watch Lake County shoot itself in the foot time and time again and then I say to myself, it they didn't hate each other so much, the LC could be the most important financial sector in this state. With the Lakefront, transportation (Air, Water, rail, Land. Indy lacks water) and ready access to people (6 million vs. 2 mil for Indy), LC should already be at least a tier above the capital city. But what stops them?
Answer: The residents!
Lake County right now is its own worst enemy. North County hates South County, South County hates North County, Lake County hates Porter County, Porter County hates Lake County and everybody hates Gary.
Only when LC starts to cooperate with one another there can be change. First and foremost Gary is going to have to prosper. It doesn't have to be a mega city but it has to prosper somewhat. What does that mean, the people 1, need to stop bashing it every chance they get esp. the ones who travel North of 53rd to get a paycheck and give it the middle finger on the way out. There does need to be some sort of reinvestment and yes some of it will have to come from outside the city. If you look at any resurgence, whether it be in Indianapolis, Cincy, St. Louis, there are those outside of the city proper actually making an investment into revitalizing the urban core.
Regional transportation, yes, all the buzz right now, but all communities supporting rail from south to north or north to south, east to west blah blah which I know a lot of people are in favor of as areas like Munster and St. John do need other alternatives. As it stands now, there is only South Shore for rail and while beneficial to northern lake county, doesn't do much for southern lake county. Even doing a combination of rail and bus in which bus could happen a lot sooner. Obviously GPTC has some financial issues, but the opportunity for an increase in ridership can help remedy that, and probably out of Gary and Hammond, the one who can actually get it off the ground quicker would be Gary since they have done cross cities already.
You know, I kick back and watch Lake County shoot itself in the foot time and time again and then I say to myself, it they didn't hate each other so much, the LC could be the most important financial sector in this state. With the Lakefront, transportation (Air, Water, rail, Land. Indy lacks water) and ready access to people (6 million vs. 2 mil for Indy), LC should already be at least a tier above the capital city. But what stops them?
Answer: The residents!
Lake County right now is its own worst enemy. North County hates South County, South County hates North County, Lake County hates Porter County, Porter County hates Lake County and everybody hates Gary.
Only when LC starts to cooperate with one another there can be change. First and foremost Gary is going to have to prosper. It doesn't have to be a mega city but it has to prosper somewhat. What does that mean, the people 1, need to stop bashing it every chance they get esp. the ones who travel North of 53rd to get a paycheck and give it the middle finger on the way out. There does need to be some sort of reinvestment and yes some of it will have to come from outside the city. If you look at any resurgence, whether it be in Indianapolis, Cincy, St. Louis, there are those outside of the city proper actually making an investment into revitalizing the urban core.
Regional transportation, yes, all the buzz right now, but all communities supporting rail from south to north or north to south, east to west blah blah which I know a lot of people are in favor of as areas like Munster and St. John do need other alternatives. As it stands now, there is only South Shore for rail and while beneficial to northern lake county, doesn't do much for southern lake county. Even doing a combination of rail and bus in which bus could happen a lot sooner. Obviously GPTC has some financial issues, but the opportunity for an increase in ridership can help remedy that, and probably out of Gary and Hammond, the one who can actually get it off the ground quicker would be Gary since they have done cross cities already.
Just curious, will you be investing your own money?
NWI was once one of the most important parts of the state, part of one of the most important parts of the country. NWI was built around a blue-collar, manufacturing sector. One doesn't need to travel far to see this. Gary was once the second largest city in the state, and was beyond prosperous. Hammond and EC were in a lot better shape too.
Then, industry declined, white flight occurred from the main population centers of the time, and the county became (and is still becoming) too spread out. The south shore line as it exists today fits perfect for how the population in the county used to be.
Will it really make much sense to spend years of time & billions of dollars to expand the south shore line? What's stopping people from moving further out once the pristine suburban areas of today decline (a phenomenon happening in many inner ring suburbs around the country)? As it is now, people simply are leaving and moving further out. This changed a bit with the recession and higher gas prices, but most are continuing this unfortunate trend. Then the SSL will have to expand again, which is even more money. If any kind of expansion is going to take place, there should be express buses to the South Shore line stations for residents of Munster, St. John, and Dyer. The results of that should give insight to the viability of the SSL southward.
Another problem is that it reinvestment & overcoming a bad reputation sound good on paper, but it isn't as easy as it sounds. Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Detroit, etc. are all examples of cities that have invested money in themselves and still continue to dwindle in population. Gary has even had reinvestment around the baseball stadium. It's hard to rebuild a city once it begins to decline. It's not hopeless, but its going to take a heck of a lot of work. Also with Gary being so close to Chicago, there's not going to be much hope for a "financial center." The best bet NWI has is to lure residents and businesses from the Illinois side over with lower taxes and cheaper housing. It's worked, but there's not much of a middle-class job center in NWI. Rather, we've become more of a suburban extension of the south suburbs.
Honestly, I don't know where to begin in Gary. I guess if I was the mayor, I would a plan for renovating the south shore station and giving it a connection to downtown Gary. These areas would be the focal point of development for the city. I would set up a special patrol unit for the SSL/Downtown district, as well as encourage businesses to relocate to the area. I would also get serious about the airport. That would bring thousands upon thousands of jobs to the immediate area, and connect us even more to the larger Chicagoland area. With Indiana offering lower taxes and close proximity, some large businesses might even relocate in the area. Again, much easier said than done, and it probably won't do much to stop the population bleeding in the short term, but it's only possible to walk a mile after you take the first step.
NWI was once one of the most important parts of the state, part of one of the most important parts of the country. NWI was built around a blue-collar, manufacturing sector. One doesn't need to travel far to see this. Gary was once the second largest city in the state, and was beyond prosperous. Hammond and EC were in a lot better shape too.
Then, industry declined, white flight occurred from the main population centers of the time, and the county became (and is still becoming) too spread out. The south shore line as it exists today fits perfect for how the population in the county used to be.
Will it really make much sense to spend years of time & billions of dollars to expand the south shore line? What's stopping people from moving further out once the pristine suburban areas of today decline (a phenomenon happening in many inner ring suburbs around the country)? As it is now, people simply are leaving and moving further out. This changed a bit with the recession and higher gas prices, but most are continuing this unfortunate trend. Then the SSL will have to expand again, which is even more money. If any kind of expansion is going to take place, there should be express buses to the South Shore line stations for residents of Munster, St. John, and Dyer. The results of that should give insight to the viability of the SSL southward.
Another problem is that it reinvestment & overcoming a bad reputation sound good on paper, but it isn't as easy as it sounds. Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Detroit, etc. are all examples of cities that have invested money in themselves and still continue to dwindle in population. Gary has even had reinvestment around the baseball stadium. It's hard to rebuild a city once it begins to decline. It's not hopeless, but its going to take a heck of a lot of work. Also with Gary being so close to Chicago, there's not going to be much hope for a "financial center." The best bet NWI has is to lure residents and businesses from the Illinois side over with lower taxes and cheaper housing. It's worked, but there's not much of a middle-class job center in NWI. Rather, we've become more of a suburban extension of the south suburbs.
Honestly, I don't know where to begin in Gary. I guess if I was the mayor, I would a plan for renovating the south shore station and giving it a connection to downtown Gary. These areas would be the focal point of development for the city. I would set up a special patrol unit for the SSL/Downtown district, as well as encourage businesses to relocate to the area. I would also get serious about the airport. That would bring thousands upon thousands of jobs to the immediate area, and connect us even more to the larger Chicagoland area. With Indiana offering lower taxes and close proximity, some large businesses might even relocate in the area. Again, much easier said than done, and it probably won't do much to stop the population bleeding in the short term, but it's only possible to walk a mile after you take the first step.
Cleveland is trying to make a resurgence with a lot going on Downtown now construction wise. Even Detroit which is known for its high crime has a very active Downtown and very safe. Those cities still have aspects that bring people there like sporting events in which Gary just doesn't have. Granted it brings people in for Baseball, but there's nothing there to keep them interested after the game is over. South Shore has been stopping downtown for years and years at the metro center and the airport is on its way to expanding the runway although it will probably never really offer passenger service like midway.
You are correct, Gary will never be a financial center, it never was but it still prospered when the steel mills were at max capacity. The two strongest amenities in Lake County are the airport and the lake, both reside in Gary. Wahalia beach in Whiting is but a sliver and BP is right on top of it. You have the marinas in Hammond and EC but then again small with heavy industry right on top of them. Lake Street Beach to Wells Street Beach is the only true viable beach front in Lake County and it gets a lot of visitors and surprisingly a lot of visitors from Chicago plus I would put Marquette Park as one of the top 3 parks in Lake County.
I would start with 1, voting out all common council members who've been there for 20 years. They have proven to be ineffective and I grew up six houses away from Councilman Pratt, played with their children as we are all the same age, but he's gotta go along with every other lifer! The Democratic machine in Gary has been a plague to the city since before Chacharis was in office in the late 50's.
In reality lake county really should be in the stat of illinois
whether anyone admits it or not its more connected to illinois than the indy area by a long shot
not looking to start a war of words on taxes and such but it really should be in illinois
Just think if it were one state and you could pull the resources together without all the political egos getting in the way
it just fits better with the identity of chicago
In reality lake county really should be in the stat of illinois whether anyone admits it or not its more connected to illinois than the indy area by a long shot
No thanks, the carpetbaggers from Illinois have already ruined it for us.
Quote:
not looking to start a war of words on taxes and such but it really should be in illinois
Nothing positive to say about us, so like "chuckity" just tear it down.
Quote:
Just think if it were one state and you could pull the resources together without all the political egos getting in the way it just fits better with the identity of chicago
By that analysis, note the first four letters of that word, Illinois should be part of Wisconsin, since it's so close and shares the same bunch of welfare brats as in Milwaukee.
No thanks, the carpetbaggers from Illinois have already ruined it for us.
Nothing positive to say about us, so like "chuckity" just tear it down.
By that analysis, note the first four letters of that word, Illinois should be part of Wisconsin, since it's so close and shares the same bunch of welfare brats as in Milwaukee.
Begone troll!
Goodness who said anything bad! I was referencing a thought about sharing highways, resources, labor pool as a regional effort.
Not this argument between what is called a state line, many people from lake county Indiana commute into Illinois on a daily basis as well as folks from Illinois into Indiana.
Not sure why you read into my message as negative because your totally off base with this issue.
Seems to be this division between Indiana and Illinois and i am one who is trying to find common ground not uncommon ground.
It sounds like your the one who has the issue with things and not me.
My dollars are spent over in Indiana too so I pay into that system as well.
Things would be easier if people would just look at the similarities vs. the glaring differences.
Here is an example I had to have a medical procedure done guess what , I went over to Munster to have the procedure. Point being a state line did not deter me from getting into a specialist that was highly recommended.
My dollar was spent in the hoosier state. If you think i am downgrading Indiana then you need to rethink your thought process because it is not the case
Cleveland is trying to make a resurgence with a lot going on Downtown now construction wise. Even Detroit which is known for its high crime has a very active Downtown and very safe. Those cities still have aspects that bring people there like sporting events in which Gary just doesn't have. Granted it brings people in for Baseball, but there's nothing there to keep them interested after the game is over. South Shore has been stopping downtown for years and years at the metro center and the airport is on its way to expanding the runway although it will probably never really offer passenger service like midway.
You are correct, Gary will never be a financial center, it never was but it still prospered when the steel mills were at max capacity. The two strongest amenities in Lake County are the airport and the lake, both reside in Gary. Wahalia beach in Whiting is but a sliver and BP is right on top of it. You have the marinas in Hammond and EC but then again small with heavy industry right on top of them. Lake Street Beach to Wells Street Beach is the only true viable beach front in Lake County and it gets a lot of visitors and surprisingly a lot of visitors from Chicago plus I would put Marquette Park as one of the top 3 parks in Lake County.
I would start with 1, voting out all common council members who've been there for 20 years. They have proven to be ineffective and I grew up six houses away from Councilman Pratt, played with their children as we are all the same age, but he's gotta go along with every other lifer! The Democratic machine in Gary has been a plague to the city since before Chacharis was in office in the late 50's.
I guess the examples I gave don't fit Gary's situation. They kind of do, but also don't. Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Detroit were (and still are) the cultural center of their area. Hence why they have all the main attractions for the area. They also hold a large amount of influence since they are the largest job center for the area. The situation is somewhat different in Detroit, but it is still undoubtedly the figurehead for SE Michigan.
Gary was once the cultural center for NWI. It held most of the influence for the region. As Gary declined, so did its influence. It still holds some of its former glory due to the steel mill jobs, but overall it doesn't hold any pull for NWI. Newspapers, jobs, shopping, etc. are all spread out over NWI. Each town basically has something to lure residents from other towns in, be it shops and a mall or hospitals. Gary doesn't hold any real reason for residents to come in anymore (besides a few jobs). That's what needs to change if any hope is left for the city.
Yes, Gary prospered when there were manufacturing jobs and steel mills. But those days are sadly getting further and further behind us. Gary needs to reinvent itself. It declined from being too heavily dependent on one industry. Diversification is easier said than done, but it's also necessary to learn from mistakes.
I also agree with you that Gary has an excellent location. The lake could be an even greater pull for the city if Gary's image improved. More tourists, more jobs, more stability. I also think Gary could hold the third airport for the Chicago metro area. In the NYC metro, the Newark airport receives a lot of passengers looking to go to the Big Apple. I think the same could work in Gary and bring a lot of jobs to the area.
Downtown and the SSL need to be more connected. Maybe people could come stop at the Downtown Gary stop on the South Shore line and spend a day in Gary if the downtown area improved. Maybe jobs could relocate downtown. Maybe even build or renovate existing apartments and condos near the station for commuters to Chicago. Maybe it could reclaim its title as the cultural center of NWI.
We can sit here all day and dream about what Gary could be, or we could actually do something to change the state the city is in today. It's not easy starting a movement, but it has to start. Maybe some brave souls could move into Gary or run for office & bring fresh air to the city. Ok... I'm getting a little ahead of myself here. But there must be something that can get this plan started. Gary cannot continue to decline!
In reality lake county really should be in the stat of illinois
whether anyone admits it or not its more connected to illinois than the indy area by a long shot
not looking to start a war of words on taxes and such but it really should be in illinois
Just think if it were one state and you could pull the resources together without all the political egos getting in the way
it just fits better with the identity of chicago
I disagree. Lake County is more connected to Chicago than Indianapolis because of proximity. However, that doesn't necessarily mean it should be a part of Illinois. One of NWI's main advantages over Illinois is the lower cost of living. I'm sure the people living here are not pressed to pay more to say they live in Illinois. Furthermore, the further south and east you go, the more "Indiana" Lake County feels. the entire county isn't really connected to Chicago. It's much more present in the border towns.
One can tell NWI is neglected in Indiana. It probably would be just as neglected in Illinois. It's fine the way it is. We're an independent bunch, and will continue to be.
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