Gary, IN? (Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Evansville: school, university, casinos)

[sunnyandcloudydays]

Originally Posted by Colts

I agree. I don't particularly care for Mitch Daniels, and that was a very ignorant thing for him to say.

Did you happen to see the Daily show with Jon Stewart?
He man handled MD fine!

[artemis]

Originally Posted by Colts

No one has a vengeance out for Lake County except for people from Lake County itself. How can it be the stepchild when it's the second most populated county in the state?

Now, there are some very ignorant people back in Indiana who generalize all of Lake County as being in the same shape as the worst sections of Gary, true. But these are also the same people who say the same things about Indianapolis proper--but obviously that city is in a lot better shape due to its massive size.

Don't assume that people in Indy necessarily feel the same way about Lake County as more rural parts of the state. Indy benefits a lot more from having a strong Lake County and vice versa. There is no incentive to the areas to remain divisive from an economic and cultural point of view.

People from NW Indiana know that Indy feels that way. Its been that way for years. The only thing that will change that is if the region starts voting Republican. LOL

[Broadrippleguy]

Originally Posted by artemis

People from NW Indiana know that Indy feels that way. Its been that way for years. The only thing that will change that is if the region starts voting Republican. LOL

Which we know in NWI Eyes all Republicans are evil and All Democrats are Geniuses.
Also do you guys think Gary has bottemed out on its decline and is posed for a huge rebound?

[grmasterb]

Originally Posted by artemis

People from NW Indiana know that Indy feels that way. Its been that way for years. The only thing that will change that is if the region starts voting Republican. LOL

Better check your voting history. Marion County largely goes Dem, so it's not a Democrat-Republican thing. It may be an anti-Chicago thing, but I think you'd find that most folks in the Indy area are more indifferent toward Lake County, which is actually a shame.

[artemis]

Originally Posted by Broadrippleguy

Which we know in NWI Eyes all Republicans are evil and All Democrats are Geniuses.
Also do you guys think Gary has bottemed out on its decline and is posed for a huge rebound?

I don't think Republicans are evil. I married one.

[Broadrippleguy]

Originally Posted by artemis

I don't think Republicans are evil. I married one.

lol if only everyone in America had that open of a mind :P
Actually i am a Conservative Independent i lean Republican but as i said i will research canadiates before voting and some like Michelle Bachman i do NOT like at all.
Come on HPV vaccines that big of a deal? i had it done and somehow i am still here and not retarded
yet somehow the chicken pox etc is classified as a must have vaccine.....

[Colts]

Originally Posted by artemis

People from NW Indiana know that Indy feels that way. Its been that way for years. The only thing that will change that is if the region starts voting Republican. LOL

I'm sorry, I don't agree. Show me some proof of this mystical grudge that the Indianapolis metropolitan area allegedly has against Lake County. Idiot politicians don't count, because you can find those anywhere--especially Washington.

Also, what does party affiliation have to do with anything? Marion County is heavily Democratic.

[Bluefox]

Originally Posted by Broadrippleguy

Which we know in NWI Eyes all Republicans are evil and All Democrats are Geniuses.
Also do you guys think Gary has bottemed out on its decline and is posed for a huge rebound?

Not true. Many people I've talked to elsewhere in the state are very ignorant about NWI. I went downstate for college and when I told people I was from NWI, I would say a majority of them would react along the lines of: "[gasp], so are you from/nearby GARY?" Um, no. I'm not from Gary. I'm actually from one of the nicest, safest, cleanest, most environmentally-conscious cities in the state which, by the way, has a fantastic mayor who, go figure, is a REPUBLICAN. Not all of NWI is steel mills and crime. Not even all of Gary is steel mills and crime. I wish the rest of the state -- the people and the politicians -- would stop making such sweeping generalizations of a region of 800,000 people.

[Colts]

Originally Posted by Bluefoxwarrior

I wish the rest of the state -- the people and the politicians -- would stop making such sweeping generalizations of a region of 800,000 people.

But isn't that a sweeping generalization of a region of 6 million people? You're just as bad as the people supposedly stereotyping your area of the state.

Originally Posted by Bluefoxwarrior

when I told people I was from NWI, I would say a majority of them would react along the lines of: "[gasp], so are you from/nearby GARY?"

I don't think I'd buy that the majority of people asked you that. Even for those who did, how do you know they weren't from another state? Gary's population is a fraction of Lake so it seems odd to me that people would automatically assume one was from Gary if they didn't mention otherwise. I don't even think Gary is the largest city in Lake anymore. What about Hammond, EC, Merrillville, etc...

[Bluefox]

Originally Posted by Colts

But isn't that a sweeping generalization of a region of 6 million people? You're just as bad as the people supposedly stereotyping your area of the state.

I based that statement off of my own personal experience living four years in Indiana but outside of NWI. Most of the rest of the state has not lived in, and many have never even been to, NWI. Being from the "Region" carried a noticeable degree of stigma at my alma mater. I did not intend to allege that the entire state felt this way.

I don't think I'd buy that the majority of people asked you that. Even for those who did, how do you know they weren't from another state? Gary's population is a fraction of Lake so it seems odd to me that people would automatically assume one was from Gary if they didn't mention otherwise. I don't even think Gary is the largest city in Lake anymore. What about Hammond, EC, Merrillville, etc...

My experience was what it was -- not everybody, but certainly the preponderance of people did mention Gary in some context or another when I told them I was from NWI. You can choose to believe what you want. The size of Gary is immaterial -- Gary is one of the most notorious cities in the country.

What I'm saying is that when people talk about NWI, it's always about the problems that primarily plague N. Lake County. I think a lot of Hoosiers don't realize that not all of NWI has those problems. A good majority of the region is IMO quite indistinguishable from the rest of the state. That's the narrow point I'm trying to make. No, I don't have empirical studies to back that up. Just lots of experience living around Hoosiers both inside and outside NWI.