Is Merrillville in decline? (Gary, Hammond: crime rate, how much, neighborhood)

[Northwest Indiana]

Merrillville develops crime map

This is a useful tool. And while most of the crimes are north of 30, there appears to be a substantial amount of crime south of 30 and close to Crown Point (especially given the less dense population).

Here is a link to the map: Merrillville Police Department - Crime Map

[Northwest Indiana]

Well, all they need now is a charter from Ball State. I do believe that a charter school would do well in Merrillville considering that many families are not happy with MCSC and may not be able to afford private schools.

Charter school plans win approval of Merrillville council

[ColdAilment]

Lake County is in decline, but not Merrivle. It's one of the nicest cities in the county, and the biggest shopping destination for the county.

[Northwest Indiana]

Originally Posted by coldailment

lake county is in decline, but not merrivle. It's one of the nicest cities in the county, and the biggest shopping destination for the county.

LOL

[Big Play]

Originally Posted by ColdAilment

Lake County is in decline, but not Merrivle. It's one of the nicest cities in the county, and the biggest shopping destination for the county.

No, it's not one of the nicest places. And yes, it's most definitely in decline.

I recall as a kid going to Merrillville for the shopping, occasional dining out, etc. The place was solidly average back then, several decades ago; never great, but a decent place nonetheless. It was an average community that was borne from people leaving Gary in the 1960's, and it evolved into a place known for being the retail area for NWI.

Now, it's devolved into an even bigger retail area that's no longer a totally safe, solid community. It's simply not the same place anymore, and some of the crime issues from Gary seem to have afflicted Merrillville. It's even moving south of Route 30.

Simply put, Merrillville is not that great of a place anymore. Within the broader Chicago area, it's a low-end place that very few people would ever think to go. In NWI, there aren't many shopping/retail hubs so people still go there out of necessity. But thinking that this place is actually nice is hard to fathom.

[ColdAilment]

Originally Posted by Big Play

No, it's not one of the nicest places. And yes, it's most definitely in decline.

I recall as a kid going to Merrillville for the shopping, occasional dining out, etc. The place was solidly average back then, several decades ago; never great, but a decent place nonetheless. It was an average community that was borne from people leaving Gary in the 1960's, and it evolved into a place known for being the retail area for NWI.

Now, it's devolved into an even bigger retail area that's no longer a totally safe, solid community. It's simply not the same place anymore, and some of the crime issues from Gary seem to have afflicted Merrillville. It's even moving south of Route 30.

Simply put, Merrillville is not that great of a place anymore. Within the broader Chicago area, it's a low-end place that very few people would ever think to go. In NWI, there aren't many shopping/retail hubs so people still go there out of necessity. But thinking that this place is actually nice is hard to fathom.

Not sure where you are getting your information, except by personal experiences maybe, which are often skewed, but according to the crime data, Merrilville is actually a lot safer than most cities and still remains the shopping destination of Lake County. Merrillville's waterpark is also a huge regional draw, living in St. Joseph I know that myself and everyone I knew would go to that waterpark and Merrillville for shopping afterwards.

//www.city-data.com/city/Merrillville-Indiana.html

[ColdAilment]

Originally Posted by northwest indiana

lol

Rofl!

[ColdAilment]

Lastly, Merrillville isn't even losing population...it's still growing. Gary is declining, Merrillville is trudging forward.

Merrillville, Indiana - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Chuckity]

Originally Posted by ColdAilment

Not sure where you are getting your information, except by personal experiences maybe, which are often skewed, but according to the crime data, Merrilville is actually a lot safer than most cities and still remains the shopping destination of Lake County. Merrillville's waterpark is also a huge regional draw, living in St. Joseph I know that myself and everyone I knew would go to that waterpark and Merrillville for shopping afterwards.

//www.city-data.com/city/Merrillville-Indiana.html

Merrillville is declining. The schools suck. And the mall is technically in Hobart.

And the waterpark? BARELY in Merrillville. Barely. Like 2 feet from the Porter County line. And not near what most people would consider Garyville. Whoops ... I mean Merrillville.

[Northwest Indiana]

Originally Posted by ColdAilment

Not sure where you are getting your information, except by personal experiences maybe, which are often skewed, but according to the crime data, Merrilville is actually a lot safer than most cities and still remains the shopping destination of Lake County. Merrillville's waterpark is also a huge regional draw, living in St. Joseph I know that myself and everyone I knew would go to that waterpark and Merrillville for shopping afterwards.

//www.city-data.com/city/Merrillville-Indiana.html

In addition to what Big Play and Chuckity stated (also, Deep River Waterpark actually has a Crown Point address), the population increase in Merrillville is PRIMARILY due to lower middle and lower income families moving in from Gary, East Chicago, and in some cases, the south side of Chicago. Shopping in Merrillville? It still has some of the average options, but nothing special and it is getting worse. A huge amount of people in West Lake County (Munster, Dyer, Schererville, St. John, Highland) shop in Illinois at places such as Orland Square, Oak Brook Center, Mag Mile because these places are not much further than going to Southlake and have way more options. Southlake serves more of the Gary, Merrillville, Hobart, and Crown Point crowd because it is much more convenient. Also, we can look at Schererville and Munster becoming more of a shopping draw for upscale shopping in the area. I also see Porter's Vale in Valparaiso attracting more national chains. Merrillville is not Gary yet, but it is becoming much worse. And when I look at new housing prices in Merrillville compared to Crown Point (for the same home), I would rather pay $275,000 for the same home in Crown Point (except Ross Township) than $250,000 in Merrillville because I know that I'll have value in Crown Point for at least 15-20 years.