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Common name: The Region |
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| Largest city Other cities |
Hammond - Gary - Michigan City - Portage - Valparaiso |
| Counties | - Jasper - Lake - LaPorte - Newton - Porter |
Northwest Indiana, also known as the South Shore and The Calumet Region or simply The Region, comprises Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Newton and Jasper counties in Indiana. This region neighbors Lake Michigan and is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. According to the 2010 Census, Northwest Indiana has a population of 819,537 and is the state's second largest urban area after the Indianapolis Metropolitan Area. The region's largest city is Hammond, followed closely by Gary. Other municipalities in Northwest Indiana include Chesterton, Crown Point, Dyer, East Chicago, Griffith, Highland, Hobart, Kentland, Lake Station, La Porte, Merrillville, Michigan City, Munster, Portage, Rensselaer, Schererville, St. John and Valparaiso.
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The counties of Jasper, Lake, LaPorte, Newton and Porter are included in the Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City Combined Statistical Area, the broadest of the census-derived Metropolitan definitions. Unlike the majority of Indiana, which operates on Eastern Standard Time, these counties are among six in Northern Indiana that are in the Central Time Zone (the other being Starke). This reflects their close economic integration in the Chicago metropolitan area. Northwest Indiana, along with the Illinois counties of Cook (southern), Will, Kankakee and Iroquois, are often referred to as Illiana (pronounced "Il-ee-AN-a") by the local media.
Three counties — Lake, Porter and LaPorte — are served by the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission metropolitan planning organization.[1]
The Lake Michigan shore is a major attraction. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, which stretches from Gary to Michigan City, is a well-preserved stretch of sand dunes, beaches, grasslands, and forests, as well as several historical homes and buildings. Other prominent geographical features of Northwest Indiana include the Valparaiso Moraine, Tinley Moraine, Calumet Shoreline, Glenwood Shoreline, and the Kankakee River and Kankakee Outwash Plain.[2]
The Chicago Lake Plain covers the northern quarter of Northwest Indiana. Initially, the plain was flat, composed of glacio-lacustrine deposits. These formed under the waters of glacial Lake Michigan. The lake formed from the melting glaciers north of the Valparaiso Moraine. Eventually the lake topped a low spot on the moraine. This lowered the lake level to current day Lake Michigan levels (Horsley, 1986).[3] Along the Lake Michigan shoreline, the prevailing winds have built a series of dune ridges, breaking up the original flat surface of the Lake Plain.
South of the Chicago Lake Plain is the Wheaton Morainal Plain. The Wheaton Morainal Plain follows the Valparaiso Moraine in a sweeping arc, paralleling the Lake Michigan Shoreline. The plain consist of rolling Wisconsinan-age moraines. The Morainal Plain is clayey till, and sandy and loamy till, with areas of sand and gravel. Other deposits include lake clay, silt, and alluvium. Deposits are between 50 and 200 ft thick, with many southern areas have over 200 ft of till. (Mades, 1987). [3]
The Kankakee Till Plain is an outwash plain formed by the variable gradient, variable volume, and variable velocity of glacial floods (Mickelson and others, 1984). Deposits are predominately sand and gravel, but also include alluvium and fill materials. Deposits average less than 200 ft thick; in the lowlands they can be less than 50 ft thick, while in the upland they can be more than 200 ft thick. Local elevation changes are less than 100 ft. [3]
The Bloomington Ridged Plain covers only the most southern part of Northwest Indiana in the valley of the Iroquois River. This area consists of low and rolling hills, i.e., moraines with less than 300 ft changes in elevation. The soils are loamy till, lake clay and silt. Unlike the northern half of Northwest Indiana, the Huron-Erie glacial lobe left these deposits in it northeastward retreat. Deposits are less than 200 ft thick; with some of more than 400 feet thick. [3]
The Steuben Morainal Lake Area is also the remains of the Saginaw glacial lob and covers only the eastern-most part of the Northwest Indiana. The area includes knob and kettles. ‘Knobs are formed when a melting glacier deposits hills of sand and gravel into a depression left by the ice. Kettles are formed when ice blocks from a glacier melt in depressions left by the ice.’ Many of the kames and peat bogs throughout this area are formed in these Kettles. Deposits are loamy till of more 200 ft thick. Variation in elevation is less than 110 feet. (Schneider, 1966). [3]
The northern portion of Northwest Indiana is noted for its heavy industry. Gary, Portage, Burns Harbor and East Chicago are home to major steel mills, including the largest North American facilities for both U.S. Steel (Gary Works) and ArcelorMittal (Indiana Harbor). Whiting and Hammond are home to the largest oil refinery in the Midwestern U.S., operated by BP. Other industrial outputs include fabricated metals, transportation equipment, and food products.
Since the 1990s, casino gambling has become a significant component of Northwest Indiana's economy. Three casino boats with approximately 207,000 square feet (19,200 m2) of aggregate gaming space are located along Lake Michigan in Lake County. An additional 65,000 square feet (6,000 m2) of gaming space is located in Michigan City.[4]
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and the Indiana State Legislature formed the entity known as the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority (RDA) in 2006.[5] The RDA, a special-purpose district, is vested with both legal authority and tax dollars to invest in transportation and economic development throughout the region.
A number of Northwest Indiana's suburban towns and cities serve as bedroom communities for Chicago with Munster being the most affluent of these bedroom communities. Retail trade, health care and other service industries represent the dominant economic activities in these areas.
The Region is known for its blue collar mantra. They like to distance themselves from the rest of Indiana and consider themselves more Chicagoans.
Colleges and universities located in Northwest Indiana include Calumet College of St. Joseph in Whiting, Indiana University Northwest (IU Northwest) in Gary, Purdue University Calumet in Hammond, Purdue University North Central in Westville, Valparaiso University in Valparaiso (the largest independent Lutheran University in the United States) and Saint Joseph's College in Rensselaer. These institutions offer a variety of degree programs in fields such as business administration, engineering and engineering technology, law, education, computing and information technology, and the liberal arts. Additionally, Northwest Indiana is proximate to numerous other universities elsewhere in Indiana and in the Chicago metropolitan area.[6]
| Census Area | 2010 Census | 2000 Census | 1990 Census | 1980 Census | 1970 Census | 1960 Census | 1950 Census |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jasper County, Indiana |
33,478
|
30,043
|
24,960
|
26,138
|
20,429
|
18,842
|
17,031
|
| Lake County, Indiana |
496,005
|
484,564
|
475,594
|
522,965
|
546,253
|
513,269
|
368,152
|
| LaPorte County, Indiana |
111,467
|
110,106
|
107,066
|
108,632
|
105,342
|
95,111
|
76,808
|
| Newton County, Indiana |
14,244
|
14,566
|
13,551
|
14,844
|
11,606
|
11,502
|
11,006
|
| Porter County, Indiana |
164,343
|
146,798
|
128,932
|
119,816
|
87,114
|
60,279
|
40,076
|
| Total |
819,537
|
786,077
|
750,103
|
792,395
|
770,744
|
699,003
|
513,073
|
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