Northwest Indiana

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**Northwest Indiana**
Image:US-IN-Northwest.PNG Common name: The Region
Largest city Other cities	Gary - Hammond - Michigan City - Portage - Valparaiso
Counties	- Jasper - Lake - LaPorte - Newton - Porter

Northwest Indiana, also known as The Calumet Region, or just The Region, is comprised of Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Newton, and Jasper counties in Indiana. This region neighbors Chicago, Illinois and Lake Michigan, and is also the Indiana component of the Chicago metropolitan area. Not only does the region include a large group of Chicago suburbs, such as Crown Point, Merrillville, Highland, Munster, Griffith, Schererville, Dyer, and St. John but also a number of cities whose economies are only loosely linked to Chicago's. The largest city in the region is Gary; other notable cities in the region include Hammond, Hobart, Portage, East Chicago, Valparaiso, and Michigan City.

1 Overview
2 Economy
3 Education
4 Counties
- 4.1 Census Bureau population statistics
5 Transportation
6 Area codes
7 Local Media
- 7.1 Print
- 7.2 Broadcast
8 Region Natives
9 External links

[edit] Overview

The five counties of Lake, Porter, Jasper, Newton, and LaPorte are included in the Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City Combined Statistical Area, the broadest of the census defined Metropolitan definitions. Unlike the majority of Indiana, which operates on Eastern Standard Time, these five counties are among seven in Northwestern Indiana that are in the Central Time zone, the other two being Starke and Pulaski. This reflects their close economic integration in the Chicago metropolitan area.

Three counties- Lake, Porter, and LaPorte- are served by the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission [1], an organization that coordinates economic and infrastructure development in the region.

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.

[edit] Economy

The northern portion of the region 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 Mittal Steel Company (Indiana Harbor). Whiting is home to the largest petroleum 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 notable component of the Northwest Indiana's economy. Four casino boats with approximately 7,000 slots and 200 table games are located along Lake Michigan in Lake County. An additional 1,724 slots and forty nine table games are in Michigan City.

A number of the region's suburban towns and cities serve as bedroom communities for Chicago. Retail trade, health care, and other service industries represent the dominant economic activities in these areas.

[edit] Education

Four major universities are located in the region: Valparaiso University in Valparaiso (the largest private Lutheran University in the United States), Indiana University Northwest (IUN) in Gary, Purdue University Calumet in Hammond, and Purdue University North Central in Westville. Along with several smaller colleges and universities in Northwest Indiana, these institutions offer a variety of degree programs in areas including 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.

[edit] Counties

[edit] Census Bureau population statistics

Census Area	Census 2000	1990 Census	1980 Census	1970 Census	1960 Census	1950 Census
Jasper County, Indiana	30,043	24,960	26,138	20,429	18,842	17,031
Lake County, Indiana	484,564	475,594	522,965	546,253	513,269	368,152
LaPorte County, Indiana	110,106	107,066	108,632	105,342	95,111	76,808
Newton County, Indiana	14,566	13,551	14,844	11,606	11,502	11,006
Porter County, Indiana	146,798	128,932	119,816	87,114	60,279	40,076

[edit] Transportation

[edit] Major airports

Gary/Chicago International Airport (GYY)

[edit] Commuter rail

South Shore Line connecting Chicago to South Bend, Indiana, passing through Gary and Michigan City

[edit] Major highways

[edit] Area codes

[edit] Local Media

[edit] Print

The Times of Northwest Indiana - Print, Online
Post-Tribune - Print, Online
Region Sports Network - Print, Online, Broadcast

[edit] Broadcast

WEFM (FM) 95.9 - Radio
WGVE (FM) 88.7 - Radio
WIMS (AM) 1429 - Radio
WJOB (AM) 1230 - Radio
WLTH (AM) 1370 - Radio
WWCA (AM) 1420 - Radio
WJYS-TV - 62/36 Television
WYCC-TV - 20/21 Television
WYIN-TV - 56/17 Television

[edit] Region Natives

Image:Flag of Indiana.svg	v • d • e State of Indiana Indianapolis (capital)
Topics	Geography \| Governors \| People \| History \| Demographics \| Economy \| Transportation \| Sports \| Symbols
Regions	East Central Indiana \| Great Black Swamp \| Michiana \| Nine‑County Region \| Northern Indiana \| Northwest Indiana \| Southern Indiana \| Wabash Valley
Largest cities	Anderson \| Bloomington \| Carmel \| Columbus \| Crown Point \| East Chicago \| Elkhart \| Evansville \| Fort Wayne \| Franklin \| Gary \| Goshen \| Greenwood \| Hammond \| Hobart \| Indianapolis \| Jeffersonville \| Kokomo \| Lafayette \| La Porte \| Lawrence \| Marion \| Michigan City \| Mishawaka \| Muncie \| New Albany \| Noblesville \| Portage \| Richmond \| South Bend \| Terre Haute \| Valparaiso \| West Lafayette
Largest towns	Clarksville \| Fishers \| Highland \| Merrillville \| Munster \| Plainfield \| Schererville
Counties	Adams \| Allen \| Bartholomew \| Benton \| Blackford \| Boone \| Brown \| Carroll \| Cass \| Clark \| Clay \| Clinton \| Crawford \| Daviess \| DeKalb \| Dearborn \| Decatur \| Delaware \| Dubois \| Elkhart \| Fayette \| Floyd \| Fountain \| Franklin \| Fulton \| Gibson \| Grant \| Greene \| Hamilton \| Hancock \| Harrison \| Hendricks \| Henry \| Howard \| Huntington \| Jackson \| Jasper \| Jay \| Jefferson \| Jennings \| Johnson \| Knox \| Kosciusko \| Lagrange \| Lake \| LaPorte \| Lawrence \| Madison \| Marion \| Marshall \| Martin \| Miami \| Monroe \| Montgomery \| Morgan \| Newton \| Noble \| Ohio \| Orange \| Owen \| Parke \| Perry \| Pike \| Porter \| Posey \| Pulaski \| Putnam \| Randolph \| Ripley \| Rush \| Saint Joseph \| Scott \| Shelby \| Spencer \| Starke \| Steuben \| Sullivan \| Switzerland \| Tippecanoe \| Tipton \| Union \| Vanderburgh \| Vermillion \| Vigo \| Wabash \| Warren \| Warrick \| Washington \| Wayne \| Wells \| White \| Whitley

v • d • e Chicago Metropolitan Area
Central City	Chicago	Image:Chicagoland Map.svg
Largest cities (over 30,000 in 2000)	Aurora • Berwyn •Calumet City • Chicago Heights • Crystal Lake • DeKalb • Des Plaines • East Chicago • Elgin • Elmhurst • Evanston • Gary • Hammond • Harvey • Highland Park • Joliet • Kenosha • Michigan City • Naperville • North Chicago • Park Ridge • Portage • Waukegan • Wheaton
Largest towns and villages (over 30,000 in 2000)	Addison • Arlington Heights • Bartlett • Bolingbrook • Buffalo Grove • Carol Stream • Carpentersville • Cicero • Downers Grove • Elk Grove Village • Glendale Heights • Glenview • Hanover Park • Hoffman Estates • Lombard • Merrillville • Mount Prospect • Mundelein • Niles • Northbrook • Oak Lawn • Oak Park • Orland Park • Palatine • Schaumburg • Skokie • Streamwood • Tinley Park • Wheeling • Woodridge
Counties	Cook • DeKalb • DuPage • Grundy • Jasper • Kane • Kendall • Kenosha • Lake (Illinois) • Lake (Indiana) • LaPorte • McHenry • Newton • Porter • Will

[edit] External links

Northwest Indiana Community Web Site by NorthwestIndiana.com
Northwest Indiana Regional Planning Commission
Arealinks.net (Michilliana Online)

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