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 Common name: The Region |
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| Largest city Other cities |
Gary - Hammond - Michigan City - Portage - Valparaiso |
| Counties | - Jasper - Lake - LaPorte - Newton - Porter |
Northwest Indiana, also known as the South Shore, The Calumet Region, and 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. The region's largest city is Gary; other municipalities in Northwest Indiana include Crown Point, Dyer, East Chicago, Hammond, Highland, Hobart, Merrillville, Michigan City, Munster, Portage, Schererville, and Valparaiso.
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The counties of Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Jasper, and Newton 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 six in Northwestern Indiana that are in the Central Time Zone (the other being Starke). This reflects their close economic integration in the Chicago metropolitan area. This area of 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 local media.
Three counties- Lake, Porter, and LaPorte- are served by the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission [1], an organization that coordinates economic and infrastructure development.
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 Arcelor Mittal (Indiana Harbor). Whiting is 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. 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.
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and the Indiana State Legislature formed the entity known as the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority (RDA) in 2006.[4] 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. Retail trade, health care and other service industries represent the dominant economic activities in these areas.
Colleges and universities located in Northwest Indiana include Calumet College of St. Joseph in Whiting, Indiana University Northwest (IUN) in Gary, Purdue University Calumet in Hammond, Purdue University North Central in Westville, and Valparaiso University in Valparaiso (the largest private Lutheran University in the United States). 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.[5]
| Census Area | 2000 Census | 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
|
*South Shore Line connecting Chicago to South Bend, Indiana, passing through Gary and Michigan City
Interstate 65
Interstate 80
Interstate 90 
Interstate 94
U.S. Route 6
U.S. Route 12
U.S. Route 20
U.S. Route 30
U.S. Route 35
U.S. Route 41
U.S. Route 231
U.S. Route 421
Indiana State Road 2
Indiana State Road 4
Indiana State Road 8
Indiana State Road 10
Indiana State Road 14
Indiana State Road 16
Indiana State Road 39
Indiana State Road 49
Indiana State Road 51
Indiana State Road 53
Indiana State Road 55
Indiana State Road 71
Indiana State Road 104
Indiana State Road 114
Indiana State Road 130
Indiana State Road 149
Indiana State Road 152
Indiana State Road 212
Indiana State Road 249
Indiana State Road 312
Indiana State Road 520
Indiana State Road 912
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Northwestern Indiana is in Indiana.
This area deals with plenty of traffic thanks to Chicago, so be prepared for occasional delays. I-65N heads in from Chicago, I-94S heads in from Michigan. I-90/80 is also part tollroad that heads east/west through the area. I-65S heads north through the area from central Indiana.
The city of Gary is notoriously dangerous.
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