Northwest Indiana
Northwest Indiana, also known as The Lake Region, The Calumet Region, or just The Region, is comprised of Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Newton, and Jasper counties in Indiana. These region neighbors Chicago, Illinois and Lake Michigan, and are also the Indiana components of Chicagoland and the Chicago Combined Statistical Area. The region includes not only a large group of Chicago suburbs, such as Merrillville, Highland, Munster, Schererville, and Dyer 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, Portage, East Chicago, Valparaiso, and Michigan City.
Regional traits
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.
A number of the suburbs serve as bedroom communities for Chicago and the suburban cities. The region is noted for its heavy industry. Gary, Portage, Burns Harbor and East Chicago are home to major steel mills, including the secondary location of U.S. Steel. The region is also the home of other metals industries, refineries, and heavy manufacturing. Since the 1990s, casino gambling has become a notable component of the region's economy. Four casino boats with approximately 6,500 slots and 250 table games are located in Lake County. An additional 1,724 slots and forty nine table games are offered by the Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City.
The South Shore Line commuter railroad services several communities in the northern part of the region.
The Lake Michigan shore is a major attraction. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, in Porter County, is a well-preserved stretch of sand dunes, beaches, grasslands, and forests, as well as several historical homes and buildings.
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 counties. This reflects their close economic integration in the Chicagoland region.
