As population grows, northwest Indiana invests in projects
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowNorthwest Indiana, the “Gateway to Chicago,” is Indiana’s second largest economy, contributing an estimated $35 billion annually to the state economy.
The completion of the $650 million South Shore Line Double Track project is having an impact across the region. The project cut the commute time from northwest Indiana to Chicago by 30 minutes, officials said.
“It’s a game changer for people’s schedules,” Mike Noland, South Shore Line President, said. “We really want to open up the market for folks who are time sensitive and need to get back to their homes and can’t spend three hours a day on the train. But if it’s little over two hours, you open up that job market in Chicago, bring back those higher wages and reinvest them here in the state.”
READ MORE: What’s next for the South Shore Line?
The Northwest Indiana Forum reports a net increase of more than 800 new businesses in the region. Among them, Microsoft announced plans earlier this year to spend $1 billion to build a new data center in La Porte.
“To say we’re at our tipping point is probably an understatement. It’s really fun and exciting to see the dynamic things that are happening,” Heather Ennis, Northwest Indiana Forum CEO, said. “We’re seeing high tech companies looking at northwest Indiana in a different way than before, our connectivity to the city of Chicago is strong, and we’re growing that in a technology base.”
Population in the area is increasing for the first time in more than a decade. Ennis says they’re continuing to work towards building a more diverse economy and highlighting what the area has to offer.
“We know that talent wants to live in cool places. We have such cool places, but we’ve done a pretty poor job of talking about them, so we’re telling that story a little bit better,” Ennis said. “We’re seeing billions of dollars of investment that are seriously looking at northwest Indiana as they’ve never looked before.”
The region is critical for plans to expand the high-tech superhighway throughout Indiana known as the Quantum Corridor. The Quantum Corridor launched last year with a transmission from a data center in downtown Chicago to a data center in Hammond.
“Northwest Indiana feels more like a part of Indianapolis every day, and that’s one of our goals. I mean, you and I have talked about this for years now about how do you make the region more a part of Indiana?” Tom Dakich, CEO of Quantum Corridor Inc., said in an interview with Gerry Dick.
In Michigan City, leaders continue to consider options for the soon-to-be vacated site of the Indiana State Prison. Officials say just the planning stage will last through the end of 2025 as the consultants analyze the site and various possible designs and gather public feedback on what should go there.
“That is a game changer, because that could change the face of Michigan City and the population as well,” Michigan City Mayor Angie Nelson Deuitch said. “It’s over 100 acres with several buildings that are beautiful…I think this is an opportunity for residents and state and regional partners to come together to really talk through what this could look like in the future.”
The Indiana State Prison originally opened in 1860 as the state’s second prison. It’s located on the western edge of Michigan City, less than a mile away from the city’s downtown and shopping center.
In nearby Hammond, millions of dollars are being invested to redesign its downtown, making pedestrian friendly streets and building a mixed-use development with the goal of becoming a destination rather than a drive through city.
Tourism is already big business in the region. Last year, Lake County reported the second highest number of visitor spending in the state—$1.2 billion.