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Gary, Indiana

Encyclopedia : G : GA : GAR : Gary, Indiana

 

"Gary" redirects here. For , see .

Gary (IPA: [ˈgɛɹ.i]) is the largest city in Lake County, Indiana, USA. The city is located on the southeastern corner of the Chicagoland metropolitan area and is approximately 25 miles from downtown Chicago. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 102,746 and is the largest Indiana city that is not a county seat. It borders Lake Michigan and is known for its large steel mills.

Contents

History

The city was founded in 1906 by the United States Steel Corporation as the home for its new plant. The city was named after the chairman of U.S. Steel, Elbert H. Gary.

Among U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Gary had the highest percentage of African-American residents (as of the 2000 U.S. census). Gary had one of the nation's first African-American mayors, Richard G. Hatcher, and hosted the ground-breaking 1972 National Black Political Convention. At the same time, Gary suffered the urban phenomenon of "white flight" as many Caucasian residents left Gary and relocated to the surrounding towns and cities.

Gary's fortunes have risen and fallen with those of the steel industry. In the 1960s, like many other American urban centers, Gary entered a downward spiral of decline. Gary's decline was brought on by drugs, crime, and layoffs at the steel plants. US Steel continues to be a major steel producer, but with only a fraction of its former level of employment. While Gary has failed to attract many major businesses since its population peak, two casinos opened along the Gary lakeshore in the 1990s. Today, Gary faces numerous difficulties, including unemployment, major economic problems, and a high rate of crime.

Meredith Willson's 1957 Broadway musical The Music Man featured the song, "Gary, Indiana," describing the alleged alma mater of lead character Professor Harold Hill ("Gary Conservatory, Class of '05!"). The joke in Hill's claim, of course, is that the city of Gary wasn't founded until '06. Wilson's musical, set in 1912, was later made into two movies.

Recent events

Gary is celebrating its centennial year
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Gary is celebrating its centennial year

Three-term Democratic mayor Scott King resigned from office in March, 2006, citing a desire to return to private law practice, and the financial rewards involved therein. Then-deputy mayor and former Calumet Township Trustee Dozier T. Allen Jr. became acting mayor, pending a formal election by local Democratic party officials. On April 4, 2006, local officials chose former Lake County Commissioner and King rival Rudolph Clay to fill the remaining 21 months of King's term.

As Gary celebrates it's 100th year in 2006, the city of Gary is expecting a downtown renaissance, due to many vacant lots and easy access to downtown Chicago and downtown Gary via Indiana Toll Road. The city would be an excellent place for recreational activities and businesses, if the city can reduce it's crime rate. Also, the Gary/Chicago International Airport is just 3 miles northwest of downtown Gary. This would help releive the business of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and the Chicago Midway International Airport. If the city is made safe and clean as back in the 1960's and 1970's, Gary could icrease overall statehood population and serve as a mini city, as many cities in New Jersey and New York serve to New York City.








Geography and Climate

Gary is located at [41°34′51″N, 87°20′44″W] (41.580786, -87.345449)[Geographic references#1GR1]. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 148.3 km² (57.2 mi²). 130.1 km² (50.2 mi²) of it is land and 18.2 km² (7.0 mi²) of it (12.25%) is water. The city sits on the southern end of the former lake bed of the prehistoric Lake Chicago, and the current Lake Michigan. Most of the city's soil is nearly pure sand. In fact many who attended elementary school in Gary -- especially those from Gary's "Miller" (now called the "Miller Beach") section -- can recall having to read a little brown booklet about Gary called "Gary: City on Sand." The sand beneath Gary, and on its beaches, is of such high quality that in years past it was mined for the manufacture of glass.

Gary is more or less "T" shaped, with its entire Northern border being the vast beaches on the Southernmost tip of Lake Michigan, one of the United States's five "Great Lakes." In fact, so large is Lake Mighigan that when one is standing on its shores, one cannot see to the other side; and so large can be its waves, and so foamy its "whitecaps," that one may be fooled into thinking that one must be gazing out onto an ocean. So big, in fact, is Lake Michigan that even though it's an inland, freshwater lake, it's still capable of producing waves big enough to sink large sailing vessels. Many a life has been lost on Lake Michigan on account of small craft operators not taking seriously foul weather warnings; or swimmers not taking seriously what those in Gary call the lake's "undertow" (the large, freshwater lake equivalent of what is known to those living near oceans as "riptides"). For all practical purposes, Lake Michigan is an inland sea... albeit freshwater, and not salt water like most of the world's oceans and seas.

As one moves from West to East across the top of Gary's aforementioned "T" shape, the city changes from being decidedly urban to being a bit more suburban, culminating in what is called the city's "Miller" or "Miller Beach" section, at its Northeastermoist point. To the East of Gary is Porter County and its Northwesternmost city of Portage. The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore extends several miles into Gary. Indiana becomes increasingly suburban and rural as one continues Eastward from there.

As one moves Southward down the vertical part of Gary's aforementioned "T" shape, one travel's Gary's length through its Glen Park section and into Merrillville, Indiana, to its immediate South. Continuing Southward from there also becomes increasingly suburban and rural.

However, to the West of Gary are the strongly urban cities of Hammond, Whiting, East Chicago and then the Indiana/Illinois border and the southernmost neighborhood of the City of Chicago itself. From Gary to its West is a continuing, urban metroplex... ending-up right in Chicago proper. In fact, Gary is much closer to downtown Chicago than most people -- even those who live in Chicago -- realize. Many who live and work in the City of Big Shoulders (Chicago) tend to think of Northwest Indiana as being far away and "out in the boonies." They don't realize that it's actually closer from downtown Gary to downtown Chicago (and is a shorter commute thereto) than are many of the [Chicago suburbs]] with which they're more familiar, and which they tend to consider to be more "acceptable" being called Chicago suburbs. The number of people who live in Gary -- especially its Miller (or Miller Beach) section -- but who work in Chicago, is huge. And many of them are familiar with being thought of by Chicagoans as less a member of the community of those who live in what are considered to be the "Chicago suburbs" than are those who live in Illinois to Chicago's South, West and North.

So close, in fact, to Chicago is Gary that most of Gary's media -- its TV and radio stations, newspapers, etc. -- tends to be Chicago-based. And standing on any of Gary's beaches, day or night, one can usually see the Chicago skyline to the northwest... less than 15 miles away, as the crow flies; and on a clear night, the twinkling lights from said skyline can be spectacular!

Another indication of Gary's closeness to Chicago (and, in the minds of some, its fundamental disconnectedness from the rest of Indiana) is the fact that Gary (and the rest of Northwest Indiana) is in the Central Time Zone, along with Chicago. Most of Indiana is considered to be in the Eastern Time zone.

For these reasons, and more, it is not uncommon for those from Gary who find themselves in other parts of the United States to just say they're from Chicago... not because they're ashamed of being from Gary (although, perhaps for some that is the case) but, rather, because everyone knows where Chicago is, but not everyone knows where Gary is; and since Gary is, legitimately, a suburb of Chicago, it's just easier, sometimes, to say one is from Chicago when one is in casual conversation with people in other parts of the country.

Gary, like Chicago, has variable weather. In July and August, the warmest months, high temperatures average 84°F and peak around 105°F and low temperatures averaging 63°F. In January and February, the coldest months, high temperatures average 29°F with low temperatures averaging 13°F. During most winters, Gary residents may anticipate at least a few days of temperatures dipping well below 0°F, but such nosedives in temperature are typically short-lived. Gary's temperatures, generally, are moderated by its proximity to Lake Michigan. As anyone who lives near a large body of water will attest, water has a tendancy to keep the warmest temperatures from getting as high, or the lowest temperatures from getting as low, as they do inland. Lake Michigan has that mediating affect on Gary... especially the parts of the city nearest the lake.

Another mediating affect of Lake Michigan is that it tends to keep away tornadoes. The typical difference in barometric pressure from the inland areas (where tornadoes are more likely) to the shoreline areas around the lake makes most Northward-heading tornadoes (from Southern inland areas) lift and break-up before they can do any damage to the cities that sit on Lake Michigan's Southern shore. That's not to say that a tornado is impossible in Gary; it's just that they're significatnly less likely than is possible only a few miles to the South because of the Lake's mediating affects.

And because of the lake, Gary can also be quite humid... surprisingly so, in fact, considering the fact that it's inland (away from the oceans). The old saying, "it's not the heat, it's the humidity" can be a painfully true reality there. Hot summers are often exacerbated by high humidity levels, making them seem even hotter. The city's yearly precipitation averages about 40 inches, and is a combination of both rain in the spring, summer and fall, and snow in the winter. Summer is the rainiest season but its bark is bigger than its bite, with short-lived rainfall and very loud drawn-out thunderstorms. Winters vary but they are predominantly snow and blizzards are somewhat regular. Snowfall in Gary can be an average of 24 to 36 inches per winter, but sometimes large blizzards hit the city and dump chest-high snowfall. This is because of what's called "lake effect snow," a phenomenon wherein large amounts of evaporate from the lake is deposited onto the shoreline areas inordinate amounts of snow during the winter.

Culture

Demographics

City of Gary
Population by year [link]
1900 NA
1910 16,802
1920 55,378
1930 100,426
1940 111,719
1950 133,911
1960 178,320
1970 175,415
1980 151,953
1990 116,646
2000 102,746
2004 99,516

As of the census[Geographic references#2GR2] of 2000, there were 102,746 people, 38,244 households, and 25,623 families residing in the city. The population density was 789.8/km² (2,045.5/mi²). There were 43,630 housing units at an average density of 335.4/km² (868.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 84.03% Black, 11.92% White, 0.21% Native American, 0.14% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.97% from other races, and 1.71% from two or more races. 4.93% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 38,244 households out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.2% were married couples living together, 30.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.0% were non-families. 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.28.

In the city the population was spread out with 29.9% under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 25.1% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 12.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 84.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $27,195, and the median income for a family was $32,205. Males had a median income of $34,992 versus $24,432 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,383. About 22.2% of families and 25.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 37.9% of those under age 18 and 14.1% of those age 65 or over.

Neighborhoods

Education

Public schools in Gary are administered by the Gary Community School Corporation.

On the collegiate level, Gary is home to a regional branch of Ivy Tech Community College, as well as Indiana University Northwest (IUN), a branch campus of Indiana University.

For more information go to Education of Gary, Indiana

Media

Transportation

Sports

The following sports teams are based in Gary:

Baseball

U.S. Steel Yard, Gary
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U.S. Steel Yard, Gary








Basketball

Genesis Convention Center, Gary
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Genesis Convention Center, Gary








Notable people from Gary, Indiana

External links

State of Indiana

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