One only has to look across Lake Michigan from any of the Region’s beachfronts to wave “Hello,” to our neighbors to the west. However, as more Illinois residents pack their bags to move across the state border, we’re finding our city-dwelling counterparts filing in faster than ever - making that friendly “Hello,” come from across the street, rather than across the waters of our native Great Lake.
The Internal Revenue Service reported that in 2015, there were record-breaking numbers of people leaving Illinois - totaling to more than 86,000 people by estimation. Recent information from the U.S. Census Bureau cited more than a loss of 37,000 people from 2016 - further dropping Illinois’ population.
And Northwest Indiana is doing everything they can to welcome incoming residents with open arms.
One strong example is the South Shore Line double-track expansion, which will make for a quick, easy and affordable commute between Chicago and Northwest Indiana. South Shore Line plans to expand 25 miles of the double track through Lake, Porter and La Porte counties, allowing for more trains and more frequent, faster service - which is good news for those wanting to move out of state, but keep their jobs in the city.
While Illinois residents have already been spilling over into bordering communities like Dyer, Munster, Hammond and more, eastern communities like Michigan City hope that with the ease of a quick commute on the South Shore Line, more of Chicago’s professionals will migrate to the city by the lake.
“We have seen some relocation happen in Michigan City, but you see more of that for communities closer to the state line,” Michigan City Mayor Ron Meer said. “However, with the South Shore double track, this will make the travel time between us and Chicago just a little over an hour. Hopefully when that’s complete, we’ll see more Illinois residents settle in Michigan City.”
Michigan City itself is doing some heavy lifting to roll out the welcome mat, from rebranding their online presence to revitalizing the downtown area. Meer also mentioned that the city is offering promise scholarships to help Michigan City home buyers put their children through higher education at a value of $5,000 per year for four years.
“We knew we’d come to the point to draw off of the Chicago market for not only visiting our city, but to have people in a hundred-mile radius see Michigan City as a great place to live, not just visit,” Meer said.
Why the Exodus out of Illinois? While this isn’t a trend that has just started to take hold, it’s accelerated due to a myriad of causes. High property taxes and cost of living in Illinois is certainly a part of the equation, however Ideas in Motion Media asked those who made the move to tell us first-hand!
Mike Tezak, owner and broker of Realty Premier Executives, moved from Illinois to Indiana in 1996. Now more than ever, he’s seen fellow Illinoisans make the same move, and he expects with the tax increase, the numbers will only rise.
“I was born and raised in Illinois and the best decision I ever made was to move out in 1996!” Tezak said. “Couldn’t be happier in Valparaiso, Indiana! Now I own the number one real estate office in Porter County. So, I can help you make that move too!”
Christopher Mahlmann, Ideas in Motion Media CEO, left Chicago behind eleven years ago to live in Valparaiso where he not only made the city home to his family, but his business as well. He grew up working in the city and living in the suburbs, never imagining before that he’d “be a Hoosier someday.” However, that all changed when he met his wife-to-be, whose family is from Valparaiso.
“We love it here,” Mahlmann said. “We moved to be here near Natalie‘s family, as we had lived near mine for the first half of our life together, but the quality of life here is so much more enjoyable than it ever was in Naperville. Lower traffic, lower cost of homes, lower property taxes, lower crime, slower pace and generally just nicer people with less attitude. Add to that all the pluses of great schools, nice parks, the shoreline, a government at the state level that functions, the combination of urban and country living within close proximity, and generally just Hoosiers. Not everyone of course, but pound for pound, Hoosiers are just nicer to interact with than people from Illinois.”
Mahlmann said the South Shore Line project will open the doors for so many Chicago suburbanites to be able to live in Indiana and work in the city.
“It might not be right for everyone, but it absolutely should be on everybody’s consideration list,” Mahlmann said. “The improvements that South Shore Rail is planning for with double tracking can be one of the most transformative changes this region will ever see. On its own, it’s not going to do everything, but there are thousands of families like ours that need to be able to have high-speed commuter level service to get in and out of Chicago super easily and quick. Right now, most of those people don’t consider Northwest Indiana because it takes an hour and a half on the train to get to Michigan City. It’s not just people from Naperville we can bring to Northwest Indiana. It’s people from Orland Park and Tinley Park, on the south side of Downers Grove, Aurora and St. Charles out west, along with Palatine, Arlington Heights and Crystal Lake along the Northwest, and the same along each line.”
Christopher Jones and his family moved into a beautiful home in Hammond nearly eight years ago and has not looked back since.
“I grew up in Hammond and moved to Chicago after college,” Jones said. “I lived in Chicago for 18 years, got married and had our first child. I realized the cost of living in Chicago would prevent us from doing everything we wanted in life. A friend said, ‘My old house in Hammond was for sale,’ and so we checked it out. My wife works in Chicago and this house is so close. It’s easy to commute by expressways and train. We moved here eight years ago this August. Love the low taxes and the size and unique house we bought, which would be crazy money in Illinois. Our house turns 100 this year. It’s also easy access to expressways to O’Hare, Midway and the beaches in Miller Beach and the Dunes.”
Motivated by love, Candice Puhek moved to Whiting seven years ago to start a family with her now husband.
“Met a guy who lived here, moved to be with him, got married, had a couple kids,” Puhek said. “I now have a life there's no way I could have had in Chicago. I moved from Chicago to my husband's home town of Whiting in 2011. Best decision of my life.”
For Nadine Salgado, a big factor was numbers. She moved to Hobart four years ago and has saved a ton of cash.
“I lived in Chicago almost all my life, so when we made the move to Indiana four years ago, it was a no-brainer,” Salgado said. “Where we used to live was the mecca of the food district close to downtown. And even though I lived there all my life, the property taxes were just going up, and up, and up - close to $12,000 a year. That’s ridiculous given the fact that our house was over 100 years old, and back where they just constructed all these new townhomes and multi-million-dollar homes around us. It’s just not fair, plus the people were very crude to you if you don’t have their kind of money.”
Looking for a quieter place to put down roots, Jeffrey Snyder likewise made the move to Valparaiso about three years ago.
“We liked living in downtown Chicago,” Snyder said. “Didn't need a car and lots of great culture, food, music and diversity. But we did start to get a little tired of the grid, glass, noise and concrete. The sprawl of the city also sometimes really dilutes accountability and courtesy. We started looking for a place to put down roots somewhere between Chicago and Ann Arbor. Valparaiso checked many boxes for smart growth and planning. We love the containment of the town and its location. While it was some of the features of the town that brought us here in the beginning, it's the people we've met so far that have made it great.”