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* It’s been noted by some national reporters covering the upcoming presidential primary in our neighboring state, and even some local types, that Illinois and Indiana residents aren’t exactly fond of each other…

They regard us as the land of hoods and thugs. We treat them like the land of hicks and rubes.

Sometimes it seems our only common ground is a mutual lack of affection for Northwest Indiana.

But even there, we’re going in opposite directions. The rest of Indiana doesn’t like Northwest Indiana because they think it’s too much like Chicago, while Chicagoans don’t like Northwest Indiana because it’s in Indiana.

* Question: Try to say one nice thing and one harsh but “true” thing about our neighbors to the East.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, May 5, 08 @ 10:33 am

Comments

Postive: Indianaoplis has some great museums, Childrens Museum and Native American Museums.

Negative: Gary Indiana, smells like a rendering plant in 120 deg weather.

Comment by Ghost Monday, May 5, 08 @ 10:43 am
Positive: My parents are now Hoosiers.

Negative: Every time I visit I am reminded of just how happy I am that they moved to Hoosierland after I was out of the house!

Comment by S. Illinois Monday, May 5, 08 @ 10:47 am
Positive: Lower Taxes

Negative: Gary makes Harvey look like a Country Club

Comment by reasonable 1 Monday, May 5, 08 @ 10:47 am
Positive: Kurt Vonnegut was a Hoosier.

Negative: He was smart enough to move away.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Monday, May 5, 08 @ 10:51 am
Columbus, Indiana is a great town. They have not given in to the mall mentality and instead made their entire beautiful downtown a mall. Great schools, churches, library, parks, etc. Speaking of parks, Indiana has it all over Illinois for State parks. Know why? They charge admission and have for well over 20 years. Also, the Covered Bridge Festival in October. If you haven’t been there, go this fall. Best advantage, if you’re going east/west, it doesn’t take long to get through Indiana.

Comment by Little Egypt Monday, May 5, 08 @ 10:51 am
Cheap smokes, beer and gas in Northwest.

The Borman is chronically under construction.

Comment by wordslinger Monday, May 5, 08 @ 10:51 am
Positive - Indianapolis also has some great restaurants

Negative - This sounds odd, but the way they have the traffic lights set up in northwest Indiana frustrates the heck outta me. It seems like any time you see a traffic light it turns red in a flash. Even if there is no other traffic around.

Comment by HoBoSkillet Monday, May 5, 08 @ 10:53 am
Positive - John Mellancamp
Negitive - Axl Rose

Comment by Mr. Ethics Monday, May 5, 08 @ 10:57 am
they make for good basketball…movies

Comment by you go boy Monday, May 5, 08 @ 10:58 am
Good: John Mellencamp Bad: K.K.K. + Kokomo

Comment by F.I.B. Monday, May 5, 08 @ 10:58 am
Positive: Three Floyds Brewery in Munster.

Negative: The fan base of the Indiana Hoosiers.

Comment by Fire Ron Guenther Monday, May 5, 08 @ 11:00 am
Positive: Larry Bird

Negative: the Interstates seem narrow and allow trucks and cars to travel at the same speed.

Comment by anon Monday, May 5, 08 @ 11:04 am
Positive: Terrific Big 10/NCAA cross country courses & meets; it is a ‘narrow’ state when driving across it.

Negative: Gary

Comment by North of I-80 Monday, May 5, 08 @ 11:05 am
They fund their education and higher education systems.

They have a totally screwed up property tax system.

Comment by Napoleon has left the building Monday, May 5, 08 @ 11:20 am
Cost of living in Indy is amazing. THey have Chik Fil A, nice people who talk kinda normal.

ANother good is on 80E, Krazy Kaplans Fireworks and all sorts of adult entertainment

They also have the epicenter of (college football)suckage, Notre Dame.

Comment by Wumpus Monday, May 5, 08 @ 11:23 am
The Colts also play football ina dome! The weather is nice there, why a dome?

Comment by Wumpus Monday, May 5, 08 @ 11:23 am
Positive: My mother-in-law lives in Southern Indiana.

Negative: My attorney in in Indianapolis.

Comment by South of I-80 Monday, May 5, 08 @ 11:33 am
Positive: They have the nation’s last interurban electric rail line, the South Shore, which still runs through the streets of Michigan City and has a stop at the Dunes.

Negative: In southern Indiana, the family tree looks more like the family stick.

Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Monday, May 5, 08 @ 11:41 am
The truth is that most of my impressions of Indiana come from driving through NW Indiana — Gary, Hammond, etc. — on the way to someplace else. So my feelings towards Hoosiers are an extension of my North Sider’s animosity towards South Siders, with a good measure of industrial stench thrown in.

The reality is that for many people in metro Chicago, Indiana is truly “flyover” country, a state that’s simply in the way of getting to a destination. (Contrast Michigan and Wisconsin, where a bunch of Chicagoans own cottages.). This simple fact explains both Chicagoans’ disdains for Indiana, and Hoosiers’ hate of Chicagoans. I’m fairly certain that feelings are not so strong about non-Chicago Illinoisans.

On the other hand, I will point out that the cheapest gas I ever purchased was in Indiana: 87 cents per gallon in 1998. Ah, memories.

Comment by the Other Anonymous Monday, May 5, 08 @ 11:44 am
The Annual Covered Bridge Festival.

The Annual Covered Bridge Festival.

Comment by 47th Ward Monday, May 5, 08 @ 11:51 am
Birthplace of the Jackson Five
Birthplace of Michael Jackson

Comment by Ali Ata and the forty thieves Monday, May 5, 08 @ 11:53 am
Central Indiana has a lot more natural beauty than central Illinois.

While all the medium sized central Illinois cities have something going for them, in Indiana it seems like with Indy so close and so awesome, the medium sized cities lay down and die. I’m looking at you, Terre Haute.

Comment by Rayne of Terror Monday, May 5, 08 @ 12:00 pm
Their roads are never cleared of snow and ice ( I have a place in MI and hate driving thru IN when it is snowing…YIKES)on the upside, they have a great QB in Indy…

Comment by Anonymous45 Monday, May 5, 08 @ 12:04 pm
Positive: My honeymoon was at a B&B in Richmond, IN, a beautiful little town near the Ohio border. It may not have had much in the way of amenities, but it was a wonderful, inexpensive, relaxing week after the wedding.

Negative: I second Wumpus- Notre Dame football. A few more years of losing to Navy might finally make their fans/alumni realize that ND football doesn’t matter anymore.

Comment by South Side Mike Monday, May 5, 08 @ 12:09 pm
Positives - Madison, IN is a charming, old fashioned town on the Ohio River, I highly recommend it. Halfway between Louisville and Cincinnati.

Indianapolis has a nice downtown, not crowded and easy to get around. Their new football stadium looks amazing! Better than the dump that was put inside of Soldier Field.

Negatives - Indiana Beach Amusement Park…Mullet Capital of the Midwest.

The BP Plant in Whiting that is polluting Lake Michigan.

Dan Quayle.

Comment by Hoosier Daddy Monday, May 5, 08 @ 12:11 pm
Positive - They have a conceal-carry law.

Negative - All the “bad guys” have moved to here.

Comment by Healthcare Worker Monday, May 5, 08 @ 12:28 pm
Good: Indianapolis 500
Bad: Notre Dame Football

By the way - I live in Illinois and I regard us as the land of hoods and thugs.

Comment by NimROD Monday, May 5, 08 @ 12:28 pm
Positives - they have a competative political environment allowing them to grow economically and grab Illinois businesses fed up with the Stupid Party.

Negatives - They are geographically smaller and less important than Illinois and Chicago.

Silly Positive - State name, ‘Indiana’, not derived from a French word.

Silly Negative - State name, ‘Indiana’, out of style since the TV cancellation of ‘Gunsmoke’.

Comment by VanillaMan Monday, May 5, 08 @ 12:29 pm
Postive: My Aunt Jean and Uncle Mike live there. I love those two people.

Negative: Who could possibly be proud of the nickname “Hoosiers”?

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, May 5, 08 @ 12:34 pm
Good: “Indianapolis” by The Bottle Rockets.

Bad: Twelve miles of I-80/I-94. It shouldn’t be so damn tough to get to a place that flat-out sucks.

– SCAM
so-called “Austin Mayor”
http://austinmayor.blogspot.com

Comment by so-called "Austin Mayor" Monday, May 5, 08 @ 12:40 pm
Positive: The Fighting Irish!

Negative: Purdue and IU

Comment by Bud Man Monday, May 5, 08 @ 12:43 pm
Positive: David Letterman.

Negative: Every other current & former resident, especially Bobby Knight.

Comment by Some Guy Monday, May 5, 08 @ 1:10 pm
Positive: One of the greatest spectacles in auto racing, they produce much of our fuel in their refineries
Negative: Have not yet taken Blago and his cronies off our hands…..

Comment by Plutocrat03 Monday, May 5, 08 @ 1:20 pm
Positive - Ryan White, David Letterman

Negative - Frank Burns, Bobby Knight, Dan Quayle.

Comment by Smitty Irving Monday, May 5, 08 @ 1:24 pm
Positive: My mother lives there, Longbeach, Notre Dame (I heard Phil Schmit’s closed otherwise I would include that).

Negative: I can only say that for us in Chicago, thank God that the wind usually is blowing west to east.

Comment by Been There Monday, May 5, 08 @ 1:30 pm
Positive: a) Notre Dame football; b) Peyton Manning

Negative: The refusal of parts of Indiana to adopt daylight savings time like the rest of the country.

Comment by SMC Monday, May 5, 08 @ 1:44 pm
Rich,

I am a Hoosier by birth and lived there for 18 years. I have spent the next 37 years in Illinois.

There are good and bad to both states, no more or less than other places in this country.

I won’t get into the finger pointing and one upsmanship.

Indiana has some great fishing and I know the nooks and crannies of parts of the state. Illinois and Chicago have some great places too.

Just driving up Clark Street a few minutes ago pointed out the value of living here.

Both places should live together as brother and sister, neither being better than the other.

Doug Dobmeyer

Comment by Doug Dobmeyer Monday, May 5, 08 @ 1:51 pm
Positive: Go Horse! (That’s Colts to non-Hoosier natives) Go Hoosiers!

Negative: Bad sports Karma of late (Entire Pacers squad, Sampson and now Harrison)

Comment by J. Bacon Monday, May 5, 08 @ 2:05 pm
Positive-Redamack’s

Negative-Redamack’s closed in the winter.

Comment by southside chic Monday, May 5, 08 @ 2:17 pm
Positive — Southern Indiana is flat-out beautiful.

Negative — Southern Indiana’s shameful KKK history

Comment by Randolph Monday, May 5, 08 @ 2:19 pm
Do Illinoisans realize our neighbors (i.e., MI, WI, IA, MO, KY, and IN) all refer to us as F.I.B.s? And no, it doesn’t stand for “Friendly Illinoisan Brothers.”

Comment by F.I.B. Monday, May 5, 08 @ 2:30 pm
Southside, where’s the Redamacs in Indiana? I only know the one in New Buffalo.

Comment by wordslinger Monday, May 5, 08 @ 2:35 pm
Positive - All the Hoosiers live there
Negative - It’s full of Hoosiers
No I’m just kidding, I have been to Indy-town.
Positive - the people were very nice and friendly
Negative - Verizon Ampitheater outside Indy sucketh, if you buy 1st row to a show they don’t tell you it is the first row in the 2nd floor section…..

Comment by Belle Monday, May 5, 08 @ 2:38 pm
Positive: Nice scenery, including a nice lake shore (assuming you don’t get mugged while enjoying it.) Also the setting for “A Christmas Story”, one of my favorite movies. (And right across the street from the fictional home of Elwood Blues of the Blues Brothers too.) Another positive…Indiana has no intention of buying Wrigley field.

Negative: I lived in Hammond for a decade one year (well, it sure seemed like a decade.) Aside from being a stinking rusted out rathole nestled between Gary and 95th-and-Lake Shore, it’s a wonderful town.

Comment by What planet is he from again? Monday, May 5, 08 @ 2:48 pm
Redamacks is in MI, you dolt…

Comment by Anonymous45 Monday, May 5, 08 @ 2:49 pm
Positive- Some awfully nice people have come from there.
Negative- I’m glad I don’t have to live there.

Comment by downhereforyears Monday, May 5, 08 @ 2:57 pm
Positives: 1. The people are friendlier than they are here in IL 2. Larry Bird (boo-yah)

Negatives: 1. Living only a few miles from the border I’ve learned this-they DO NOT know how to drive 2. It’s a southern state that has invaded us here in the north…honestly, why don’t they just merge themselves with Kentucky?

Comment by K to the 3 Monday, May 5, 08 @ 2:58 pm
Positive: Notre Dame, David Letterman, Notre Dame, and Notre Dame.

Negative: Trying to figure out what time it is when in South Bend.

( Given the State of this State and the shanningans that have gone on recently in Northwest Ind; and the crime in both states I don’t think either side should be pointing fingers at each other regarding either of these issues)

Comment by Irish Monday, May 5, 08 @ 3:24 pm
Positive: My wife is from Indiana.

Positive: The residents are more relaxed and take things easy.

Negative: They are a slow group.

Comment by Dirt Guy Monday, May 5, 08 @ 3:42 pm
Positive: Lower Gas Prices and Lower Taxes

Negative: Indianoplis Colts ( It may not be true but I can’t stand them!)

Comment by JakeCP Monday, May 5, 08 @ 4:42 pm
Bloomington is beautiful and has a good school.

Southern Indiana was the focal point for the modern militia movement.

Comment by Sango Dem Monday, May 5, 08 @ 4:43 pm
Positive: Better than Iowa
Negative: Not as good as Wisconsin

Comment by Jake from Elwood Monday, May 5, 08 @ 5:30 pm
Positive: They have a very good Governor, who will never get indicted.

Negative: They have a starting Running Back who doesn’t get pepper sprayed on boats.

Comment by Establishment Republican Monday, May 5, 08 @ 9:46 pm
Positive: Brown County State Park/Nashville, IN

Negative: Terre Haute

Comment by barttstar Tuesday, May 6, 08 @ 8:45 am