vi PLAN 2040 for NORTHWEST INDIANA Acknowledgments 2011 NIRPC APPOINTMENTS APPOINTING AUTHORITY MEMBER LAKE COUNTY Lake County Commissioners Roosevelt Allen, Jr., Executive Board Lake County Council Christine Cid Lake County Surveyor George Van Til Mayor of Gary Mary Brown Mayor of Hammond Thomas M. McDermott, Jr., Chairman Merrillville Town Council Shawn M. Pettit Munster Town Council David F. Shafer Mayor of Hobart Brian Snedecor, Executive Board Mayor of East Chicago Anthony Copeland Griffith Town Council Stanley Dobosz Highland Town Council Michael Griffin Schererville Town Council Tom Schmitt Mayor of Crown Point David Uran, Treasurer Mayor of Lake Station Keith Soderquist Mayor of Whiting Joseph M. Stahura Dyer Town Council Jeff Dekker Cedar Lake Town Council Robert Carnahan Lowell Town Council Judith Walters Winfield Town Council Michael De Normandie New Chicago Town Council Ken Collmar St. John Town Council Michael Forbes Schneider Town Council Richard Ludlow Acknowledgments vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS PORTER COUNTY Porter County Commissioners Nancy Adams Porter County Council Jim Polarek Porter County Surveyor Kevin Breitzke Mayor of Portage Olga Velazquez. Executive Board Mayor of Valparaiso H. Jonathan Costas Chesterton Town Council James G. Ton, Executive Board Hebron Town Council Don Ensign Porter Town Council Michele Bollinger Kouts Town Council James Murphy Ogden Dunes Town Council Eric Kurtz Burns Harbor Town Council R. Michael Perrine Beverly Shores Town Council Geof Benson, Vice-Chairman Dune Acres Town Council John Sullivan Pines Town Council Cathi Murray Porter Township Trustee Edward Morales Union Township Trustee Anthony Pampalone LAPORTE COUNTY LaPorte County Commissioners Ken Layton, Secretary LaPorte County Council Rich Mrozinski LaPorte County Surveyor Anthony Hendricks Mayor of Michigan City Charles Oberlie Mayor of LaPorte Kathleen Chroback, Executive Board Trail Creek Town Council Ron Lombard Long Beach Town Council Bob Schaefer Kingsford Heights Town Council Rosalie Jacobs Kingsbury Town Council vacant Michiana Shores Town Council Steve Millick Wanatah Town Council Stephen Mockler, Executive Board LaCrosse Town Council vacant Pottawattomie Park Town Council Susan Tochell Westville Town Council vacant Governor of Indiana Chester Dobis, Executive Board Little League victory parade. Photo courtesy of the Times of Northwest Indiana. 2040 CRP STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS PAST & PRESENT Roosevelt Allen, Jr. Lake County Board of Commissioners Vanessa Allen Urban League of Northwest Indiana Michael Aylesworth Indiana Department of Environmental Management Don Babcock Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) Diane Thalmann NIPSCO Geof Benson Town of Beverly Shores Mitchell Bishop LaPorte County Joan Bliss Retired Citizen David Blumenthal The Center of Workforce Innovations, Inc. Linda Woloshansky The Center of Workforce Innovations, Inc. Peter Borcz Interested Region Citizen Lee Botts Environment Kevin Breitzke Porter County Surveyor Bryan Bullock Revitalization First/Attorney at Law A.J. Bytnar City of Hobart Cassandra Cannon United Urban Network Inc. Bob Carnahan Town of Cedar Lake Ken Dallmeyer Regional Bus Authority Tim Brown Regional Bus Authority Jan Dick Valparaiso Pathways Committee Stan Dobosz Town of Griffith Beth Jacobson City of Hammond Africa Tarver City of Hammond Brian Poland City of Hammond Dale Engquist Shirley Heinze Land Trust Michael Genger Town of Porter Phil Gralik RW Armstrong Engineering Michael Griffin Town of Highland Steve Hauersperger Indiana Department of Transportation K-Todd Behling Indiana Department of Transportation Jerry Halperin Indiana Department of Transportation Don Abraham Indiana Department of Transportation Richard Herr Hoosier Environmental Council Bryant Mitol Hoosier Environmental Council Marie Hoggs Senior Citizens Representative Pat Jackson Northwest Indiana Federation Martin Jaffe University of IL at Chicago, Urban Planning/Policy George T. Janiec Disability Community Board Member Jim Jessup Leadership LaPorte County Danita Johnson-Hughes Edgewater Systems for Balanced Living Earl Jones IUN Environmental Justice Partnership Keith Kirkpatrick KPM Group, Leadership Northwest Indiana Eric Kurtz Town of Odgen Dunes Carl Lisek South Shore Clean Cities, Inc Lou Martinez Lake Area United Way Myrna Maldonado City of East Chicago Sergio Mendoza Lake Michigan Coastal Program Christopher Meyers City of Gary Leigh Morris Indiana Economic Development Corporation Richard Morrisroe East Chicago Resident Kay Nelson Northwest Indiana Forum Bob Nickovich Lake County Parks Joe Ebert Lake County Parks Sandy O’Brien Sierra Club Dunelands Group George Malis Sierra Club Dunelands Group Charles Oberlie City of Michigan City, Steering Committee Chairman Craig Phillips City of Valparaiso Tyler Kent City of Valparaiso Sylvia Planer Hispanic Coordinating Council Olga Cantu Hispanic Coordinating Council Lorraine Guillen-Wentz Hispanic Coordinating Council Mark Reshkin Retired Professor, Indiana University Northwest (IUN) Jill Ritchie United States Steel Corporation/Gary Works Carolyn Saxton Lubeznik Center for the Arts Mary Stewart-Pelligrini The Stewart Management Group Daniel Suson Purdue University; School of Eng/Math/Sci Leslie Dorworth Purdue University Ellen Szarleta Indiana University; School of Public & Environmental Affairs (SPEA) Dennis Wichelns IUN SPEA Debbie Thomas IUN: Center for Regional Excellence Victoria Brockett IUN: Center for Regional Excellence Mary Jane Thomas City of LaPorte Railcats fans. Photo courtesy of the Times of Northwest Indiana. Kathy Chroback City of LaPorte, Steering Committee Vice-Chair Bob Thompson Porter County Plan Commission Garry Traynham Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Eric Ehn Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore David Uran City of Crown Point George Van Til Lake County Surveyor Olga Velazquez City of Portage Joseph Wszolek Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors (GNIAR) & Joseph Wszolek & Associates Pat Pullara GNIAR CONSULTANTS AmericaSpeaks Daniel Clark Ron Thomas HNTB Phil Hanegraaf Sara Hage Diane Gormely-Barnes Spencer Gardner Christopher Kopp EDITING AND FORMATTING Kerry Erickson Beth Shrader NIRPC COMMITTEES Transportation Policy Committee Members Environmental Management Policy Committee Members Land Use Committee Members Congestion Management Sub-Committee Ped, Pedal & Paddle Committee NIRPC CONTRIBUTING STAFF Mitch Barloga Gabrielle Biciunas Bill Brown Gary Evers Joe Exl Kevin Garcia Matt Hay Ryan Hicks Eman Ibrahim Kathy Luther Hubert Morgan Chase Morris, Intern Jody Melton Belinda Petroskey Lauren Rhein Beth Shrader, Intern John Smith Stephen Sostaric Steve Strains John Swanson Mary Thorne Thomas Vander Woude Thank you to the facilitators and participants who volunteered their time and talents towards the development of the 2040 CRP. Forum on the Future of Northwest Indiana, December 2008 Goal Setting Work Groups, May - June 2009 Subregional Cluster Workshops, September - October 2009 Regional Scenarios Stakeholder Workshops, September 2010 Open Houses, May - June 2011 Northwest Indiana neighbors. Photo courtesy of the Times of Northwest Indiana.