As a Chicagoan born and raised in Hammond, I’ve got mixed feelings around the Bears’ potential move.
I’m a sports agnostic but elated for my parents, who are lifelong Bears fans and live near the proposed site. Also, I’m shocked at how few people, at least on social media, understand the symbiotic relationship Chicago has with northwest Indiana, and the comments disparaging Hammond as just a “slag heap” have me riled.
These online conversations remind me of my first job out of college when a snooty woman said to me, “I didn’t know anyone actually lived in those highway towns.” Yes, Lauren, they do, and they are Chicagoland people.
This is an old debate that stirs up internet cranks, so I’m not going to argue whether Hammond is actually a suburb of Chicago. Of course it is.
First, it’s officially part of the Chicago metropolitan area, per the federal government; Hammond has strong economic and commuting ties to the city.
Because it borders the southeastern part of Chicago, it’s closer to downtown Chicago than many Chicago suburbs in Illinois. For instance, Hammond is less than 25 miles from downtown Chicago, while Arlington Heights is about 27 miles; Naperville, more than 30 miles; and Elgin, more than 40 miles.
Also, state lines don’t necessarily define suburbs. Kansas City, Missouri, has suburbs in Kansas; New York has suburbs in New Jersey and Connecticut; and Philadelphia has suburbs in New Jersey and Delaware.
Nor do state lines define names of professional sports teams: The New York Giants and Jets play at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, and the Los Angeles Angels play in Anaheim, not LA.
Next, a key characteristic of suburbs is that residents travel to the central city for work. Thousands of Hammond residents commute via Interstate 90/94 and the South Shore train — my dad’s train commute to his office was 25 minutes.
And — unlike most of Indiana, which is on Eastern time — Hammond and the rest of the region share Central time with Chicago.
Finally, the area shares Chicago’s urban fabric and culture. Hammond and the South Side are basically visually identical, and northwest Indiana’s some 875,000 residents tune in daily to Chicago news and radio. No one I knew there rooted for the Indianapolis Colts or Pacers — we were Bears, Hawks, Bulls, Cubs and Sox fans. This fandom is robust; you’ll find as many tailgate parties and jerseys there as the South Side. (When the 1985 Bears won the Super Bowl, our school gave us the day off to attend the parade.)
Now that I’ve established Hammond as a Chicago suburb, I’d like to make this point: After decades of indignities, Hammond deserves the Bears.
Due to northwest Indiana’s unique positioning along Lake Michigan between Chicago and Indiana’s cornfields, there was a name people called us when I was growing up to reflect our not quite corn-fed but also not quite “Chicago” status and paint us as uncouth mill rats: “Region Rat.” You either wore that as a point of pride or shame.
Few northwest Indiana people I know identify with Indiana and being a Hoosier. Regionites, as they’re known, have little connection to cornfields and very often are Democrats (unlike most Indiana residents). My pals and I were raised on visiting the Field Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry; seeing the Goodman Theatre’s “A Christmas Carol”; viewing Marshall Field’s holiday windows; eating our favorite chain pizza; visiting the Sears Tower; and shopping on State Street and Michigan Avenue. Just like other suburban families.
If you walk three blocks from the house I was raised in, you will cross into Chicago. Yet, during my Indiana college years, I was never allowed by classmates to claim Chicago as home (though frat boys from Highland Park or Hinsdale — much further commutes — got away with that move).
As I observe people belittling my hometown, here’s what’s true: Hammond is a complex city built and destroyed by industry. For decades, factories discharged pollution into waterways and wetlands, destroying natural habitats and forcing residents to live in the shadow of smokestacks and refineries. When manufacturing restructured in the 1970s to ’80s, the area faced disinvestment and decline, but Hammond fared better than other northwest Indiana cities because of its Chicago proximity. The area is working through ongoing environmental cleanups and attempts to reinvent local economies.
The plan for the stadium could still collapse; the Bears’ billionaire owners could be bluffing to secure an Arlington Heights deal.
It’s also a bummer the Bears are essentially shaking down Indiana taxpayers; the state’s super-low minimum wage ($7.25) is likely appealing.
But, I still love this for my hometown — and not only so my dad can tailgate in his backyard.
I’ll note that I don’t usually think about sports. Mostly, I’m an office-working, matcha-drinking, artsy, liberal, North Sider. However, classist monsters online have engaged my inner Hammond and my inner ‘Rat.
In summation, for the haters: Hammond, a northwestern sliver of your neighboring red state, has been a Democratic stronghold and is your suburb. The Bears in Hammond would formalize the relationship of these two connected, interdependent cities. The team would provide robust economic development — and pride — to my fellow ‘Rats. Most of all, it would bestow vindication and dignity to thousands of long-suffering northwest Indiana football fans, who’ve crossed the state line for generations to see “Da Bears.”
So, if big-mad Chicagoans abandon the team, it’s OK. There are tens of thousands of ‘Rats who’ll be happy to fill seats.
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Go sportsball!
Gretchen Kalwinski is a tech writer and former Hoosier who lives on Chicago’s Northwest Side. Her short work has been anthologized, most recently in “Rust Belt Chicago: An Anthology.”
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