Home > Chicago suburbs (Indiana)

The region is noted for its heavy industry. Gary, Portage, and East Chicago are home to major steel mills; the region is also the home of other metals industries, refineries, and heavy manufacturing.

The Lake Michigan shore is a major attraction. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, in Porter County, is a well-preserved stretch of sand dunes, beaches, grasslands, and forests.

The portions of these counties that are more distant from Chicago remain rural.

These counties are also in the Central Standard Time Zone, which is separate from the majority of Indiana counties, which are in the Eastern Standard Time ZoneThe Eastern Standard Time Zone is a geographic region that keeps time by subtracting five hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC). In the United States, the following states are part of the Eastern Standard Time Zone: Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia,. Also, unlike most of Indiana, the Lake Region observes Daylight Saving Time.