Michiana

For other uses, see Michiana (disambiguation).

Michiana Michiana as defined by the Chamber of Commerce of St. Joseph County
No. Counties	7 (15 in Greater Michiana)
States	Indiana, Michigan
Postal Codes	46-49
Largest City	South Bend
Second Largest City	Elkhart
Time Zones	Eastern, Central
US Region	Midwest

Michiana is a region in northern Indiana and southwestern Michigan centered on the city of South Bend, Indiana. The Chamber of Commerce of St. Joseph County, Indiana defines Michiana as "counties that contribute at least 500 inbound commuting workers to St. Joseph County daily." Those counties include Elkhart, La Porte, Marshall, St. Joseph, and Starke in Indiana, and Berrien and Cass in Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the population of those seven counties was 856,377 (647,271 in Indiana and 209,106 in Michigan).

The name is a portmanteau of "Michigan" and "Indiana" and was chosen as the winning entry, purportedly submitted by Thurman C. Crook, in a contest to name the area held by the Associated South Bend Merchants in 1934. The term is frequently used throughout the area, particularly by local radio and television stations based in South Bend that serve the entire area, but also by businesses that seek to draw customers from Indiana into Michigan or vice versa.

Government

The Michiana Area Council of Governments (MACOG) is the official Metropolitan Planning Organization for north central Indiana and the South Bend-Mishawaka metropolitan area. MACOG conducts planning for transportation, water quality, and economic development. Currently, 22 cities and towns as well as 29 townships participate in MACOG. Despite the Michiana moniker, none of these participants are currently from the state of Michigan, although Berrien and Cass Counties were until they along with Van Buren County were combined into their own MPO, what is now called the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission.

Counties

Indiana Counties

• St. Joseph County: Population: 266,931 (as of 2010)
• Elkhart County: Population: 197,559 (as of 2010)
• La Porte County: Population: 111,467 (as of 2010)
• Marshall County: Population: 47,951 (as of 2010)
• Starke County: Population: 23,363 (as of 2010)

Michigan Counties

• Berrien County: Population: 156,813 (as of 2010)
• Cass County: Population: 52,293 (as of 2010)

Largest cities

For a complete list, see List of cities and towns in Michiana

• South Bend, Indiana Population: 101,168
• Elkhart, Indiana Population: 50,949
• Mishawaka, Indiana Population: 48,252
• Goshen, Indiana Population: 31,719
• Michigan City, Indiana Population: 31,479
• Granger, Indiana Population: 30,465
• La Porte, Indiana Population: 22,053
• Niles, Michigan Population: 11,600
• Benton Harbor, Michigan Population: 10,038

Greater Michiana

The St. Joseph River flows through the heart of Michiana, southwest from Michigan to Indiana, west through Mishawaka (shown), turning north at South Bend, back into Michigan through Niles to Lake Michigan at St. Joseph.

Greater Michiana includes the following 15 counties in Indiana and Michigan:

Berrien County, Michigan Cass County, Michigan St. Joseph County, Michigan Van Buren County, Michigan Elkhart County, Indiana Fulton County, Indiana Kosciusko County, Indiana LaGrange County, Indiana

Lake County, Indiana La Porte County, Indiana Marshall County, Indiana Noble County, Indiana Porter County, Indiana St. Joseph County, Indiana Starke County, Indiana

The Chamber of Commerce of St. Joseph County (Indiana) defines Greater Michiana as "counties within a 60-mile driving distance to St. Joseph County" that are not included in the seven counties making up Michiana "proper." However, the driving distance presumably refers to the distance between the metropolitan South Bend area and significant population centers in outlying areas, since a strict definition allowing for 60 miles from any point in St. Joseph County would add even more counties to the Greater Michiana area. For example, Walkerton in southwestern St. Joseph County is located approximately 30 miles from Monterey in northeastern Pulaski County, yet Pulaski is not included in the Chamber's list of Greater Michiana counties.

Because Michiana is not a legal or political entity, opinions differ about what counties and communities constitute the region. Some definitions of the entire Michiana area include fewer than 15 counties; others include Pulaski County and exclude some other outlying counties, notably those in extreme Northwest Indiana, whose residents identify more closely with Chicago than with the South Bend area.

Points of interest

For more information and other points of interest not listed below, see the articles on the individual communities in the region.

Historical Sites

• Northern Indiana Center for History (South Bend, Indiana)

Museums

• Fort St. Joseph Museum (Niles, Michigan)
• LaPorte County Historical Society Museum (LaPorte County, Indiana)
• Old Lighthouse Museum (Michigan City, Indiana)
• Studebaker National Museum (South Bend, Indiana)

Universities

• University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame, Indiana)
• Indiana University South Bend
• Saint Mary's College (Indiana)
• Holy Cross College (Indiana)
• Bethel College (Indiana)
• Goshen College (Indiana)

Parks

• Warren Dunes State Park (Michigan)
• Potato Creek State Park (Indiana)
• Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
• Kingsbury State Fish and Wildlife Area (Indiana)

Transportation

• South Bend Regional Airport

See also

• Indiana
• Michigan
• Northern Indiana
• Southern Michigan
• West Michigan

External links

• Chamber of Commerce of St. Joseph County
• Michiana Area Council of Government
• Michiana Directory
• Michiana Roads
• Northern Indiana Center for History