Downtown Gary is split by Broadway into two separate neighborhoods in north-central
Gary, Indiana
Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along the sou ...
.
Emerson and
Downtown West combine to form what is known as Downtown Gary. It was part of the original
plat
In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bea ...
built by the
United States Steel Corporation
United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in several countries ...
. It is located east of
Grant Street, south of the
Grand Calumet River
The Grand Calumet River is a river that flows primarily into Lake Michigan. Originating in Miller Beach in Gary, it flows through the cities of Gary, East Chicago and Hammond, as well as Calumet City and Burnham on the Illinois side. The maj ...
, north of 9th Avenue and west of
Interstate 65. Downtown West borders
Ambridge Mann
Ambridge Mann, sometimes called Ambridge-Horace Mann or Horace Mann-Ambridge, is a neighborhood in northwestern Gary, Indiana. It is bounded by the Grand Calumet River on the north, by Grant Street on the east, by Chase Street on the west, and by ...
to the west and
Midtown to the south, but it is separated from the
Aetna
Aetna Inc. () is an American managed health care company that sells traditional and consumer directed health care insurance and related services, such as medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, long-term care, and disability plans, ...
and
Pulaski neighborhoods to the east and south by an industrial corridor.
Governmental
Gary City Hall and Lake County Superior Courthouse are located at the north end of Downtown Gary. The two domed structures stand across Broadway from each other along 4th Avenue. Further south along Broadway are the Indiana Department of Social Services building and the Gary Housing Authority offices. Along 5th Avenue are the Calumet Township Trustee's office, the
Gary Police Department
Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along the so ...
, and the main branch of the
Gary Public Library
Gary may refer to:
*Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name
*Gary, Indiana, the largest city named Gary
Places
;Iran
* Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province
;Uni ...
.
Commercial
Much of the commercial property along Broadway and Washington Street is now vacant. There is some new development along 5th Avenue. A large area of the downtown neighborhood (including City Methodist) was devastated by fire on October 12, 1997. The
Genesis Convention Center was built in 1981 in a failed effort to stimulate a rebirth of the downtown. It is located along Broadway and 5th Avenue. It formerly hosted professional basketball, but now hosts only events and concerts. In 2001 the
U.S. Steel Yard baseball stadium was built in another effort to stimulate development. Built on what was once a fairly blighted section of housing, its construction was highly controversial. However, it has proven somewhat successful drawing fans from surrounding communities. In September 2009, the one-millionth fan walked into the U.S. Steel Yard.
Residential
The Downtown neighborhood suffers from extensive vacant lots and abandoned buildings. As of 2000, Downtown Gary had a population of 8,042. About 38% of the housing stock is owner-occupied. However, there were 44 new housing units built between 5th and 6th Avenue east of Broadway.
Transportation
The neighborhood is served by the
Indiana Toll Road
The Indiana Toll Road, officially the Indiana East–West Toll Road, is a tolled freeway that runs for east–west across northern Indiana from the Illinois state line to the Ohio state line. It has been advertised as the "Main Street of the ...
directly to its north, which has exits at Broadway, Grant Street, and 5th Avenue, by
Interstate 65 to the east, which has an exit on 5th Avenue, and by
US 12
U.S. Route 12 (US 12) is an east–west United States highway, running from Aberdeen, Washington, to Detroit, Michigan, for almost . The highway has mostly been superseded by Interstate 90 (I-90) and I-94, but unlike most U.S. routes that ...
/20 also to the north. The
Adam Benjamin Metro Center is located just north of 4th Avenue. It is operated by the
Gary Public Transportation Corporation
The Gary Public Transportation Corporation (GPTC) is a commuter bus system in Gary, Indiana that offers service to numerous stops throughout the city and neighboring suburbs. GPTC is a public corporation owned but not directly controlled by the ...
and acts as a multimodal hub. Public transportation is provided by the buses of the Gary Public Transportation Corporation, which run along Broadway and 5th Avenue.
References
*
{{Gary neighborhoods
Neighborhoods in Gary, Indiana
Gary