Ambridge Mann | |
|---|---|
Neighborhood | |
 Location within the city of Gary | |
| Coordinates: 41°36′06″N87°21′33″W / 41.601548°N 87.359294°W Coordinates: 41°36′06″N87°21′33″W / 41.601548°N 87.359294°W | |
| Country |  |
| State |  |
| County | Lake County |
| City | Gary |
| Founded | 1910 |
| Population (2000) [1] | |
| • Total | 6,236 |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (CST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| ZIP code | 46404 |
| Area code(s) | 219 |
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 the Norfolk Southern railroad on the south. [2] Adjacent areas include an industrial district to the north, Downtown West to the east, Tolleston to the south, and Brunswick to the west. As of 2000, Ambridge Mann had a population of 6,236, which was 96.3% African-American. [1] Located just south of Interstate 90, the neighborhood can be seen while passing Buchanan Street.
Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States, 25 miles (40 km) from downtown Chicago, Illinois. Gary is adjacent to the Indiana Dunes National Park and borders southern Lake Michigan. Gary was named after lawyer Elbert Henry Gary, who was the founding chairman of the United States Steel Corporation. The city is known for its large steel mills, and as the birthplace of the Jackson 5 music group.
The Grand Calumet River is a 13.0-mile-long (20.9 km) 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 majority of the river's flow drains into Lake Michigan via the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, sending about 1,500 cubic feet (42 m3) per second of water into the lake. A smaller part of the flow, at the river's western end, enters the Calumet River and ultimately drains into the Illinois and ultimately the Mississippi River.
Downtown West, is a neighborhood in north-central Gary, Indiana. Emerson and Downtown West combine to form what is known as Downtown Gary. It was part of the original plat built by the United States Steel Corporation. It is located East of Grant Street, south of the Grand Calumet River, north of 9th Avenue and west of Broadway. As of 2000, Downtown West had a population of 4,684. Downtown West borders Emerson to the east, Ambridge Mann to the west, and Midtown to the south.
The neighborhood is home to Gary's only hospital, Methodist Northlake. Schools in Ambridge Mann include Vohr Elementary and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Academy, an alternative high school. A 7-acre city park, Ambridge Park, provides public access to the Grand Calumet waterfront. In May 2011, the Gary Board of Public Works and Safety announced it was moving forward with plans to construct a bicycle trail that would run along the Grand Calumet from Gary's western border to Ambridge Park. [3] This is part of a larger Gary Green Link project, which will develop bicycle trails throughout the city.
Ambridge Mann was formerly considered to comprise two distinct neighborhoods, Ambridge and Horace Mann, lying north and south of 5th Avenue respectively. Ambridge took its name from the American Bridge Works, a subsidiary of U.S. Steel located on the north bank of the Grand Calumet River; Horace Mann was named after a school in the neighborhood. The area was whites-only until the early 1970s, when the heavily Jewish community was replaced by middle-class African-Americans. [4] Many former inhabitants of Ambridge Mann migrated to Miller Beach during this period. The neighborhood had a population of 8,920 in 1970. [5]
Miller Beach is a neighborhood of Gary, Indiana on the southernmost shore of Lake Michigan. First settled in 1851, Miller Beach was originally an independent town. However, the "Town of Miller" was eventually annexed by the then flourishing city of Gary in 1918. Located in the northeastern corner of Lake County, Indiana, the former town is now known as "The Miller Beach Community." Miller Beach borders Lake Michigan to the north, Porter County to the east, and is largely surrounded by protected lands, including Indiana Dunes National Park. Miller Beach is also the closest beach/resort community to Chicago, and has been a popular vacation spot since the early 20th century. As of the 2000 US census, it had a population of 9,900.
Ambridge Mann is traversed by the South Shore Line, and bisected by U.S. highways 12 and 20, which run along 4th and 5th Avenues. The Indiana Toll Road runs just north of the neighborhood, on the north bank of the Grand Calumet River, with an interchange at Grant Street in the neighborhood's northeastern corner. Buses of the Gary Public Transportation Corporation serve the neighborhood. The South Shore Line formerly stopped at Ambridge station, but service there ended in 1994. [6]
The Indiana Toll Road, officially the Indiana East–West Toll Road, is a tolled freeway that runs for 156.28 miles (251.51 km) 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 Midwest". The entire toll road is designated as part of Interstate 90, and the segment from Lake Station east to the Ohio state line is a concurrency with Interstate 80. The toll road is owned by the Indiana Finance Authority and operated by the Indiana Toll Road Concession Company, which is owned by IFM Investors.
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 city.
Ambridge was a South Shore Line flag stop located at Bridge Street in the Ambridge Mann neighborhood of Gary, Indiana. The station opened in 1920, and closed on July 5, 1994, as part of an NICTD service revision which also saw the closure of Kemil Road, Willard Avenue, LaLumiere, Rolling Prairie, and New Carlisle.
The housing stock is dominated by single-family homes, with a cluster of historic apartments along 5th Avenue; as of 2000, it had a 92% occupancy rate and 49% owner-occupancy rate. [7] The neighborhood is chiefly residential, with a small pocket of commercial activity at the intersection of 5th and Bridge. [1] The housing in Ambridge Mann was chiefly built in the first half of the twentieth century to house managers at the Gary Works. [1] The neighborhood is home to a great number of prairie style and art deco homes. The Gary Masonic Temple is located in the neighborhood along with the Ambassador Apartment building. As of 2007, the neighborhood's home values were among Gary's highest, with a median of $70,145, second only to the lakefront neighborhood of Miller Beach. [8]
The Gary Works is a major steel mill in Gary, Indiana, on the shore of Lake Michigan. For many years, the Gary Works was the world's largest steel mill, and it remains the largest integrated mill in North America. It is operated by the United States Steel Corporation.
Famous people from Ambridge Mann include Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, who grew up in a brick bungalow near the river on Arthur Street. [9]
Joseph Eugene Stiglitz is an American economist, public policy analyst, and a professor at Columbia University. He is a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2001) and the John Bates Clark Medal (1979). He is a former senior vice president and chief economist of the World Bank and is a former member and chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. He is known for his support of Georgist public finance theory and for his critical view of the management of globalization, of laissez-faire economists, and of international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
