Living in the less diverse communities

Dwain and Sandra Bowie moved from Texas to Valparaiso when he became general manager with United Water in 2003. Their search for a new home was not always pleasant.

"We had a very bad experience with the Realtor who was only showing us houses in certain areas," Sandra Bowie said. "We kept pushing and found out about Valpo and moved here because it reminded us of Dallas. But we had to initiate everything."

The Bowies had a certain kind of home in mind, but were forced to use the real estate firm selected by Dwain Bowie's new company.

"We are used to newer housing stock and weren't going to settle for anything less," she said. "We really enjoy living in Valpo."

Sandra Bowie described Valparaiso as having a "very wholesome environment."

They now live in the Chandana Trail development and have been embraced by the community, she said.

Valparaiso is not as diverse as some communities in the region. Of Valparaiso's 25,879 residents, 917 are Hispanics and 440 are African-American, according to U.S. Census data from 2000.

Bowie thinks the lack of diversity has more to do with economics than racial preferences.

"It's about money," Bowie said. "Discrimination is in income, not race, in this community."

Census data shows Chesterton and Whiting also are less diverse than some communities in the region.

Whiting has 5,137 residents, with 29 African-Americans and 1,313 Hispanics.

Chesterton has 347 Hispanics and 46 African-Americans among its 10,488 residents.

In Valparaiso, the cost of housing may limit the community's diversity.

Larry Bass, a political science professor at Valparaiso University, said there is "blatant discrimination going on, but housing costs keep out poverty -- poor people. I live in the poorest section of town and I saw a sign down my street that read affordable housing starting at $300,000. How many young Hispanics and young African-American families can afford to live here?"

State NAACP President Barbara Bolling expressed a different view.

"The historical perspective when segregation was the practice is African-Americans were limited to places where we were allowed to live, and family and friends were limited to certain areas," Bolling said. "Where people choose to live and work, they look for places that are close to family and friends."

The situation in Whiting is different, she said.

"Whiting has lots of refineries and plenty of jobs so one has to look for another reason as to why people of color are not moving in Whiting," she said. "Historically, people of color were not welcome and that mentality might prevail today. It is really very centrally located and one would think it would be an ideal location."

The tendency of families in Whiting to stay in Whiting is a possible explanation.

Linda Gajewski, a Whiting native, said three generations of her family have lived in the community. Homes stay within families, either through sales or inheritances.

"So many times, homes are sold before they even go on the market because people love the community and they have a tendency to stay," said Gajewski, 51. "I think people need to look at all the assets we have here and I think in the coming years, you are going to be seeing more jobs coming to our town. I think you will be seeing them building new homes where for so long there weren't any new homes."

Dan Lowery, vice president of academic affairs at Calumet College of St. Joseph, said racial issues have an impact on housing.

"It is not just a Chesterton problem or a Whiting problem, it is actually a regional problem," Lowery said. "It is really hard to separate housing issues from education, crime and property taxes. People move to have good schools for their kids and the second reason is tax rates and transportation."