Michiana
Coordinates: 41°46′N 86°11′W / 41.76°N 86.19°W
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 St. Joseph County and "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 Indiana politician 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. A 2016 report stated that residents in the Michigan portion are particularly fond of the term because of it containing part of the state name as opposed to generic terms for the area such as "the South Bend region."
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 name, 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.
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