Gary is located along the southern shore of Lake Michigan about 25 miles (40 km) southeast of downtown Chicago.

The city is the western gateway to the Indiana Dunes National Park, and is within the Chicago metropolitan area.

[8] Like other Rust Belt cities, Gary's once thriving steel industry has been significantly affected by the disappearance of local manufacturing jobs since the 1970s.

[9] Although initially a very diverse city, Gary currently holds one of the nation's highest percentages of African-Americans.

The city was named after lawyer Elbert Henry Gary, who was the founding chairman of the United States Steel Corporation.

On October 4, 1919, a riot broke out on Broadway, the main north–south street through downtown Gary, between steel workers and strike breakers brought in from outside.

Shortly after that, over 4,000 federal troops under the command of Major General Leonard Wood arrived to restore order.

[15] The steel industry's jobs provided Gary with rapid growth and a diverse population within the first 26 years of its founding.

Department stores and architecturally significant movie houses were built in the downtown and Glen Park neighborhoods.

Attempts to shore up the city's economy with major construction projects, such as a Holiday Inn hotel and the Genesis Convention Center, failed to reverse the decline.

Today, Gary faces the difficulties of a Rust Belt city, including higher than national average unemployment and decaying infrastructure.

[23][24] Gary Chief of Police Thomas Houston was convicted of excessive force and abuse of authority in 2008; he died in 2010 while serving a three-year, five-month federal prison sentence.

[25][26] In April 2011, 75-year-old mayor Rudolph M. Clay announced that he would suspend his campaign for reelection as he was being treated for prostate cancer.

[29] She was defeated in her bid for a third term in the 2019 Democratic primary by Lake County Assessor Jerome Prince.

The sand beneath Gary and on its beaches is of such volume and quality that for over a century, companies have mined it, especially for the manufacture of glass.

This area contained mostly wood-frame houses, some of the earliest in the city, and became known in the 20th century for its ethnic populations from Europe and large families.

Among the East Side's most notable buildings were Memorial Auditorium (a large red-brick and stone civic auditorium and the site of numerous events, concerts and graduations), The Palace Theater, Emerson School, St. Luke's Church, H.C. Gordon & Sons, and Goldblatt's Department stores, in addition to the Fair Department Store.

Developed later, this side of town was known for its masonry or brick residences, its taller and larger commercial buildings, including the Gary National Bank Building, Hotel Gary (now Genesis Towers), The Knights of Columbus Hotel & Building (now affordable housing fronting 5th Avenue), the Tivoli Theater (demolished), the U.S. Post Office, Main Library, Mercy and Methodist Hospitals and Holy Angels Cathedral and School.

Restructuring of the steel and other heavy industry in the late 20th century resulted in a loss of jobs, adversely affecting the city.

Abandoned buildings in the downtown area include historic structures such as Union Station, the Palace Theater, and City Methodist Church.

A large area of the downtown neighborhood (including City Methodist) was devastated by a major fire on October 12, 1997.

It serves both as the Downtown Gary South Shore train station and an intercity bus stop.

Black Oak is located on the far southwest side of Gary, in the vicinity of the Burr Street exit to the Borman Expressway.

In the pre-1960s days of de facto segregation, this developed historically as a "black" neighborhood as African Americans came to Gary from the rural South in the Great Migration to seek jobs in the industrial economy.

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Gary's prosperous industries helped generate residential and other development in Aetna, resulting in an impressive collection of art deco architecture.

It attracts investor interest due to the many year-round and summer homes within walking distance of Marquette Park and Lake Michigan.

Lake Street provides shopping and dining options for Miller Beach visitors and residents.

It starred Gary native Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, Jim Brown, Richard Roundtree, and Isabel Sanford, among others.

[53] The History Channel documentary Life After People was filmed in Gary, exploring areas that have deteriorated or been abandoned because of the loss of jobs and residents.

[57] Lake County Public Library operates the Black Oak Branch at 5921 West 25th Avenue in the Gary city limits.