Tour boat captain Vic Tieri started Harbor Country Adventures on the lakefront in southwest Michigan, but later moved it down the coast and expanded in Michigan City, Indiana.

“I felt like Michigan City was in a position to grow,” Tieri said. “Now I made the smart bet, because I look at all the construction cranes and new apartments and condos. Everywhere you look, there’s new stuff going up.”

If the Midwest is flyover country for coastal elites, then Indiana traditionally has been drive-through country for Chicagoans holding their noses on their way to vacation in “Pure” Michigan. Now, Michigan City officials are trying to change their town’s image from that of an industrial town to a tourist destination, and a new home for Chicago commuters.

The city of 33,000, a mixture of blue-colla

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