Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States, 25mi from downtown Chicago, Illinois.The population of Gary was 80,294 at the 2010 census, making it the ninth-largest city in the state of Indiana. From the middle of the twentieth century to the present, Gary has experienced drastic population loss, falling by 55 percent from its peak of 178,320 in 1960.Gary is adjacent to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and borders Lake Michigan. The city is known for its large steel mills, and for being the birthplace of The Jackson 5 music group.HistoryFounding and early yearsRichard G. Hatcher, and hosted the ground-breaking 1972 National Black Political Convention.Since the 1930s, Gary had developed a reputation as a tough city due to rampant political corruption, racial violence & segregation, labor unrest, and industrial pollution. In the 1960s through the 1980s, surrounding suburban localities such as Merrillville and Crown Point experienced rapid growth, including new homes and shopping districts. Owing to white flight, economic distress, and a perception of skyrocketing crime, many middle-class and affluent residents moved to other cities in the metro area.In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Gary had the highest percentage of African-Americans of U.S. cities with a population of 100,000 or more, 84% (as of the 2000 U.S. census). This no longer applies to Gary since the population of the city has now fallen well below 100,000 residents. As of 2013, the Gary Department of Redevelopment has estimated that one-third of all homes in the city are unoccupied and/or abandoned.