Economy
The economy of Miller Beach is dominated by retail and tourism, with no heavy industry. Because of its relatively affluent population and scenic lakefront setting, Miller Beach is also able to attract luxury high-end housing development. Many Miller homeowners commute to work in Chicago or have their primary residence in Chicago and a vacation or weekend home in Miller Beach.
Home values in Miller are the highest of any area within the municipal boundaries of Gary. In 2006, a home on Miller's lakefront sold for more than US$1 million for the first time. As of 2008, the "East Edge" development in northeastern Miller Beach was the city's most expensive, with single-family home prices in excess of $500,000. As of 2000, Miller's 4,773 housing units had an owner-occupancy rate of 47.4% and a vacancy rate of 10.3%.
Commercial activity in Miller Beach is clustered primarily along Lake Street and U.S. 20, in the neighborhood's southwestern corner. The Lake Street corridor is a traditional downtown area, described by the city government as having a "pedestrian-friendly, 'Main Street' character." The downtown area has the highest walkability of any part of Miller Beach. Most retail catering to neighborhood residents is concentrated along this corridor. Near the southern end of downtown, the historic Miller Train Station was relocated just a few yards from its original location and is now the main dining room for Miller Pizza Station, a popular restaurant in the downtown area.
The U.S. 20 corridor, running along Miller's southern end and partially shared with the Aetna neighborhood, is another commercial center. Businesses along U.S. 20 cater primarily to highway and interstate travelers. This corridor is also home to several strip clubs, a source of frequent anger from community activists.
During the summer months, the Miller Beach Farmers' Market provides an alternative source of fresh food. Begun in 2008 and now sponsored by the Miller Beach Arts and Creative District, the Farmers' Market seeks to promote a sustainable local economy and allow residents access to high-quality, fresh produce and gourmet foodstuffs.
Read more about this topic: Miller Beach
Famous quotes containing the word economy:
“War. Fighting. Men ... every man in the whole realm is in the army.... Every man in uniform ... An economy entirely geared to war ... but there is not much war ... hardly any fighting ... yet every man a soldier from birth till death ... Men ... all men for fighting ... but no war, no wars to fight ... what is it, what does it mean?””
—Doris Lessing (b. 1919)
“Wise men read very sharply all your private history in your look and gait and behavior. The whole economy of nature is bent on expression. The tell-tale body is all tongues. Men are like Geneva watches with crystal faces which expose the whole movement.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The aim of the laborer should be, not to get his living, to get “a good job,” but to perform well a certain work; and, even in a pecuniary sense, it would be economy for a town to pay its laborers so well that they would not feel that they were working for low ends, as for a livelihood merely, but for scientific, or even moral ends. Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for love of it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)