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Miller Beach (also commonly known as Miller) is a community on the southernmost shore of Lake Michigan. First settled in 1851, Miller Beach was originally an independent town. However, the "Town of Miller" was eventually annexed by the then flourishing city of Gary, Indiana, in 1918. Located in the northeastern corner of Lake County, Indiana, the former town is now known as "The Miller Beach Community." Miller Beach borders Lake Michigan to the north, Porter County to the east, and is largely surrounded by protected lands, including the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Miller Beach is also the closest beach/resort community to Chicago, and has been a popular vacation spot since the early 20th century. As of the 2000 US census, it had a population of 9,900. Home to some of the world's most threatened ecosystems, Miller Beach contains a high proportion of legally protected land. Miller encompasses the westernmost part of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is part of the United States National Park system.,〔Smith, S. & Mark, S. (2009). The Historical Roots of the Nature Conservancy in the Northwest Indiana/Chicagoland Region: From Science to Preservation. The South Shore Journal, 3. http://www.southshorejournal.org/index.php/issues/volume-3-2009/83-journals/vol-3-2009/75-the-historical-roots-of-the-nature-conservancy-in-the-northwest-indianachicagoland-region-from-science-to-preservation〕 which includes the Miller Woods and Long Lake areas. The Indiana Dunes' West Beach area lies immediately to the east of Miller Beach. The entire shoreline of Miller is public beachfront. Miller's large lakefront park, Marquette Park, is a national landmark containing architecturally significant and historic structures, two bronze sculptures and the location of early experiments in aviation which predate the Wright Brothers flights. Less than an hour from downtown Chicago by car, Miller Beach has attracted Chicagoans as tourists and residents for more than a century. The most affluent area within the municipal boundaries of Gary, Miller Beach contains multiple business districts,Including the Miller Beach Arts and Creative District, a robust civil society, and numerous public and charter schools. The community is within a mile of exits on four major interstates, and is also served by South Shore Line commuter trains. Having defied regional trends toward racial polarization and environmental degradation, Miller Beach exhibits extraordinary socioeconomic, racial and bio diversity. The community has been described as "an island of integration and natural beauty".〔 ==Geography== Miller Beach sits at Lake Michigan's southern tip, and at the northeastern tip of Lake County. The majority of Gary's lakefront is occupied by heavy industry, Miller Beach is the only residential area within Gary's municipal boundaries with unspoiled lake frontage. The shoreline of Miller is publicly owned either by the municipal or federal governments,〔 and beachfront homes are separated from the lake by "an apron of dunes".〔 Protected lands separate Miller Beach from most of its neighbors, except for the smaller Gary neighborhood of Aetna to the southwest. To the west, the Miller Woods area of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore lies between Miller and U.S. Steel's Gary Works. To the east, Miller borders on the Lakeshore's West Beach area. To the southeast and south, the Little Calumet River corridor largely separates Miller from the cities of Portage and Lake Station. Although mostly in private hands, the land along the Little Calumet is largely protected from development by flood-control easements. In addition, a strip of National Lakeshore property separates Miller's northern and southern halves, making the northern half of Miller Beach one of four beachfront communities entirely surrounded by the National Lakeshore. As a legacy of the cycles of expansion it has undergone since the 19th century, Miller Beach contains a number of distinct neighborhoods. Miller's traditional core, The Grandlake Historic District, between Lake Street and Grand Boulevard, is home to Miller's oldest homes and civil structures, many built during the period of Miller's political independence such as Miller Town Hall and Miller School. The northern part of Miller Beach is chiefly residential and surrounded entirely by national parkland. At the far northeast corner, along County Line Road, Miller's most expensive development, East Edge,〔 rubs shoulders with the Miller Village apartment complex. West of Miller's downtown is another multi-block apartment complex, Duneland Village, containing a small baseball park, the 3.47-acre Gibson Fields, home field of Miller Little League for generations. In the opposite direction, more than a mile to the east of downtown on the Dunes Highway, the isolated Inland Manor subdivision lies in the midst of the National Lakeshore. All property in Inland Manor has been acquired by the US government, but many residents remain in their homes under reservation of use and occupancy agreements.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Miller Beach」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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