PicoBlog

Editor’s Note (December 2023)

I wrote this essay prior to the recent Airnbnb/VRBO neighborhood shooting crime spree and the rise of burglaries and car break-ins in the area.

I don’t know where I stand on the topic of crime overall in Miller now compared to Chicago.

I know I would not move back to Chicago (and I truly love the people in Miller and the nature).

But we clearly have a crime problem that is growing in Miller that the City of Gary needs to urgently solve — or residents and second home owners will depart for safer areas.

Updated per capita crime data for 2H 2023 will likely feature far more red areas on the map in Miller Beach, below, unfortunately.

When we first bought land in Miller, a certain real estate agent told us the old saying: "You tell your enemies from Chicago that you live in Gary, and your friends that you live in Miller Beach."

Having gotten to know the various neighborhoods of Miller a bit since moving here full-time, I would say there's more to it than that.

But when it comes to safety, whether you think Miller is safe or unsafe will depend entirely on where you come from.

If you hail from Kenilworth, your standards of safety and security will be different than if you come from Kim Foxx's Chicago, which is slowly bleeding out economically almost entirely thanks to commingling the concept of victim and criminal in a leftist stew.

I'm from Chicago, and I'll state for the record upfront that Miller is comparatively much safer than where I lived around Boystown and Wrigleyville (East Lakeview) after Foxx — along with Toni Preckwinkle and Lori Lightfoot — prioritized social justice over law and order.

Gary, not Miller

Miller is part of Gary (for better or worse—you'll get different schools of opinion on this). This is a fact you can't separate from safety in Miller.

From talking to various LEOs here, as I still do back in Chicago, "Core" Gary (not Miller, Aetna, or other neighborhoods which have generally taken control of their own destiny) does not have the same gang issues as Chicago, nor the crime wave "pop-up" violence that's destroying real estate value in the Loop, Streeterville, Gold Coast, Lakeview, Lincoln Park, and other North Side Chicago neighborhoods.

But Gary does have blight, extreme poverty in places, and what those in law enforcement have told me is "territorial" violence—and of course, the same hard drug problems impacting just about every community in this country.

Personally, I have not seen sufficient evidence to convince me that Gary (broader Gary) is going to make an economic comeback and drive community uplift in the most blighted areas anytime soon, but I hold out hope.

And I do feel safer, driving home here from Chicago (including in central Gary) than Chicago itself, including Lakeview and Lincoln Park, where armed robbery and random murders (including on my old block in Lakeview last month just hours after I crossed the same intersection with my kid) are occurring with greater and greater frequency.

Miller, not Gary

Now, onto Miller. That Miller which is part of Gary, if you need reminding!

Stuff does happen in Miller. You're probably statistically safer East of Marquette Park than West of the park.

There are crimes against property on the West Side of Marquette Park (they’re not common, but they do happen), and occasionally things happen in the apartment complexes (many of which are Section 8) around Lake Street — conversely they also happen on the far East side of the park around the other Section 8 buildings.

Also, this year in Miller, I can recall two homicides, both strange and sad situations—one domestic (which has resulted in charges) and one that remains unsolved.

But on the whole, even with occasional "celebratory" gunfire in the parks, things are much safer in Miller than what became of my Chicago neighborhood, where numerous friends have become victims of violent crimes, and in which multiple homicides and dozens of shooting events have taken place within blocks of my old Chicago apartment—not to mention the near-daily muggings, carjackings, car break-ins, and burglaries (in terms of crimes against property, the police on the North Side of Chicago do not even respond anymore).

I do not know of anyone in Miller who has been a victim of a violent crime here. Nor, subjectively, when asked, does my alarm company (the largest in NWI) note that the area has any significant break-ins for alarmed homes.

“Miller is quiet,” the alarm company told me.

In the area West of Marquette Park, people tell me who have lived in this area for decades have said the neighborhood has "come up" tremendously in terms not only of safety but also property investment. And if you go East of Marquette Park, you have a much lower crime rate statistically (almost nil on most blocks), many of which have been grouped in years past around specific house break-ins that fit a solvable pattern (and indeed, these were solved).

Why Isn’t it Worse?

The question remains: why, despite the poverty in and around Miller, is the area safer than "rich neighborhoods" on the Northside of Chicago today?

The overall violent crime rate for the 46403 zip code is similar to most parts of Lakeview/Lincoln Park if you look at the numbers. But 46403 includes parts of Gary which are not in Miller—some very rough areas for sure.

Here's my take on it. I see three reasons why Miller is safer than Chicago, at least from where I sit as someone who lived in a big city his entire life until now.

First, the police are all over the place here. We see them constantly. And they typically (though not always, based on the input I’ve gotten) respond instantly unless it’s a warm evening or weekend when our beaches and parks are filled to the max.

When I recently had to call the non-emergency number to get a form filled out (a VIN check on an old car) last month, the response time was three minutes!

It also helps that there are only a few means of ingress/egress into Miller and that usually, there are multiple squad cars deployed at strategic points (sometimes many more than this, as well as ATVs) deployed North of the train tracks (i.e., within Miller).

Second, there is still a functioning (i.e., not a George Soros-backed) law and order setup here. The police will pursue criminals, and the prosecutor's office will prosecute them.

I shoot with a police Sergeant from Hammond at my local trap club who likes to remind me that when criminals come across the border, "many are surprised that we actually chase them here—as in a car chase."

Word gets around.

And third, Indiana is now a constitutional carry state. This means that anyone who is not legally restricted from concealed carrying or open carrying a handgun can, generally, without restriction except in government buildings, schools, etc., carry without a license or permit.

And even before constitutional carry was passed last year, firearms purchases did not require the same shenanigans as Illinois (with its FOID-enforced 4-6 month wait).

I'm pretty certain in Miller, many of us — at least in comparison to those on the North Side of Chicago — have something that goes bang under our bed at night (and a surprising number of people I know in the area—many of whom you would not have guessed—also carry or keep a firearm in their car).

Given this, it's safe to assume that most violent criminals who live or come to Miller are aware that their chance of not just getting caught but getting killed while committing a violent felony offense is much higher than in one particular neighboring state.

So, is Miller safe?

It's not perfect, but this transplant feels much safer here than in Chicago.

And for those who are truly concerned with minimizing risk to 0%, there are always other local beach communities (Ogden Dunes, Dune Acres, Beverly Shores, etc.).

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