Is Gary safe enough? (Brazil: crime, most dangerous, beaches)

[summer22]

Miller Beach has some new $400-$500K homes going up on the very east edge - I think the development is called "East Edge" and is right along the county line. I believe over 20 homes were planned and the development was a "green" or LEED-certified development. The developer --- I met him once --- moved to the area from Chicago and fell in love with the location and the lakeshore.

About at that point too are two beaches -- the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore West Beach and a "Miller Beach" entrance where they charge $5-$10 for parking. Across the county line along US12 in Portage is a new gated community with $500+ luxury homes and townhomes.

The Miller Beach beach --- I've been there several times and I've never been able to figure out whether its owned and operated by the city of Gary (there are really no signs indicating that) or if its a private party that has lake access and operates the parking lot and beach.

Being at that location in Miller means you can basically do all of your shopping, entertainment, etc. in Porter County (Portage) which means you'll have no worries as far as safety.

Living in Miller, seems like it would be decent because the area is separated from the rest of Gary by train tracks and US 12/20, but you would still be what is called an "urban pioneer." There is a little commercial strip with a bakery and cafe on Lake Street on the west edge of Miller. There seems to be no commercial anything along US 12, even though that seems like it would be a logical and fairly safe place for development to come in.

Oh and as far as pricing -- yes you would get a lot of bang for your buck in Miller Beach, probably could rent a large home at a good price. Also note there are a still a number of Chicago families that have summer homes in Miller Beach.

This next statement is just an observation --- don't read anything into it please, its just what I've observed --- but every time I've been to the beach at "Miller Beach" -- the one on the county line but on the Lake County side where you pay $5 for parking --- the beachgoers have been all white and appeared to be middle class or higher.

One last comment about price --- check Chicago Craigslist and yes you can find small apartments for $550 - $750 in decent areas along Sheridan Road near Chicago's lakefront or in Evanston. If you were willing to be roommates with people, you might be able to find something between $400 and $500. So, you're not limited to living in Gary just because of your budget.

[summer22]

I found that developer's website. If you do a Google search for Miller and East Edge Homes you'll find it. It looks like its missing a lot of information, so, I don't know if that means he's out of business, or, if he's just redeveloping his site. It was about 5 years ago that I last heard about it.

Here's also a 2006 article I found through Google. Again without taking a ride over there I can't tell if there's been progress on the development since then. Don't know if the recession has affected it or not. This article is from Indiana Economic Digest of April 16th of that year. I'm not allowed to post the link so here is the text of the article. It says that most buyers in Miller Beach are second home buyers.

GARY | A lakefront home carrying a $1 million-plus price tag hit the market this year, a first for Miller Beach.

The breakthrough could be a sign of better things to come for the community built on a stretch of Lake Michigan shoreline bookended by steel mills.

"It's definitely a sea change here," said Gene Ayers, whose family-run Ayers Realty is a Miller Beach mainstay since the 1920s.

Realtors hope the rising demand for vacation homes will re-fuel interest in the beachfront community, only now emerging from a hit delivered a few years ago when parts of Lake County saw residential property taxes spike after a state-wide reassessment.

Before the tax hike, Miller Beach home values had been moving up the charts on par with those in lakefront communities further east: Ogden Dunes, Dune Acres, Porter Beach and others, in counties not as hard hit by fallout from the reassessment, Ayers said.

Afterward, values continued to rise, "but not like they had been," Ayers said.

Efforts to mitigate the tax, including a temporary 2 percent cap put in place by local officials, are helping property values to rebound.

"What we have in store for us is a nice jump in values, for sure in the next couple of years," he said.

Buyers recently snapped up two vacant lakefront lots in the upper-$400,000 range, Ayers said.

In what has become a common scenario, one of the buyers was a Chicagoan, Ayers said.

Donna Hofmann, an agent with Coldwell Banker in nearby Chesterton, said the majority of buyers for the beachfront properties she deals in -- exclusively in Porter and LaPorte counties -- come from Chicago and its suburbs.

Most are seeking a getaway from the city.

"About 90 percent of the houses in the beach areas are second homes, and the majority of the buyers are 50-plus," Hofmann said.

"The 50-plus group are looking at it long-term, possibly as a retirement place as they leave their professions," she said. "Some are keeping an apartment in the city and a house at the beach."

Baby Boomers and others are snapping up vacation homes at record rates, the National Association of Realtors reported this year.

Vacation home sales increased 16.9 percent last year to a record 1.02 million, from 872,000 in 2004, according to the report, based on 2005 surveys.

Baby Boomers are at the optimum point to make such purchases, Association chief economist David Lereah said.

"They're at the peak of their earnings; interest rates remain historically low and boomers want to diversify their investments," Lereah said.

The rate of second-home purchases has gone through the roof, said Blanche Evans, editor of Dallas-based Realty Times.

"Because people are strapped for time," Evans said, "the closer by they can get their second home, the better."

Some buyers are willing to go up to 500 miles away, if quick, cheap commuter flights are available, Evans said.

"Otherwise, they want it to be an easy drive," Evans said.

Miller Beach, established in the late 19th century and later annexed by Gary, is the closest of the Indiana beachfront communities to Chicago, about an hour away, and often less.

It's still catching up to neighboring beachfront communities further east, in terms of appeal as a vacation-home mecca.

Still, Ayers said, about 75 percent of buyers in Miller Beach are in the second-home market.

Its location within the struggling Gary school system district limits the number of families who buy year-round homes in Miller Beach, Ayers said. "There's a lot of singles."

Gary's blue-collar history -- the city is home to U.S. Steel -- could hold buried potential.

"Developers are going to take advantage of rundown blue-collar housing and turn it into white collar," the Realty Times' Evans said.

East Edge, being developed in Miller Beach, might be a case in point.

Land for developer Jay Gallagher's planned 28 upscale homes and townhomes once housed 40 concrete-block two-flats built about 50 years ago and razed as they fell into disrepair in the 1980s.

Long-time Miller Beach real estate agent Len Pryweller bought the land piece by piece as it went on the market, and sold it last year to Gallagher, Pryweller said.

Gallagher had completed a loft-style development in Chicago and was scouting new projects when the Miller Beach land came available, he said.

A transplanted Chicagoan, Gallagher said he and his wife, Ann, discovered Miller Beach and bought a home there in 1999.

"We were looking for a single-family home because we were tired of living in a condo. We saw an ad in the paper that said lakefront. We'd never been to Miller Beach," he said. "We just fell in love with it."

He opened the first East Edge Homes structure last month, a single-family home being shown as a model.

Plans are for 12 single-family homes, priced between $429,000 and $519,000, and 16 townhomes priced at just under $300,000, bordering a common area at the center.

The Miller Beach community appears poised to enter the second-home market, said Evans.

"In order for that to be viable, there has to be places to go and things to do, so you can look forward to appreciation," Evans said.

That could take time.

While it has a number of highly regarded restaurants, including the Miller Bakery Cafe, and a single grocery market, "what we're lacking most of all is other kinds of shopping," Ayers said.

That's something Miller Beach will have to overcome, said Gallagher.

"It's not New Buffalo, with all kinds of cutesy shops," Gallagher said of the trendy Michigan resort community.

"But we are across from a national park," Gallagher added.

The community's future could be similar to the South Loop in Chicago, where decaying inner-city structures were replaced with upscale condominiums and homes.

"(South Loop) was such a natural location, but it just never happened. It took a few developers going in and, before you know it, everybody's in the South Loop," Gallagher said.

[summer22]

Someone else commented on Miller Beach here:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/8933176-post13.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/8955637-post14.html

[magik]

miller has it's gang, drug problems like every other part of gary. but you say miller beach. i'd stick to miller BEACH then miller.

[lasttimewemove]

Originally Posted by ABQBound84

I am a single male looking to relocate to Chicago area from California. I have been looking at some pretty descent apartments in the Miller Beach area of Gary, which I suppose is the "nice" part of Gary. I was wondering if anyone could give me some feedback on the Miller Beach area and if Gary has good access to the El train or whatever train that runs into Chicago and how long it takes to get into Chicago. Thank You

What part of Cali are you relo'ing from, that will help answer your questions. I lived in SD and LA, but grew up in NW Indiana...so i think I might be able to help in how you would perceive it. All in all, Miller Beach would be perfectly safe for a young single man with his wits about him. Unless you are coming from a small rural farming community in Cali, i am sure you are well versed in watching your back after night fall when you get off a train, bus etc. It is just street smarts, right? You are more likely to get chased by a raccoon than a gun wielding gangbanger in Miller Beach Indiana. There is crime in Gary, and once in a while it extends into Miller Beach. But it is all relative. I witnessed a LOT more crime in my 8 years in San Diego near the beach, thats certain. Miller Beach community in particular is thriving with 20-40 year old singles that happen to be pretty bohemian in nature. Lots of artists, liberals, healthy gay community, and also families and retirees that have lived there all their lives and raised their own kids there when the schools were better. You don't have kids, so really Miller Beach is (imho) a great choice for you. Cheaper than Chicago, but quick access. The beach gives you endless recreation from June till October. Lots of fun partiers in Miller Beach, and you only have to go down to the Flamingo on any given night and meet the whole town. Plus Miller Bakery Cafe is right there, and folks drive FROM chicago to eat there! You haven't mentioned whether you are ok with snow? Good luck!

[mtlogger]

Originally Posted by summer22

The Miller Beach beach --- I've been there several times and I've never been able to figure out whether its owned and operated by the city of Gary (there are really no signs indicating that) or if its a private party that has lake access and operates the parking lot and beach.

The beach is owned by the City and the parking lot is semi-private, tho it has city police patrolling - mainly b/c adjacent to military reserve unit.

Living in Miller, seems like it would be decent because the area is separated from the rest of Gary by train tracks and US 12/20, but you would still be what is called an "urban pioneer." There is a little commercial strip with a bakery and cafe on Lake Street on the west edge of Miller. There seems to be no commercial anything along US 12, even though that seems like it would be a logical and fairly safe place for development to come in.

In the 40 years, since I last lived in Tolleston-Miller Beach, nothing much has changed exc for some newer 500k homes.

The other beach is Marquette Park which also has the lagoon for fishing and in the winter ice skating.

[Lake County IN]

Gary's not as bad as the people on here make it seem.

I moved here in 1990 and have been in Miller ever since. I went to elementary, middle-school, and high-school here. Still live here today.

I've never been robbed, shot, shot at, or anything close to that. I played ball on 5th ave., knew a few gang members, but never had the type of experiences that everybody on here has where people are always being gunned down in the streets.

Gary's simple. If you're NOT a gangbanger, or involved in drugs, the odds of something bad happening to you are between slim and none and most of the things in the slim category are domestic violence type situations. I walk down the streets everyday and even at night and I've never had anything happen to me.

A lot of what you hear on here is racism simple and plain.

As for Miller,

Miller is like it's own city. The part wayyyy in the back near the beach is where the more "affluent" people live and in the front part, that's where the working class people live. There used to be a projects/ghetto here, but they tore it down. Mostly it's just people who work at Inland Steel and U.S. Steel and regular type jobs. It's really desolate, like the rest of Gary, but a lot less ghetto. It's more forest preserves and things like that. You're more likely to see a deer or an elk, than be shot at.

[Capt. Dan]

Originally Posted by Lake County IN

Gary's not as bad as the people on here make it seem.

I moved here in 1990 and have been in Miller ever since. I went to elementary, middle-school, and high-school here. Still live here today.

I've never been robbed, shot, shot at, or anything close to that. I played ball on 5th ave., knew a few gang members, but never had the type of experiences that everybody on here has where people are always being gunned down in the streets.

Gary's simple. If you're NOT a gangbanger, or involved in drugs, the odds of something bad happening to you are between slim and none and most of the things in the slim category are domestic violence type situations. I walk down the streets everyday and even at night and I've never had anything happen to me.

A lot of what you hear on here is racism simple and plain.

As for Miller,

Miller is like it's own city. The part wayyyy in the back near the beach is where the more "affluent" people live and in the front part, that's where the working class people live. There used to be a projects/ghetto here, but they tore it down. Mostly it's just people who work at Inland Steel and U.S. Steel and regular type jobs. It's really desolate, like the rest of Gary, but a lot less ghetto. It's more forest preserves and things like that. You're more likely to see a deer or an elk, than be shot at.

Your optimism is admirable. But Dept of Justice statistics prove you to be very wrong. Gary is corrupt and violent to the core. Rose colored glasses dont give a clear picture. Since you have only been in Gary since 1990 you have NO IDEA how bad Gary is compared to the 50's and 60's.

[Lake County IN]

Originally Posted by Capt. Dan

Your optimism is admirable. But Dept of Justice statistics prove you to be very wrong. Gary is corrupt and violent to the core. Rose colored glasses dont give a clear picture. Since you have only been in Gary since 1990 you have NO IDEA how bad Gary is compared to the 50's and 60's.

Yeah, 20 years is no amount of time to gauge how bad a place is that you've spent virtually every day of your life

Statistics aren't experience. And I've lived here most of my entire life. Statistics tell you someone got killed. They don't tell you who.

I know who. How? Because I live here. You read it in a paper as a statistic.

I know the person who got killed was either a gangbanger or drug addict or drug dealer, or a victim of domestic violence in the overwhelming majority of cases, because I knew the person. I didn't just read it in a paper.

Like I said, I've spent virtually everyday of the last 20 years living here. I walk the streets in the day. I walk the streets at night. Nothing has ever happened to me. My father was born and raised in Gary. He hasn't been shot, killed, or maimed either. Same thing for most of my other family, who weren't involved in drugs or gangs.

Statistics don't tell the true story.

And how are the 50's and 60's relevant to today?

Nowhere in America is what it was in the '50s and '60s. Only New York is probably safer than it was 40 years ago. Gary's not the only city that has crime in it. And Gary's a LOT safer than it was even 10 years ago. In 1995, we had 140 murders. This year. . . . . 36.

Yup, we have about a quarter of the murders that we had 14 years ago.

Stop feeding the Gary paranoia.

[Capt. Dan]

Originally Posted by Lake County IN

Yeah, 20 years is no amount of time to gauge how bad a place is that you've spent virtually every day of your life

Statistics aren't experience. And I've lived here most of my entire life. Statistics tell you someone got killed. They don't tell you who.

I know who. How? Because I live here. You read it in a paper as a statistic.

I know the person who got killed was either a gangbanger or drug addict or drug dealer, or a victim of domestic violence in the overwhelming majority of cases, because I knew the person. I didn't just read it in a paper.

Like I said, I've spent virtually everyday of the last 20 years living here. I walk the streets in the day. I walk the streets at night. Nothing has ever happened to me. My father was born and raised in Gary. He hasn't been shot, killed, or maimed either. Same thing for most of my other family, who weren't involved in drugs or gangs.

Statistics don't tell the true story.

And how are the 50's and 60's relevant to today?

Nowhere in America is what it was in the '50s and '60s. Only New York is probably safer than it was 40 years ago. Gary's not the only city that has crime in it. And Gary's a LOT safer than it was even 10 years ago. In 1995, we had 140 murders. This year. . . . . 36.

Yup, we have about a quarter of the murders that we had 14 years ago.

Stop feeding the Gary paranoia.

Yea! Gary being SO safe is the reason so many tourists are flocking to the area!