Miller
 41.8243°S, 142.196°E | |
| Miller | |
|---|---|
| City | |
| Country |  Federal States |
| • State |  Iroquesia |
| • County | Boothman County |
| Demonym | Millerites |
| Elevation | 201 m (659 ft) |
| Population | |
| • Census (2020) | 101,145 |
The City of Miller, often shortened just to Miller, is the second largest city in the state of Iroquesia, Federal States of Archanta after the state capital of Finch Hill. Miller is located at the mouth of the Miller River, of which the city got it's name, and sits on the eastern shores of Lake Sauganash. Of the last census (2020), the population of Miller is 101,145.
Miller is the principal settlement of it's metropolitan area, and the county seat of Boothman County. The metropolitan area of Miller includes Inch Head, with Miller accounting for a majority of the metropolitan area's total population. Prominent suburbs within Miller include Foundary Town, Kings Flats, Deercoven, North Haven, Olivier, and Gireading.
Miller also sits in the center of the Lake Sauganash Corridor; an economic, and formerly industrial chain of important settlements on the northern and eastern shores of Lake Sauganash. The corridor spans from Lake City, Minnonigan to Clinton, Seneppi.
Formerly, Miller had been the center of steel-production within this corridor. However after the industrial collapse in steel-production during the 1990s, the city had floundered economically, and has struggled since to recover from this collapse successfully. Functionally, in recent years Miller has become a satellite settlement of Lake City, with a large percentage of the population commuting to Lake City and it's environs on the Iroquesia side of the border for employment.
History
Industrial Growth of the 19th & 20th Centuries
From the mid to late 19th century, massive industrial growth would very quickly develop within the boundaries of Miller, with development reaching a peak in the early 20th century with the founding of Foundary Town on the eastern bank of the Miller River, with a complex of multiple steel mills being opened.
Within the same period from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, railroad services would also be connected into Miller in a reflection of the city's growing importance industrially. The North Coast Railroad (currently known as just NoCo Railroad) being introduced, and the founding of the Miller and Gramercy Railroad, which would have it's headquarters in Miller.
The Miller and Gramercy Railroad would grow to serve the state capital Finch Hill, as well as the Seneppi industrial centers of Gramercy and Clinton, within the growing Lake Sauganash Corridor. Later in the 20th century the Miller and Gramercy Railroad would expand their services into Wallawaukee as well, the largest city in Seneppi.
Founding of Chardelay Town
In the late 1940s, engineer Barnaby Chardelay founded Chardelay Aerodynamics, as of current the largest industrial employer in Miller. Chardelay Aerodynamics was the first helicopter manufacturer in the Federal States.
However, alongside the operating of Chardelay Aerodynamics, Barnaby Chardelay held interests in urban planning and it's societal affects. These interests would lead Barnaby Chardelay to found the company town of Chardelay Town. Located on the lakefront of Miller, west of the Miller River, and occupying the space of Miller's former main airport; Barnaby had purchased the land after the airport had closed due to outgrowing the spot during the development of the jet-age.
Chardelay Town was developed with a mix of apartment buildings, detached, and semi-detached houses, and converted original airport infrastructure into social infrastructure. The complex also consisted of a range of leisure attractions for residents and civilians of Miller at wide, which included the Chardelay Town Park, the indoor arena Miller Colliseum, a baseball stadium that is now known as Flyra Stadium, the Miller Gallery of New Arts, and a marina complex.
All architecture that wasn't retained original architecture from the airport was designed in a modern 1950s/1960s architectural style, specifically in ranch-architecture style. The neighbourhood was viewed to have represented the industrial golden-age of Miller, which spanned from the 1920s to the 1970s.
Due to the region's exemplary demonstration of mid-20th century urban planning for societal considerations, largely original 1950s/60s ranch-style architecture, and recent examples of the effects of poor urban planning with the destruction of a section of the neighbourhood's eastern end for the IR-10 roadway; the neighbourhood of Chardelay Town had been assigned as a National Park in the August of 2023 titled the Chardelay Town National Heritage Area.
The former main airport for Miller had began operations in the 1920s, and doubled as the main helicopter port for Chardelay Aerodynamics who held their original factory to the airport's north. However, with the development of jet-engine aviation, and it's requirement for longer runways and more frequent flights; the needs of contemporary aviation outgrew the limits of Miller's former airport, and a new airport to the east of Miller was commissioned.
The Miller-Justice M. Wescott Regional Airport opened in the early 1960s. Named after the early 1950s mayor of Miller, Justice Marrion Wescott, who was stated as being the driving force behind the staving off of the collapse of Miller's economy in the 1950s with a localized works programme which included the airport that bares his name.
Industrial Collapse from 1980s to Present
In the 1980s, Miller finally faced it's industrial collapse, with the closure of multiple of Miller's long-running steel-mills. This event had spurred on the beginning of the pivot towards civilian employment in the Lake City metropolitan area, and a wider flight away from Miller in general. Attempts to stop or reverse the economic collapse of Miller since this point have been generally unsuccessful; with the only remaining major private-employers remaining in Miller and retaining their headquarters in Miller being Chardelay Aerodynamics and the Miller and Gramercy Railroad.
Only in recent years, post-2015, has the economy of Miller begun to recover, and population of the city beginning to grow again. The first company post-industrial collapse to locate their headquarters in Miller was the baked-goods manufacturer Flyra. And the successful application of Chardelay Town to be a National Park has been a recent clear sign of the city's recovery.
Currently, there is a movement for the LakeLynx high-speed rail line to open a stop within the Miller metropolitan area. This is proposed as having a two-fold effect in demonstrating confidence in Miller's recent recovery, and to prompt further commerce and relocation into Miller.
Geography
Miller sits on the eastern shore of Lake Sauganash, where the mouth of the Miller River feeds into the lake. North of the mouth of the Miller River is the confluence of the Miller River and Stone Creek. To the north of this confluence, the Miller River has been engineered to run in a straighter line, and has been given the colloquial name of the Miller Canal despite serving little to no water traffic.
The land comprising of Miller is widely flat terrain, at the base 201m above sea level that most of the coast of Lake Sauganash sits at, however most of Inch Head's coastline south-east of Miller is a bluff of approximately 10-20 meters. While just south of Miller's metropolitan area within Red Strap Township, Gramercy County, is Brothers Lookout which is a specifically prominent bluff at a height of 275m above sea level. Both of these features, the bluffs of Inch Head and Brothers Lookout are visible from the shores of Lake Sauganash in Miller.
Politically, Miller is entirely within the boundaries of Boothman County, and spans the townships of Ginwikana Township, Ashman Township, Maitland Township, and a small amount of Pontiff Township. Though not inside of Miller's city boundaries, the Miller metropolitan area's urban sprawl also span into [???] Township, Otis County, to the city's north-west.
Miller is roughly centrally position within the Lake Sauganash Corridor, which runs from Lake City, Minnonigan; to Clinton, Seneppi. Miller sits approximately 42.1 miles (67.8 kilometres) from Lake City, and approximately 48.8 miles (78.5 kilometres) from Clinton; with the only other major city within the corridor; Gramercy, Seneppi being approximately 30 miles (48.2 kilometres) from Miller.
Suburbs and neighbourhoods within Miller include;
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The eastern side of Miller, beyond Foundary Town, is less organized and dense, containing still mainly agricultural lands that follow the land-survey grid, with sporadically spaced residences along major roads. Most organization and management within this area done at neighbourhood scale is undertaken by the city, opposed to the townships they are located within being Ashland Township and Maitland Township
Economy
Despite the majority of Miller's former industry collapsing (including the primary industry of steel-production) within the 1980s, and failing to recover until recently, there remains a small number of larger industrial employers in Miller. This includes Chardelay Aerodynamics, a helicopter manufacturer which was founded in Miller in the late 1940s, and currently has it's headquarters and main manufacturing facility on the western bank of the Miller River, opposite Foundary Town, and north of their original factory located in Chardelay Town.
Another major employer headquartered in Miller is the Miller and Gramercy Railroad, which was founded in the late 19th/early 20th century. A majority of employees of the Miller and Gramercy Railroad are employed at the headquarters in Miller Central, or the Miller and Gramercy Maintenance Yard in Olivier.
Other employers with large work-forces though are not headquartered, or focus industrially, within Miller include the Federal States Air Force which hosts the 29th Helicopter Squadron Base at Miller-Justice M. Westcott Regional Airport, and the PhytoGenex Chemicals – Miller Site which is a fertilizer company operating under the brand PhytoGenex Chemicals and is owned by Fenn-Coopa whose headquarters are in Finch Hill, Iroquesia.
Agricultural produce manufacturer Flyra has it's headquarters located within Miller, but their closest production sites are not within Miller. Instead the closest is in Nuthatch, Odrava County, which is 29.1 miles (46.9 kilometres) north of Miller.
Transportation
Highways
Miller is served by one Federal States highway, from the north of the city, in FS-12. Entry and exit onto the FS-12 is made at Junctions 14 – Early Rise Complex Interchange, 18 – Stone Creek Interchange, and 22 – North Haven Junction, while junctions a further distance away; being Junction 10 – Coat Valley Road Junction, and 27 – Exit 27, serves the furthest reaches of Miller's metropolitan area. Most of Miller's development is contained to the south of FS-12, towards Lake Sauganash, with only the neighbourhood of Gireading existing to the highway's north.
Iroquesia State routes that serve Miller include primarily IR-10, which is a through-route and follows the eastern shoreline of Lake Sauganash and the Lake Sauganash Corridor from Lake City, Minnonigan; to Gramercy, Seneppi. Within Miller, the IR-10 sticks to the shoreline of Lake Sauganash, passing through Inch Head, before continuing it's southern direction into Walterside and eventually the border with Seneppi.
The IR-31 enters Miller from the north, through Gireading and North Haven, intersecting with Junction 22 – North Haven Junction of the FS-12 before joining the IR-10 at North Haven. The IR-31 originally spurs from the IR-3 which origins are in Finch Hill, before passing through Nuthatch before entering Miller.
Due to the former industrial importance of connections to Foundary Town, the most entries into Miller by Iroquesia State routes are found on the eastern side of Miller. The IR-74 and IR-741 both originate from the IR-7, which originates from Bishop-Bureau to the north-east of Miller. The IR-74 passes through the north of Foundary Town towards Olivier, while the IR-741 passes through the south of Foundary Town, past the Miller-Justice M. Wescott Regional Airport, at which point it becomes County route BC-74 and passes through Miller's commercial core.
The IR-75 also begins from the IR-7, but enters Miller from the north of Foundary Town, passing FS-12's Junction 18 – Stone Creek Interchange, and the campus of the University of Iroquesia – Miller, before continuing south-bound where it joins the IR-10 on the eastern bank of the Miller River.
A route runs between Junction 14 – Early Rise Complex Interchange, going north to join the FS-20 in Odrava County, which is numbered IR-212, and contains few intersections, operating as an unofficial Federal States level highway, and quicker alternative to reaching the FS-20 than taking the numerous IR-7 spurs onto the IR-7 and into Bishop-Bureau.
Railways
There are three railway systems operating within Miller, including one high-speed rail link. While Miller has just one commercial station serving it, being the Miller Central Station.
The Miller Central Station is a terminus station, located a short distance north-west from Miller Center and located on the border between Miller Center and Kings Flats. Miller Central Station contains 4 platforms, and is served by two passenger carrying railroads.
Freight rail operates around the industrial sections of Miller, primarily to Miller's east, in newer industrial developments surrounding Miller-Justice M. Wescott Regional Airport, and includes freight services to the PhytoGenex Chemical – Miller Site, and Miller's Federal Parcel Service Distribution Center.
Service Providers
The Lake City Transit Authority (LCTA) operates one SMARTrail route from Lake City into Miller titled the North Shore Line, terminating in Miller Central Station, and is the primary public transport service for those who commute to Lake City and it's environs for work. It operates on lines used by Class-C railroad NoCo Railroad (North Coast Railroad). NoCo Railroad also has a maintenance yard within Foundary Town, and serves freight rail within Miller, including to the PhytoGenex Chemicals plant.
The Miller and Gramercy Railroad operates commercial services into Miller Central Station, and serves routes from there into Clinton and Wallawaukee, Seneppi; and into Finch Hill, Iroquesia. The Miller and Gramercy Railroad also operates freight services into the east of Miller. The Miller and Gramercy Railroad has a maintenance yard in Olivier, and operates from it's headquarters in Miller Center.
The high-speed rail network LakeLynx operates a service from Lake City, Minnonigan; to Wallawaukee, Seneppi. And while the route does not make a stop within Miller, the route does pass the city to it's north, roughly following the route of the FS-12 to it's north, through North Haven, Olivier, and north of Foundary Town. Recently there has been discussions on creating a new stop for LakeLynx in Miller, to demonstrate confidence in Miller's economic recovery, and to spur more investment into the city. If this were to occur, current suggestions on locations for the station include in Gireading, or the neighbourhood of Stone Creek (currently outside the boundaries commonly understood for Miller). Establishment of a new LakeLynx station in either location has been suggested to likely cause a shift of greater investment and development to either neighbourhood.
Aviation
Miller's primary airport is the Miller-Justice M. Wescott Regional Airport (WAAT: MJW) which is located on the eastern side of Miller, south of Foundary Town and is within the unorganized area of Miller.
Miller-Justice M. Wescott Regional Airport was designed as a replacement for the former main airport of Miller which was located in close proximity to Miller Center on the shore of Lake Sauganash. When the old airport outgrew it's location in the jet-age of the 1950s, Miller-Justice M. Wescott Regional Airport was commissioned to replace it, within larger public works projects during this period of time, enabled by the mayor of the time, Justice Marrion Wescott, whom the airport is now named after.
The Miller-Justice M. Wescott Regional Airport is a domestic service airport, and also contains the Federal States Air Force's 29th Helicopter Squadron Base, which operates private use of runway 03R/21L of the airport.
Of the airport's three runways, two are active for public use, with the third aforementioned used for private use by the Federal States Air Force. The three runways are;
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The airport terminal contains 11 gates, and operates services from Federal Airlines, Southern Airlines, and CL-Air. CL-Air being a small regional service, flying rural routes within the West Lakes region. The Miller-Justice M. Wescott Regional Airport also serves cargo flights, including those for the Federal States Post Office.
There are no other airports within the city boundaries of Miller, either commercial or private. The next two nearest airports are private airports Montecello Executive Airstrip in Shore Agrinday, Otis County; and [???] Airstrip in Red Strap Township, Gramercy County, north of the town of Walterside.
Buses
Bus services in Miller are operated by Miller Metropolitan. They are operated primarily out of the Miller Metropolitan Transportation Center in Miller Center, and radiates out towards the suburbs of Miller. Also included in services are shuttle services to and from Miller-Justice M. Wescott Regional Airport, and a shuttle service operating around the airport's car-parks and varying car-rental lots.
The Miller Metropolitan Transportation Center also serves interstate coach services.
Infrastructure
Health Care
Miller has two main hospitals;
Miller-Abbing Medical Center
Located between the neighbourhoods of Kings Flats and Deercoven, the Miller-Abbing Medical Center is an independently owned hospital, and oldest still-operating hospital campus in Miller. Adjacent to the Miller-Abbing Medical Center is the West Lakes-Abbing Nursing College, which is a nursing hospital operated in cooperation between Miller-Abbing and the neighbouring West Lakes College.
Calixtus Miller-Gireading Medical Center
The Calixtus Miller-Gireading Medical Center is located in the neighbourhood of Olivier, and is operated by the Calixtus hospital network, which is an Iroquesia based brand of hospital network. Within the grounds of the Calixtus Medical Center is the Calixtus Miller-Gireading Children's Center which is a children's hospital, as well as the Saint Jacob Hospital Chapel, a dedicated church within the hospital complex.
Education
The Boothman County School District oversees and manages public education within Miller, as well as Boothman County as a whole. This includes oversight and management of elementary schools and high schools (including junior and senior as well as consolidated schools).
Elementary schools within purview of the School District include;
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High schools within purview of the School District include;
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The University of Iroquesia runs a satellite campus known as the University of Iroquesia – Miller campus. This campus was originally founded to provide university level education to the children of factory workers in Foundary Town, promoting primarily sources seen as “conductive” to better industrial jobs, such as courses in Engineering, Architecture, various Sciences, and Business, what is now known under STEM-subjects. Since the collapse of industry within Foundary Town in the 1980s, this initiative of promoting STEM-subjects has been pulled back, with equal promoting for all courses now taking place, but the university remains known for their quality in STEM-subjects.
A singular private-university operates within Miller, being the West Lakes College which is located in the Kings Flats neighbourhood. Within the purview of the West Lakes College is also the West Lakes-Abbing Nursing College which is a collaborative nursing college ran alongside the adjacent Miller-Abbing Medical Center.
Outside of the boundaries of Miller, neighbouring Inch Head, within the Miller metropolitan area, hosts the Western Iroquesia University, which has a substantial number of enrolments from Miller.
Sports
Miller has two major sports grounds, both of which located within Chardelay Town and constructed alongside the project in the early 1960s. They were built as part of intentions to provide enrichment and leisure to residents who lived in the company town, and the wider citizens of Miller. As such, both are classed as historic stadiums of the 1950s/1960s, and are recently protected from major changes by the ascension of Chardelay Town as a National Heritage Area in the Autumn of 2023.
The Miller Colliseum is an indoor-arena, with it's primary sport held at the location being basketball, but has previously held other sporting disciplines. The arena is cylindrical in shape, and holds a capacity of 10,500 at maximum.
Flyra Stadium is a baseball stadium, recently provided a change of name due to sponsorship by the agricultural-producer Flyra. Flyra Stadium are home to the Miller Blades, a Minor League baseball team, affiliated with the Maquadena Bears of Zakahigan due to hosting their development programme. The official colours of the Miller Blades are blue and beige.