Miller’s First Impression
– By #MillerSD
On September 23, 2020, Economic Development Directors from Kimball, DeSmet, Wessington Springs, and Clear Lake visited Miller for a first impression tour. The tour consisted of entering Miller from every direction, walking Main Street, touring residential areas, parks, hospitals, schools, and public buildings.
Now, we have an entire report (8 pages) on how to improve our community and what we should really be proud of.
What should we be proud of? According to these five directors, Miller should be proud of:
- The beautiful and inviting parks within its community.
- The business district- it’s apparent that the community takes pride in its business district, the overall improvements to buildings, murals, awnings, and sidewalks make an impressive to statement to the visitor passing through.
- Entering from the south is unique with providing two different ways to enter. I love the sign! I am encouraged by seeing all the different opportunities for community activities that could draw many people for outdoor social interactions, equestrian/rodeo area, race track, and 4H area. This is a place my family could live for a lifetime.
- Miller has things my community dose not such as; coffee shop, clothing stores, bike trails, businesses like we toured, dance studio and a community garden.
- The schools are great and have to be envied by all other communities!
Here are a few recommendations from the directors on what we might want to improve in Miller:
(Please keep in mind these directors were giving us honest criticism with their first impression to make our community better.)
- Need welcome signs when entering from the north and the west.
- The American Legion building, a place that should reflect pride in service and duty, needs some serious TLC.
- I do see the need for more art and cultural emphasis in the community.
- There are several homes nestled throughout the community’s housing that are in major despair, and give an overall poor reputation to the neighborhood.
- The mural on the Polly’s Shoes is wonderful and adds so much! (Although I hope the lot and buildings to the south of it will get cleaned up. This is very distracting!)
First Impressions make a difference. Someone might be driving by and see the best we have to offer and think, “Wow, that’s a place I want to live.” Or they might pass through, and think, “Nothing here for me so I will keep on going.” This someone might be a future business owner in our community, board member, or volunteer with a family who is looking to make a change. Let’s make sure to put our best face forward to get them to pick Miller.
Do you want to see the full report? Go here: https://www.millersd.org/assets/docs/uploads/1stp-impressions-miller--combined-final-002.pdf
If you are interested in helping making some of these improvements happen, contact me. Let’s put some teams together to make Miller the best it can be!
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