Miller City, Ohio

This Blog entry was Written by Renee Steffen

Miller City, Ohio, is a small town located in northwest Ohio.  Even though times have been increasingly hard because of the lagging economy, unemployment rates are lower compared to the rest of the nation.  The auto industry has luckily held on as major manufacturing jobs in the area are attributed to GM and Ford.  There have been no major plant closures as of yet.  Construction work, health care jobs, and farming also account for a majority of employment.  I have lived in Miller City for 18 years and I have stayed within the state for both my bachelor's and master's degrees (of which I am currently working on my master's at Ohio University).  Up until writing this entry, I never realized how strong my "sense of place" was to my hometown and to the state.  That "at home" feeling is profound.  

Having said that, I would like to say that I would want to live in Miller City later in life, but due to job preferences and wanting to live in a more liberal minded area my answer as of right now is no.  There is not a lot of diversity in my hometown.  The majority are of German descent and are Roman Catholic.  I think most are oblivious to the fact as to how much drinking is part of the culture.  A couple years back my county was voted the second highest in the state for alcohol consumption per capita.  Some rant about this statistic but rarely do people have a serious conversation about the seriousness of the situation.

A strength of my community is the school system of which I am very grateful for.  My high school was voted as a Blue Ribbon school by the state and it always receives excellent ratings on the state report card ranking system.  The school has been innovating in bringing nursing and engineering programs/courses to the high school level.  For a school system with a couple hundred students, this is remarkable.  The expectation is that for most, you will go on to receive some type of higher education, whether it be a community college or a four year degree.  

Sports are huge in my hometown and in the county.  After a basketball game, people usually celebrate at one of the local bars, Mack & Rita's.  Yes, our small town (population 136) can support two bars which gives you an idea of how much alcohol is consumed!  Whatever sports season is going on, that is the main topic of conversation.  And hey, it never hurts to talk about sports in an awkward setting.  

If I could change one thing about my community it would be to change the mindset.  Unfortunately, I have heard too many rascist and sexist comments which is ultimately frustrating.  It's 2010 and in a lot of ways I feel my hometown has a lot of growing up to do in being accepting along with a having a larger "worldview."

With all of its strengths and room for improvement, I call Miler City my home.