When Jack and Judy Tonk married in 1970, they searched for an area in Northwest Indiana that reflected their beliefs and interests.

"We were both looking for a community that had values similar to ours," says Jack Tonk, president of the Miller Garden Club and a member of the Gary Rotary Club. "We knew some people who lived here and we knew they shared our beliefs. We also knew the area was integrated and that was important to us."

So the Tonks moved to Miller. There they raised three sons, worked in the school system and volunteered for community organizations including the Miller Citizen's Corporation (MCC), a group dedicated to improving the quality of life in Miller. Jack served as MCC president.

Call Miller a hot bed of activism, Words like "liberal" and "tree huggers" are embraced as badges of honor.

In many ways, Miller seems to attract the type of people who place saving the world on the same to-do list as picking up food (most likely organic) at the grocery store.

"I've never seen a place where such a wide spectrum of people melds together so well," says Jay Gallagher, a real estate developer who moved to Miller from Chicago and founded East Edge at Miller Beach, a green development.

"Young, old, wealthy, not so wealthy, black, white, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, gays, straight --the list goes on and on and we all seem to get along just fine. It's a quirky, eclectic cast of characters but most of us revel in that."

Gallagher, whose wife Ann is bicycling 7,300 miles across Africa to raise money for AIDS orphans, says they chose Miller for its affordability, beautiful hiking and biking trails, pristine beaches and fun people.

Both Gallaghers volunteer for the Global Alliance for Africa, a Chicago nongovernmental organization (NGO) that helps African children orphaned by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Ron Cohen, professor emeritus of American history at Indiana University Northwest, moved to Miller in 1974 partly because it was pretty and cheap.

"I just became attracted to it when I realized that all these activists lived here," says Cohen, a member of the MCC and American Civil Liberties Union. He notes early activists included Art Daronatsy, a city attorney for Gary and his wife Virginia, both instrumental in integrating Miller in the 1960s.

"I always joked that my grandfather was the poorest lawyer I've ever known because he always wanted to work for people who could least afford him," says Linda Simon, Daronatsy's granddaughter. A Chicago attorney, Simon is active in community activities including the MCC and working on political campaigns.

She also is working to establish a new charter school. Simon's great-grandparents settled in Miller, making her young sons the fifth generation of family to live here (her parents' house is down the street).

"My grandfather escaped from Armenia during the Turkish massacre when he was a child and when he first went to school here he was so impressed," she said. "I think he wanted to make sure everyone had an equal opportunity for education."

Cohen gives a historic perspective for the activism that seems common in Miller.

"Miller always attracted free spirits and those interested in intellectual freedom so it is a very diverse and tolerant community," he said. "And I think it has attracted people in the last 25 or 30 years or so who have moved here because it is Gary and they have more of a social conscience.

"If they just wanted to live on the lake they'd move to Ogden Dunes or Beverly Shores or into Michigan. Miller is a place for people who might not feel accepted and comfortable in other areas. I can't think of another place like it."