What are Dayton’s long term prospects?

Long term I believe Dayton is on a really good path.

I’m a recent transplant from St Pete, which 20 years ago was a boarded up sleepy retirement community and I watched it absolutely explode into a new, hip, highly desirable area, with unfortunately all the attendant problems that comes with that (extraordinarily high property values and rents, infrastructure overwhelm, enviromental destruction, and rising intensity / anxiety / anger in the community due to so many people now living in one place).

Dayton’s hurdles are different in origin but similar path of improvement. We’ve been visiting Dayton for about 10 years and even in that time the change especially downtown has been monumental and are the huge and difficult first steps.

2nd Street Market and similar as a stepping stone or proving ground for small and micro businesses is a great mechanism for people to see that postiive change in their own life is possible. You don’t have to have a ton of capital to make your own way, it is entirely possible to start small and grow.

Currently what I see is a city learning about new dining trends and options and over the next few years the dining standard overall will likely rise as the baseline expectations are raised.

I believe Dayton will reach measure progress, and will likely avoid the overwhelming tipping point / runaway growth experienced in other cities (Denver, Austin, Portland, Tampa / St Pete) because while I love the area, there isn’t a major draw. Which, I guess there isn’t in Austin either, other than their Tech / Business?

One major improvement I would like to see is everyone around the city being comfortable to go and explore other parts of the city. Everyone seems to stick to their slice of the pie. It’s a big wide world out there, and every section of the city I’ve explored has had something positive to offer. Not sure how to encourage that, other than to point it out, and maybe highlight some stellar examples which I plan on doing soon.

I don’t believe any of those options are the silver bullet. In the end it’s going to be the residents of Dayton taking the opportunity to improve their city in their own way. For some it will be starting businesses. For others it will be renovating homes. Starting neighborhood gardens or activism groups. Volunteering. Bringing new arts and views to the social conversation. All of these different warps and wefts when combined together form the fabric of the city.

Anyways, Dayton is a lovable underdog, and it’s now MY lovable underdog. So let’s work to make it better!