Would it be crazy to leave California for Dayton? (Columbus: ski resort, house prices)

[Raidenvaga]

LOL I must live in hole, Westside of dayton is cheap living but it suck... Beavercreek & Fairborn are the better ones.. But, still I would like to meet some of you in person to get an better input (REALLY !!!)
The Oregon district is taste of Cali ( one 30-40 sec road ) LOL
I've live in florida, TX , LA , GA , and I guess people like dayton cause is cheap living. Coming from another state with everything is higher might look at dayton as an gold mine,lol.

[SunSun]

Yes, you would be INSANE! Do not move here!! It is nearly impossible to get a job as the economy is HORRIBLE. Very high crime rate, cold winters, humid summers, absolutely no nightlife. If you have a good job offer and are already married/have a family it might be ok, as you will find a lower cost of living here - but if that is not your situation - stay put...believe me. Everyone I know in Dayton is trying to leave Dayton.

[crystalblue]

how would a single guy like it?

[Bootzscootz]

DON'T DO IT!!! YOU WILL REGRET IT FOR A VERY LONG TIME! I lived there for 45 yrs and hated it. But, the Lord answers prayers and made a way for me to get out. Dayton and vicinities are getting worse each day. It stinks, is filthy, and full of crime and drugs. Most people (if they can afford it) has alarm systems in their homes or bars on the windows or both. I've read the post of the ones who making it sound inviting and all I can say is they must live a very small sheltered life. Oregon district has prostitutes, drug addicts and dealers 24/7. There is practicall a bar on every street. If you are used to clean air, you will choke and Ohio is the also the sinus capital of the US. Do a search on Dayton and you will know what I am saying is true. Start with daytondailnews.com.

[penelopelp]

Bootzscootz, I can see where you are coming from, but I disagree that it is that bad! There is a big problem with crime and drugs in Dayton. That is a problem anytime you have a large low economic areas. You see this in any large, concentrated, urban area. Since Dayton is part of the "rust belt," economic times are rough. I don't think most people have alarms on their homes. I don't know anybody who lives in a house who has an alarm system--and I am including people who live in Dayton proper. I also don't know anybody with bars on their windows. I'm not sure where you would see that in Dayton. The Oregon District is very nice. Yes, you have bars. I wouldn't say that you have "bars on every street," because the Oregon District is really just one street. You do have some people walking around who might ask you for money. I've never come across a prostitute or dealer in the Oregon. We spend a lot of time there--we walk there on a weekly basis. We've had no problem (except for the occasional request for a dollar). The air isn't great here, that is true. The pollution is pretty high (esp. particulate pollution). It is a very bad area for sinus problems.

[hillside]

you would save a lot of money by coming out here to ohio, but create alot of headaches if you want to live in the city of dayton.

dayton is very poor, run down in many areas, and has high crime. i lived on the eastside and shootings, robberies and other blatant crime was accepted as the norm. and the westside is worse. has a poor southern feel in parts. cheap flats and shotguns with no sidewalks. bars on everything.

dayton is trying to revitalize downtown, but it's not going to work because the economy is dead. dayton will never die because of wright patterson, u of dayton and cincinnati. columbus is sucking what few jobs dayton had left after the 80's right up i-70.

im a cincinnati native and i don't think dayton is as dangerous or violent as cincinnati, but dayton's schools and economy are as bad as any around.

the people are nice, but in an ohio tough way. people may smile, but don't take much crap off of anyone. i think you will like the people out here. we're to the point and forthcoming. your word means something out here.

if you choose, we'd be happy to have you, lord knows enough people are running outta here...but if you stay in cali, your decision is more than understood.

[penelopelp]

Hillside, Dayton does have a lot of poor people. The crime is high in some parts of Dayton. Shootings are not the norm on the east side. How many shootings have you seen on the east side? There was one in Belmont last year. A cop shot himself off of Huffman last year.

Most of the major streets on the east side have sidewalks--Huffman, Fifth St., Smithville, Airway. I'm not sure where you see the bars on the windows. Maybe some of the businesses have them--a check cashing place, or Cricket store. I don't know of any residences on the east side with bars.

What do you mean by the east side having a "poor Southern feel?" You are making a blatant generalization about the South. Which part of the South are you referring to? Atlanta? Nashville? Charlotte? Savannah? Miami? It is true that a lot of people from eastern Kentucky & West Va. have moved to the east side of Dayton.

[hillside]

i said the westside has bars on alot of bldgs and few sidewalks in the areas close to downtown and off 3rd st. the westside. and if i did see a shooting, i wouldn't dry snitch on a blog.

of course main drags in dayton have sidewalks. i meant back streets.

as for the eastside, i lived in belmont. somebody was always sticking something up on the eastside, lot of drugs in spots, and yes, the occasional shooting. when i said it was accepted, i meant that it wasn't shocking in any way or form that someone was shooting a gun off in dayton, ohio.

yes the south isn't the same everywhere, but the homes i described, flats, shotguns and other undersized, over-aged one and a half story white wood frames are prevalent in places like virginia, louisiana, tennessee and alabama. dayton has those in certain parts of town, mostly westside. the eastside is more urban ohio. you are right though, southwest ohio is as close to southern as you're gonna get in a northern free state as far as family roots and culture go.

[Traveler87]

I would take the move to Dayton over California any day. Get a job and you are set. California is extremely overrated.

[AliceT]

Dayton is a very settled city. Most major corporations appreciate places like Dayton because it's not a tourist town, does not have a lot of transients (that is, folks who come, stay a year or two and then pack up and leave) and remains fairly constant.

For that reason, major companies that are trying out a new product will make it available to Dayton stores before releasing it anywhere else in the country. This happened with Folger's Singles. How do I know that? Because my mom was from there. She was telling me on the phone one day about "coffee bags just like tea bags for a single cup of coffee" and I thought she had gone around the bend. She even sent me a package of them. I took them to several stores and asked about them. The store managers had never heard of them. I called Folgers and asked what was going on. The representative told me that "Dayton was a test city. If a product is a hit in Dayton, it'll be a hit in the rest of the country."

Schools are excellent in most suburbs such as Kettering, Oakwood, Beavercreek, Centerville. It's a very conservative area. I went through all of high school and a couple years of college in Dayton. I rode a moped to Sinclair Community College right straight through the year - including winters. Generally, I wore a sweater coat, scarf, hat and gloves. I didn't think it was unbearably cold during the winters in Dayton - but then, before Dayton, I had lived in Maine - so that could be a perspective thing.

You rarely hear about the negativity in Dayton that you hear about in other cities. Police corruption and brutality issues are almost non-existent. Dayton actually believes in training their police officers. What's more is that they all seem to care not only about the city but the residents of the city. They do because in large part, they are all from there.

Most of the people I went to school with are still there and don't want to be anywhere else.