White Poverty in Dayton??? (Columbus, Cleveland: houses, employment, neighborhoods)

[greenvillebuckeye]

Was looking at data recently from the ODE EMIS website and was looking at enrollment data for high schools in Dayton Public and one school struck me with some odd / interesting data which begged me to ask anyone familiar with this Belmont High School and it's area of town to give me some insight into why this exists.

Belmont has a roughly 50% Caucasian enrollment with an almost 90% free / reduced lunch enrollment according to the data. Rarely and I mean rarely do you see urban high schools in places like Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincy, Akron etc.... where the racial enrollment is mostly Caucasian and with such a high rate of poverty.

So I was wondering if someone from Dayton or someone familiar with that section of Dayton could provide some insight, historical or otherwise into this situation.

I grew up in Ohio about an hour north of Dayton, now live / work in rural South Carolina and on a daily basis I see white poverty so I have these daily images in my head based on what the data provides but wanted to get some info from those who actually know the area and what not.

[hensleya1]

For decades, the old joke in eastern Kentucky was that you learned your three R's in school - readin', ritin', and route 23 north.

Thousands of people came up this way looking for work - and found it - in the factories. Delco, General Motors, Frigidaire, NCR, Inland, Delphi, etc... They weren't well educated, but they could work on a factory floor and earn a decent middle class wage that way.

Those jobs were, however, stagnating for decades and not seeing much employment growth after about 1960 or so. Jobs were sent overseas, companies pushed back against unions, etc. Of course, Bill Clinton signed NAFTA in 1993 and opened up the southern border and sent all our manufacturing to Mexico, that was the real death knell for the region's manufacturing base.

The new jobs that crop up aren't paying nearly as much. Fuyao makes the headlines for hiring hundreds, but IIRC the starting wage there is in the $11 an hour range.

[greenvillebuckeye]

Originally Posted by hensleya1

For decades, the old joke in eastern Kentucky was that you learned your three R's in school - readin', ritin', and route 23 north.

Thousands of people came up this way looking for work - and found it - in the factories. Delco, General Motors, Frigidaire, NCR, Inland, Delphi, etc... They weren't well educated, but they could work on a factory floor and earn a decent middle class wage that way.

Those jobs were, however, stagnating for decades and not seeing much employment growth after about 1960 or so. Jobs were sent overseas, companies pushed back against unions, etc. Of course, Bill Clinton signed NAFTA in 1993 and opened up the southern border and sent all our manufacturing to Mexico, that was the real death knell for the region's manufacturing base.

The new jobs that crop up aren't paying nearly as much. Fuyao makes the headlines for hiring hundreds, but IIRC the starting wage there is in the $11 an hour range.

Thank you. I was leaning that direction. I grew up in Lima, Ohio which in our south end of town there is a very noticeable population of white Appalachia that migrated to Lima in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. So I had that vision in my head I guess.

I was somewhat hesitant to post this topic because I didn't want to offend an entire section of town for living in white poverty but was just curious I guess because of the data presented to me.

I do enjoy the joke about the 3 R's :-). I may steal that one.


NAFTA was about 20 plus years ago so would it be accurate to describe that part of Dayton as a "white ghetto"?? What I mean is and I apologize for the negative descriptive phrase there, is are there generations of families who have lived there in poverty who just refuse to or can't relocate?

[CarpathianPeasant]

Originally Posted by greenvillebuckeye

Thank you. I was leaning that direction. I grew up in Lima, Ohio which in our south end of town there is a very noticeable population of white Appalachia that migrated to Lima in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. So I had that vision in my head I guess.

I was somewhat hesitant to post this topic because I didn't want to offend an entire section of town for living in white poverty but was just curious I guess because of the data presented to me.

I do enjoy the joke about the 3 R's :-). I may steal that one.


NAFTA was about 20 plus years ago so would it be accurate to describe that part of Dayton as a "white ghetto"?? What I mean is and I apologize for the negative descriptive phrase there, is are there generations of families who have lived there in poverty who just refuse to or can't relocate?

Dayton was somewhat integrated before urban renewal and busing. The two together upset the town.

Possibly what's left of the so-called middle class in the Belmont area no longer has school age children.

[randomparent]

Not exactly. My father grew up right around the corner from Belmont HS, although he attended a different high school. He and his brother both attended university and attained upper middle class professional lifestyles. All of their children, one of whom is me, did the same, as will the next generation. BTW, my grandfather still lives in the area. The son of farmers, he worked a blue collar job until retirement. He has a small house, yes, but he has ample retirement funds and most certainly does not live in poverty.

[greenvillebuckeye]

Originally Posted by randomparent

Not exactly. My father grew up right around the corner from Belmont HS, although he attended a different high school. He and his brother both attended university and attained upper middle class professional lifestyles. All of their children, one of whom is me, did the same, as will the next generation. BTW, my grandfather still lives in the area. The son of farmers, he worked a blue collar job until retirement. He has a small house, yes, but he has ample retirement funds and most certainly does not live in poverty.

So "white ghetto" is probably not an accurate title for the area I guess. Is it fair to say though that there is certainly a pocket of white poverty that exists in that part of town?

[greenvillebuckeye]

Originally Posted by CarpathianPeasant

Dayton was somewhat integrated before urban renewal and busing. The two together upset the town.

Possibly what's left of the so-called middle class in the Belmont area no longer has school age children.

The latter comment sounds very plausible as I notice that in my hometown of Lima as well in all parts of the city.

Could you elaborate maybe more on the former comment. What exactly does "upset the town" mean?

[randomparent]

Originally Posted by greenvillebuckeye

So "white ghetto" is probably not an accurate title for the area I guess. Is it fair to say though that there is certainly a pocket of white poverty that exists in that part of town?

Belmont High School draws from an extremely large area. Parts of east Dayton are definitely poor -- very, very poor -- but not all. That said, children who have the talent and drive to get out usually do. Some parts are also drawing creative class Millennials, who like to fix up old houses.

[Natural510]

Belmont isn't white/Appalachian ghetto, but Twin Towers and most of East Dayton beyond St Anne's Hill definitely are.

[joe from dayton]

Belmont HS is located in a decent area, but it draws from a large geographical area. As mentioned above, there is a lot of "white ghetto" in Dayton, and the Twin Towers Neighborhood is just a few neighborhoods over from Belmont.

Again, as noted by other posters, Dayton used to be a major manufacturing and tool and die hub of the nation, but those jobs are gone, and they were not replaced by anything of substance.