Anybody work at Wright Patterson in Dayton? (Cleveland, Huber Heights: transplants, lofts)

[ricardo44087]

I have an oppurtunity ot move near the Dayton area and work at Wright Patterson. I am from the Cleveland area and am unsure of the base and living around there? Would have to sell my home and such...big step for a single guy. Any thoughts?

[Crew Chief]

Hello Ricardo44087! I'm retired from the USAF but was never assigned to Wright-Patt. We just ended up here by happy accident. We really like it here. Wright-Patt is a major research & development base and is attracting more workers and even defense contractors to the area all the time. The area has a reasonable cost of living and there are many nice cities and towns with quick commutes to the base. The weather is somewhat milder than Cleveland; we're too far South to get much of the Lake Effect Snow. If you think you'll like the job, I'd say that this area is a pretty nice one to live in. Best of luck!

[wrightflyer]

You beat me to the punch crew cheif. Yeah, I lived near the base up until a few weeks ago (left for school) and had many friends who's parents worked on the base. Many claim the base is the single largest single-site employer in the state, but whether that's true or not it is very large with 22,000 employees from defense contractors to military personel. Oh, and for anchors, the base is the Air Force Material Command HQ and the National Air and Space Intelligence Center HQ. Even if BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) turns on us (the last round added 1000-2000 jobs) and takes away some jobs, the core of the base will still be there due to its enourmous size.

[Giesela]

Not sure what kind of job you were offered. Just be careful. The economy problems have a long way to go and there is going to be a contraction in Defense spending as part of that for sure. This year's funding is set, but the next few years plus are going to be tough. First hired, first let go.

[ricardo44087]

This is a non-appropriated funds postion. I guess the Base generates this funding themselves.

[firefightermom]

Hi, my dad worked at Wright-Patt for over 30 years, and I lived in Cleveland for 10. My dad moved from the south for his job so he left everything he knew. He rented in Fairborn at first, of course this is way back in the 60's, and then rented in Huber Heights. He later bought in Huber, but discovered a lot of WP's people who get transferred moved then rented their houses. After 3 years most of his neighbors were renters. We lived north of Dayton where few other WP employees lived. South is busier, more traffic, higher housing costs. May be cheaper depending on where in Cleveland you are. good luck!

[AmericanMuscleta]

I've only been to Dayton once for the Air Museum. I know a few miles away from the mall is a mall with lots of shopping and resturants. The area seemed like a nice place, but then again it may be loud due to all the aircraft (?).

[Teri L]

The entire Dayton area is very affordable and convenient to the base. Generally speaking, you can get to the base in about 20 minutes from nearly anywhere in the Dayton area, all you need to do is decide where to live.

Do you enjoy tranquil settings? Nightlife? Suburban life? Small arty village, condo life, a lofts in downtown Dayton, or a home in a historic district? Each is available, plentiful, and relatively affordable.

Transplants tell me they like Dayton because people are friendly- if you pull up to a 4-way stop, you are likely to get waved ahead. Every time the light turns green, no one will be honking at you. Not a lot of road rage and angry drivers. It's not the south, but we are not mean, either.

[Giesela]

I moved from Michigan to Omaha to work at Offutt. Then from Offutt to WP (currently). I lived in Cleveland for a little over a year way back in the early 80's. There's nothing really wrong with Dayton per se but of all the places I've lived I like it the least. Its been along time since I was in Cleveland but I liked it. Personally I'd stay there if you have a good job/future and are on the fence. I don't know about the friendly people, Omaha had the nicest people of anywhere I'd ever been. Hands down and I wasn't the only one that thought so. Dayton people, avg midwesterners. Dayton, yea sure, its got a mall, its got a very very small amt of "cool" urbanism (I suppose). Never heard anyone talking about going clubbing or nightlife though I suppose there has to be a little. Nothing like the flats, nothing like the shore, nothing like the big market they have on the near east side, nothing like the rapid, no professional sports teams. Its an ok really average place with nothing really special going on as near as I can tell.