Anxious Brit moving to Dayton - advice, please. (ending, should)

[KMSFLA]

Originally Posted by Crew Chief

YES! The terrain around Dayton varies from fairly flat to gently rolling hills. We have plenty of trees as well as a fair amount of farmland once you get out of Dayton and it's close-in suburbs. I think you'll like it here; four distinct seasons, low cost of living and plenty to do if you are willing to go out and find it!

Cool. Sounds a lot like the glacier-made terrain of home (Michigan) - flat land with the occasional rolling hills.

[cwilloughby78]

Yes this part of Ohio was under the same glaciers that carved out the Michagan landscape as well as the great lakes. The glacier ended just north of Cincinnati when you approach Cincinnati you start to see the higher hills that are the foothills of the Appalachian mountians. Just a nugget of useless info. The city of Moraine just south of Dayton is named Moraine because it is where part of the glacier stopped it's southern advance, and the name of a place where a glacier stops is called a moraine. KMSFLA we have the four seasons as well, just be aware this part of the Miami Valley is also known by many as Sinusitis Valley, because the unique geography traps allergens. It affects some more then others.

[OhioUberAlles]

Originally Posted by ellyagnes

We're relocating from quiet, rural England to Dayton (WPAFB), for 2-3 years, probably.

Have found posts re: neighborhoods helpful as crime stats are truly alarming. (As are reports of tornadoes on Wikipedia.)

We're 50, childless, with pets, and love gardening, art museums and wildlife and aren't party types.

Can anyone recommend a very safe neighborhood very close to base?

Can anyone estimate how long a commute from Yellow Springs would be (sounds a nice place).

Are there many rental properties in safe neighborhoods? Does one have to live in a gated community to feel safer? Do you have door and window bars?

Hoping for more reassurance, I'm departing homeland reluctantly as it is .

Thanks in anticipation.

I believe gated communities only create an illusion of safety. First of all they pin a target on you, criminals feel if you live in such a place you must have a lot of stuff worth stealing. Secondly, they tend to be rather lax with security (it is not uncommon for unauthorized people to be found inside them).

I would recommend you get an Ohio License to Carry a Concealed Handgun once you get here and met the residency requirement. You should get a pistol, get trained, get comfortable carrying it, and get a permit to carry it. You need a permit to carry it concealed or to carry it in a vehicle (regardless of how you carry it), but if you want to carry openly you don't need a permit (unless you're in a vehicle). But for a number of reasons I recommend AGAINST open-carry. As long as you meet the qualifications for the concealed carry license the police have to issue it to you, they have no say in the matter.

Ohio Attorney General - Concealed Carry

Keep in mind that you have approximately a 75% chance of being the victim of a violent crime or an attempted crime at some point in your life.

My personal assessment of Dayton is that if you live in the city for four years you're going to need a handgun at least once. Better to have it and never have to use it, than to find yourself in a situation where you need it and don't have it.

I'd also get a shotgun (either semi-automatic or pump-action) for home defense, due to the generally rare but ever-present threat of home invasion. Something with at least a 7 round capacity should suffice. I keep my 12 gauge loaded with seven shells plus one in the chamber.


Also, get a bad-weather alarm radio, a radio that will go off with weather updates for your area (you program it with zip codes/counties) and it alerts you of tornado watches, tornado warnings, flood watches, flood warnings, etc... I keep mine set for my county, all neighboring counties, and all counties neighboring the neighboring counties.

[OhioUberAlles]

Originally Posted by ellyagnes

Dear All,
Your comments and advice are all most gratefully received! You are all very kind indeed, and have helped alleviate the qualms a bit...apart from the person who mentioned tornado warnings all the time and they touch down in Xenia. I suppose there are bears too...and earthquakes? Yikes. The thought of sheep nearby is very calming, somehow.

Re:British units of measurement - rods, perches and chains - none of that metric nonsense. Only joking - no, we hang on to miles, but gas and food is purchased in metric, and we use metric for temperature unless it gets hot, then we (informally) resort to Fahrenheit like you.

When we arrive we'll have our animals - does anyone know if there are hotels that accept pets until we find a house? We couldn't possibly kennel them after the trip, which will be traumatic enough.

Thank you all again!

I believe Holiday Inn Express hotels are usually pretty good about guests having pets. Of course you'll need to call the specific hotel you have in mind to confirm this. Their website or customer service hotline should be able to give you specific information on which hotels suit your needs.

[cwilloughby78]

I've lived in Dayton for 30 years and never once in 30 years have I had a need for a handgun for personal protection. Take that for whatever it's worth. I support gun owner rights and conceal carry, but ellyagnes don't think you're moving into the wild west like others would lead you to believe. With any city you're going to have areas of the inner city that you'll want to steer clear of late at night, but chances are you wouldn't be in those areas living in a outlying suburb and working on base. And areas of interest downtown like the Victoria theater, Fifth Thrid Field home to our beloved minor league baseball team the Dayton Dragons (which I highly recommend taking in a game, you'll really get the feel for what American Baseball is truely about) are usually well patrolled by the Dayton police dept.

[Crew Chief]

AMEN, CWilloughby! I'm all for our Second Amendment rights, as well. BUt I've never felt the need to be armed and I doubt I ever will. (I used firearms in the military and am comfortable with them.) But I just doubt I'll ever need one. Maybe I'll feel differently the first time someone shows me the business end of a weapon. But I'll support those who conceal carry and abstain myself.

[pear2apple]

I agree, with CWilloughby and Crew Chief. I've lived in Dayton, at the University of Dayton in their student neighborhood which is bordering the ghetto on a few streets and never have I felt unsafe enough to warrant any kind of weapon use. And I have walked from one side of campus to the other late late at night and seen very few students, let alone other people and I still did not feel unsafe. And for those thinking its so much safer on a college campus I agree, but their are still rapes, break-ins, and auto theft, not too mention The Flashers that find their way on porches all over campus.

OhioUberAlles you sound rather dramatic in your assumption that you need to carry a concealed weapon. There are many places in Ohio that do not allow (permit or not) you to carry concealed weapons on to their premises. Besides, are you going to go thru the deepest areas of Dayton at 4am that you think you need a weapon?? The areas that these older folks will go to at night will not be where lots of drunken idiots will be brawling on the street. You most certainly do not need a gun in Beavercreek or Centerville, not for protection when you are out anyway.

I have just moved from Kettering, and depending which side of Smithville and 35 you live on, it can be a little scary. But you won't be walking thru the ghetto, so you have no need for a gun.

[OhioUberAlles]

Originally Posted by pear2apple

I agree, with CWilloughby and Crew Chief. I've lived in Dayton, at the University of Dayton in their student neighborhood which is bordering the ghetto on a few streets and never have I felt unsafe enough to warrant any kind of weapon use. And I have walked from one side of campus to the other late late at night and seen very few students, let alone other people and I still did not feel unsafe. And for those thinking its so much safer on a college campus I agree, but their are still rapes, break-ins, and auto theft, not too mention The Flashers that find their way on porches all over campus.

OhioUberAlles you sound rather dramatic in your assumption that you need to carry a concealed weapon. There are many places in Ohio that do not allow (permit or not) you to carry concealed weapons on to their premises. Besides, are you going to go thru the deepest areas of Dayton at 4am that you think you need a weapon?? The areas that these older folks will go to at night will not be where lots of drunken idiots will be brawling on the street. You most certainly do not need a gun in Beavercreek or Centerville, not for protection when you are out anyway.

I have just moved from Kettering, and depending which side of Smithville and 35 you live on, it can be a little scary. But you won't be walking thru the ghetto, so you have no need for a gun.

I don't shop at stores that have "no gun" signs. I take them as signs which read "gun owners stay out, we don't want your money."


Most stores have been taking down their signs since they've been losing serious business over the last several years.

[Daytonnatian]

Originally Posted by OhioUberAlles

I don't shop at stores that have "no gun" signs. I take them as signs which read "gun owners stay out, we don't want your money."


Most stores have been taking down their signs since they've been losing serious business over the last several years.

Didn't know the NRA, white-trash movement was so big in my 'hood. Maybe I should spend a little more time in the eastside instead of the west.

[OhioUberAlles]

Originally Posted by Daytonnatian

Didn't know the NRA, white-trash movement was so big in my 'hood. Maybe I should spend a little more time in the eastside instead of the west.

Could you wear a sign on you that reads something along the lines of "I hate the Second Amendment and White people!" so when I see you being attacked I know not to use my gun to defend you since you hate guns, okay?

As for the NRA, they're far too liberal for my tastes. They're willing to compromise our rights away. Our rights are non-negotiable.