Downtown Dayton - The Urban Alternative to the Suburbs (Kettering: rent, loft)

[Billy from Dayton]

^ where downtown?

[Billy from Dayton]

If you are an avid bike rider then believe it or not, Downtown Dayton is a great place to live. From my downtown condo I am just two blocks away from Riverscape which connects to three directions of extensive bike trails.

Starting at Riverscape...

Go west and that takes you to down the Great Miami River Trail which goes all the way down to Franklin, OH (and through a very nice downtown Miamisburg). I've only taken this just past Carillon Park but the trail view is nice as it is entirely along the river. The construction of the new Monument Street and Stewart Street bridges make things a bit difficult but that is temporary (both bridges are on schedule to be completed by the end of the year). And Carillon Park is a fantastic destination by bike or car.

Go east from Riverscape and then north across the pedestrian bridge and you'll continue on the Great Miami River Trail through Deeds Point, then through Island MetroPark, across a cool cable stayed pedestrian bridge and then over to Triangle Park and north from there - ultimately ending up in Troy. At Triangle Park just past the cable stayed pedestrian bridge you can go left and take the the shorter Stillwater River trail which goes through the pleasant Deweese Park and past beautiful Wegerzyn Gardens and Boonshoft Children's Museum.

Or go east from Riverscape and continue on the Mad River Trail which leads you to Eastwood Metropark - a great scenic trail along the Mad River and a very large and nice metropark. From there you can continue on the Creekside Trail which ultimately ends in Xenia.

These and other Dayton-area trails can be seen at Interactive Map of Miami Valley Trails - not the easiest-to-use map but still informative.

Finally, next spring Riverscape Phase III will be completed which will include the Dayton Region's only Bike Hub, which will include bike storage/rental, lockers and showers for bike commuters. Added to new dedicated bike lanes and sharrows throughout downtown which will hopefully connect with other city and regional bike ways, Downtown Dayton is on its way to becoming the bicycle hub for the entire region.

Another reason I enjoy living downtown.

[Beavercreek33]

Originally Posted by Billy from Dayton

If you are an avid bike rider then believe it or not, Downtown Dayton is a great place to live. From my downtown condo I am just two blocks away from Riverscape which connects to three directions of extensive bike trails.

Starting at Riverscape...

Go west and that takes you to down the Great Miami River Trail which goes all the way down to Franklin, OH (and through a very nice downtown Miamisburg). I've only taken this just past Carillon Park but the trail view is nice as it is entirely along the river. The construction of the new Monument Street and Stewart Street bridges make things a bit difficult but that is temporary (both bridges are on schedule to be completed by the end of the year). And Carillon Park is a fantastic destination by bike or car.

Go east from Riverscape and then north across the pedestrian bridge and you'll continue on the Great Miami River Trail through Deeds Point, then through Island MetroPark, across a cool cable stayed pedestrian bridge and then over to Triangle Park and north from there - ultimately ending up in Troy. At Triangle Park just past the cable stayed pedestrian bridge you can go left and take the the shorter Stillwater River trail which goes through the pleasant Deweese Park and past beautiful Wegerzyn Gardens and Boonshoft Children's Museum.

Or go east from Riverscape and continue on the Mad River Trail which leads you to Eastwood Metropark - a great scenic trail along the Mad River and a very large and nice metropark. From there you can continue on the Creekside Trail which ultimately ends in Xenia.

These and other Dayton-area trails can be seen at Interactive Map of Miami Valley Trails - not the easiest-to-use map but still informative.

Finally, next spring Riverscape Phase III will be completed which will include the Dayton Region's only Bike Hub, which will include bike storage/rental, lockers and showers for bike commuters. Added to new dedicated bike lanes and sharrows throughout downtown which will hopefully connect with other city and regional bike ways, Downtown Dayton is on its way to becoming the bicycle hub for the entire region.

Another reason I enjoy living downtown.

Dayton has an awesome bike trail system. Me and my wife try to get out on our bikes every weekend. I also love Riverscape. I go there and eat lunch all the time. I work at the new CareSource building downtown.

[Billy from Dayton]

Beavercreek33 - you'll be happy when Riverscape Phase III opens next spring. New covered pavillion, bike hub with showers, lockers and some bike services, and a new eatery that will feature healthy food. As Riverscape is a central hub to the region's bike trails, it will likely become a new bicyclist hangout.

[nickolaseposter]

Originally Posted by tgasper

There's nothing to do downtown? Are you kidding me? Tonight alone there was the Courteous Mass bike ride, a potluck at C}Space, First Friday - and I knew two people that had shows in two different galleries this month - we had dinner with friends at Coco's on the patio, which meant we didn't make it to the South Park Tavern. Not to mention the Dragons game, the movie at Garden Station and who knows what else I may have missed. There was, as with most weekends, TOO much going on downtown and I couldn't get to all of it.

As lovely as that is.... again. No one cares about that. I was saying that if urbanites want downtown to thrive, why does it have to hurt to bring in some national chains? I'm not saying , "KILL SMALL BUSINESS". trust me, I'm not! But I am saying you should integrate the national with the local to create a mix of different choices. It's not just for people LIVING downtown because when a downtown does well alot of it's capital comes from people visiting downtown and people that are staying in hotels downtown that don't necessarily like to have to find out what local places are the best. The people visiting want to go to places that they no and trust already. No wonder they have built like 20 hotels on miller lane to the point where there are almost 2000 hotel rooms on that strip alone! Because its surrounded by a ****load of national retailers and restaurants. I'm just saying that downtown Dayton should offer EVERYTHING. That is what things grow. And if you want to see growth downtown, your not going to get it by an overkill of culturalistic "unique" boutiques. Your gonna get it by some unique boutiques and some normal retailers. Understand???

[dayton_ohio]

With all due respect, almost every large city in Ohio has tried to lure suburbanites downtown with national retailers and restaurants. Have you seen what's become of City Center mall in Columbus, the Carew Tower mall in Cincinnati, or Portside Mall in Toledo? It doesn't work.

Downtown Dayton will never be able to compete with suburban shopping districts on parking, safety, or convenience. It can compete on uniqueness and diversity of options. Small local stores provide those, not national chains.

[JefferyT]

Building a retail presence downtown is going to be pretty tough, even with "small local stores".

So far the most resilient retail presence downtown is geared to blacks, probably ones riding the RTA, over on that block of Main between Third and 4th. The exception to that is Price Stores, which seems to have a solid clientele for menswear and their tux rental place upstairs. And that little shopping arcade with the handful of stores in the base of the old 5/3 Building.

[JefferyT]

If he's talking about restaurants, Uno is a chain. And for fast food there are number of sandwhich shops downtown that are chains, but there hours are mostly limited to weekday "9-5".

[Daytonnatian]

Random comment (on the topic of restraunts) :

Since we're the capital of Funk music, and have a large presence in bluegrass music, and John Legend (yes, we're stealing him from Springfield) now, why can't we have a Hard Rock Cafe'? I think that is one business that would do GREAT downtown.

[Billy from Dayton]

nickolaseposter - you sure love to make generalizations, don't you. Your comment "No one cares about that." is as wrong as saying "everybody cares about that." What you should have said is that YOU don't care about that. I'm sure you're not alone, but to say that "no one cares about that" is an ignorant statement. Just like it is wrong to say that all visitors want to go to places they know and trust - sure some do but others are indeed looking for a unique experience. However, I do agree with you that downtown should be able to offer both.

As an urbanite I am not against having chains downtown, nor are any realistic urbanites I know. We just wouldn't want it to become all chains because the unique local character that independents offer is what attracts us. And the city government is not preventing chains from opening - hell, they've been bending over backwards to get a national grocery store but to no avail. The fact is that the demographics downtown are simply not at all where they need to be in order to attract national chains, retail, grocery stores, etc. You could give them free rent for the next 20 years and they still wouldn't locate here as they tend to locate in retail clusters like shopping mall areas. The developers of "power centers" (anchored by Targets, Wal-Marts, Home Depots and Lowes) tend to take an outer-ring approach rather than locate in the center no matter what city (you won't see these kinds of developments in most downtowns no matter how successful or vibrant they are).

One should also consider the fact that the city derives its tax revenue from income tax, not sales tax - so most economic development efforts on the part of the city are focused on attracting business that provides either higher-income jobs or hundreds of living-wage jobs, not retail-type jobs that pay little more than minimum wage. That isn't to say that the city turns away retail business but because of the tax structure they simply aren't as focused on attracting retail business. If the tax structure was changed and the city did receive tax revenue from sales tax then perhaps ED strategies would be different.

Bottom line - downtown could certainly use more restaurants and retail that attract more people, no matter if they are independent or chains. But the last thing downtown should do is try to be more like the suburbs because downtown can never beat or even match the suburbs at being the suburbs. Instead downtown needs more urban amenities that attract people from outside of the region looking for an urban experience. Chains can be a part of that, but they alone are not the answer.