Deeds Park Riverfront Housing is a GO...

As expected, the Miami Conservancy District has lifted the tight use restrictions on the land that makes up Deeds Park.  It should be noted that the proposed housing development will NOT include or affect the existing park space and bike paths - which are maintained (and owned?) by Five Rivers Metroparks.  Only the area across the street where there is currently a big ugly unused parking lot and baseball diamond (that isn't needed since we have Kettering Fields just next door) will be developed. 

It is my opinion that this is a good move as it is redeveloping an area that could and should be prime real estate but is now empty.  With Deeds Point (one of the most meticulously landscaped and beautiful vantage points in the region), immediate access to the largest bike trail system in the region, a spectacular river and city skyline view, a potential retail/dining/entertainment district just across the Mad River, and easy access to I75 - this COULD be the most sought-after residential real estate in the region.  Not to mention that with another influx of downtown residents brings more probability of downtown amenities like a grocery store.

Dayton Daily News
Link: Board amends Deeds Park development agreement.

The Miami Conservancy District board of directors Thursday announced that they had unanimously agreed to amend a deed to allow riverfront housing on 12 acres of land at Deeds Park.

RFID Jobs Coming to Dayton

A DDN article on the web today reports that the City of Dayton has committed (some would say "invested") $1.4 million with CityWide Development who will use the funds as "seed money" over four years to create the Dayton RFID Incubator Corp., to be called DRIC. DRIC is expected to create 100 jobs with an average annual salary of $80,000 over three years. It will be located in the Creative Technology Accelerator in Dayton's Tech Town business park.

Is It Time for Rail in Ohio?

In a previous post, I mentioned a Cincinnati Enquirer editorial which brought up the need for a light rail connection between Dayton and Cincinnati. The subject of resurrecting a standard rail system in Ohio has been bantered about for a long time, but the estimated cost ($3.8 billion) and other concerns have always kept the idea on the backburner. The concept, apparently, is gaining new life with the Strickland administration which is tying alternative forms of transportation with its broader energy plan and ideas for economic development in the state.

Complete the Streets

From this . . .

To this . . .

What's wrong with this picture?  No people . . . no alternative forms of transportation . . . just cars and concrete. I'm not saying we should go back to the horse and buggy, but it's time the people of Dayton reclaim their city streets and their community. How can we do that? Kirkland, Washington seems to have the right idea, as described by the following AARP article.

UPDATE SEP 25: See Richard Florida's post showing how complete streets are to be instituted in NYC. It's just not for the burbs. Imagine the same thing happening in Dayton!

New Montesori School, and one step closer to Ballpark Village

We've recently learned that the Dayton School Board has selected the area on the north banks of the Great Miami River directly across from RiverScape as the new location for the city's latest Montessori school.  Though the exact details are not known at this time, it appears that this latest development will allow for the city to acquire the Patterson Career Academy property - the original location that the school board had slated for this new Montessori school and one of the three main properties that must be acquired by the city to make room for Ballpark Village.

It will be interesting to see if this means that the Miami Apartments will be demolished or rehabbed (though it could be a beautiful building, my money is on demolish), and if the rest of that small riverfront neighborhood will be brought back from the dead.  There are several dilapidated properties there that should be torn down, yet ironically there is one fairly new and modern house that was designed by Rogero Buckman that sits directly across the street from the former Rockwells.  And speaking of Rockwells - what will become of that stunning property?  (please not another ill-conceived high-priced steak joint!)

With the acquisition of the Woolpert building having been secured by the city, all that is left is the blessing of the Miami Conservancy District on the development of the Deeds Point area for housing, and to find a new home for Requarth Lumber.  And my last conversation with the president of that company leads me to believe that this is all very close to becoming reality.

Downtown Dayton - The Time is NOW

This past Friday night, Downtown Dayton was THE place to be as another successful Urban Nights took place.  Though no official numbers have been released (and it is impossible to determine an exact head count), I can tell from past experience that this latest event was quite possibly the biggest. 

As I walked around my downtown neighborhood that night, I couldn't help but think - this feels like I'm in a much bigger city!  There were people everywhere.  And when I got to the Arcade, I couldn't believe the huge number of people lined up to see the Arcade.  Can you believe it?  Hundreds (if not a thousand) people lined up to look at the inside of an abandoned building?  There were no performers inside, there was nobody selling food or drinks or souvenirs - it was JUST an empty building.  And that leads me to my point...