The Downtown Arcade to Reopen in 2008

Ok Daytonians, I know that headline got your attention.  Unfortunately it is not referring to the Dayton Arcade (yet), but is instead about a VERY SIMILAR Arcade in Bridgeport, CT.  It is so similar that the picture to the left could very easily be mistaken for our own Arcade...

If you are involved with the current efforts to save our Arcade in Downtown Dayton, PLEASE forward a link to this page to any developer that might be interested in participating.  Because the following is an excellent example of how another city is making things happen with their arcade...

Bridgeport, CT

The Arcade is a 19th Century complex in downtown Bridgeport with some of the most stunning architectural details the city has to offer, including its signature stepped-glass atrium roof. One of the first created and few remaining arcades in the United States, the former hotel and mall are being renovated to include:

• 23 modern one- and two-bedroom apartments on the 2nd to 4th floors
• 5 spacious frontage retail/restaurant spaces
• 10 prime street-level retail/restaurant spaces centered around the spectacular glass ceiling
• 12 mezzanine-level spaces for retail, office or art/design uses
• geothermal heating and other green elements for lower energy bills for tenants
Occupancy is expected in Summer 2007.

Oh, and incidentally - Bridgeport, CT was ranked Number 1 in the latest Creative Class Group's rankings for Creative Class Density for cities between 500k and 1 million in population.  Number 5 on that same list?  None other than Dayton, OH!!!!  So let's get our OWN arcade brought back to life as we work on our own Creative Region Initiative and become the Number One creative city!  Yes people, it can happen - just gotta believe!

(thanks to CoolTown Studios for making us aware!)

More Complete Streets

Here are some more Complete Streets examples.  If city leadership is looking for something to get behind, this is it.  This is the kind of thinking that allows other cities to grow and succeed.  Is Dayton ready to do the same?

From the DECEMBER 2007 issue of New Urban News

Cities redo streets for pedestrians, cyclists, transit

“Complete Streets” movement presses a growing number of cities to plan for multimodal transportation.

In 2003, bicyclists intent on obtaining safer routes for cycling concluded that they needed a slogan — one that would communicate their goal to the public clearly and forcefully. Instead of continuing to appeal for “routine accommodation” — the bureaucratic phrase they’d been relying on up to that point — they started demanding “Complete Streets.”
This new catchphrase — and the coalition that united behind it — are helping to usher in benefits for cyclists and pedestrians alike. In the four years since the program was approved by the advocacy group American Bikes, “Complete Streets” has been endorsed or promoted by CNU, AARP, the American Planning Association, the Active Living by Design Program and others.
“A lot of cities have recognized the problem and are trying to create real change,” says Jeffrey Tumlin of Nelson\Nygaard, a transportation consulting firm based in San Francisco. The emphasis varies from one locale to another, but the central goal, as defined by Barbara Gray and Grace Crunican of the Seattle Department of Transportation, is “policies and actions aimed at producing streets that are safe, accessible, and convenient for all users.”

MVRPC & Dayton City Leadership - please take notes...

As a follow-up to a previous post about what Dayton can do to improve our urban landscape and attract more people to visit and live here, this is a perfect example of a city doing it right...

Indianapolis - known more to be auto-oriented (think Indy 500) than pedestrian or bicycle-oriented - is undergoing a huge downtown street project that will actually REMOVE automobile lanes and replace them with what is called the Indianapolis Cultural Trail - "a world-class urban bike and pedestrian path that connects neighborhoods, Cultural Districts and entertainment amenities, and serves as the downtown hub for the entire central Indiana greenway system."

According to the website, this fantastic project is made possible by a large public and private collaboration led by Central Indiana Community Foundation, the City of Indianapolis and several not-for-profit organizations devoted to building a better city.

Here are some pre-construction and mid-construction photos - as well as post-construction renderings of what it will look like when completed.

How is Cleveland tackling the panhandling problem?

Last week, the Downtown Cleveland Alliance (similar to the Downtown Dayton Partnership) began a new campaign to help combat that city's panhandling problem.  Called the Homeless Education Campaign, it aims to raise public awareness and "encourage people to stop giving money to panhandlers and start giving money to the homeless social services that are currently serving the homeless."  The campaign is modeled after similar campaigns in Philadelphia and other cities across America who are struggling with the panhandling problem.

Click here to read their press release.
Click here to read the newspaper article.

The DCA makes a point to differentiate between homeless (who do need our help) and panhandlers, who are not homeless but simply scam people for money by telling that often-heard story about how their car broke down and they need a couple of bucks to get back home, etc.  They are distributing posters (such as what you see above) to downtown businesses, parking lot managers and property managers in hopes to get the word out that there are much better ways to help those who truly need it than to give your money to panhandlers.

SmartCity Radio - Interview with Youngstown Mayor

8/7/2007 - I've decided to bring this post we did back in March back to the top because I've recently learned that a group of Dayton leaders just returned from a trip to Youngstown in an effort to learn more about what that city is doing in terms of its "Smart Decline" strategy.  I'm told that it was a successful trip and many good ideas were brought back to Dayton.  It also sounds like Youngstown is interested in some of the things that Dayton is doing - such as the Genesis Project (more on that to come).  We'll be posting more info on the Dayton-Youngstown connection as we get it.  Hmm, could it be that our previous blog posts on Youngstown sparked this development?

...

3/28/2007 - Youngstown, Ohio is a great example of a typical declining midwest city that is struggling with population and economic decline.  But instead of simply rolling over and accepting their fate, the people of Youngstown are being proactive in finding solutions - including "smart decline".  Mayor Jay Williams (only 36 years old) is leading the city in its efforts, and in the following interview by SmartCity Radio, he talks about the things that his city is doing.

Manhattan parking spot going for $225,000: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

Next time you hear somebody complaining about how expensive it is to park in Downtown Dayton, forward this story to them...

Link: Manhattan parking spot going for $225,000: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance.

Parking spaces in New York cost as much as $225,000 and could soon be going higher still, putting the cost for the prime spots above the price tag of the typical U.S. home price.

Priority Board System in Seattle

As many of you know, Dayton has a unique style of city management. Unlike a typical city whose mayor is in fact the "CEO" of the organization, Dayton's mayor position is nothing more than one of five commissioners who act as a part-time board of directors. The city manager is the CEO of the organization and is appointed by and answers to the city commission board in a "checks & balances" type system, with the commission checking the city manager, and the public checking the commission. I suppose this system was set up as a sort-of buffer between the top leader and the public - with the mayor and city commissioners acting as a filter of sorts. Perhaps it was believed that the city manager could be more effective if he/she did not have to worry about spending time campaigning for votes every election season (that seems to come sooner than later). Either way, this is our system for better or worse.

Dayton - A "Smart City"?

If you are a regular reader on Dayton MostMetro, you have probably seen more than a couple of references to Smart City Radio - a radio program broadcast on several NPR stations across the country that discusses "urban life and the people, places, ideas and trends shaping cities."  If you are in a leadership position in our city or county, this should be required listening for you.  As for the rest of us, it is a very interesting look at what people elsewhere in the country (and even world) are doing to better their cities.  The show also lets us know that Dayton is certainly not alone in our challenges, and that anything is possible.

Chattanooga & Dayton - Tale of Two Cities

Dayton and Chattanooga - these two cities at one time had so much in common, it took seeing the mountains (and lack thereof) to tell them apart. "Dying Cities" was a name shared by both. But one of these cities has completely turned its fortune around.

Sanctuary in the Stacks (News) Elizabeth Oliver

For those of you that have been to the main branch of the Dayton Public Library (downtown on St. Clair and Third St), you have undoubtedly seen the many homeless people that congregate outside and inside of the building.  You may think - gosh, why does it have to be like this in Dayton?  Well, Dayton is not alone.  Places like San Francisco have public libraries that double as shelters to homeless people, latchkey teens, and others who need a place of refuge.  This is particularly challenging when library funding continues to decrease...

Link: Sanctuary in the Stacks (News) Elizabeth Oliver.
�By Elizabeth Oliver, Utne.com
January 4, 2007 Issue

Across the country, our public libraries are grappling with a slew of threats: ever-shrinking budgets, closing doors, and the government's prying eye. Yet the public's need for libraries is greater than ever. Gone are the days of libraries as mere book lenders with a little old lady shushing from behind a desk. Today's librarians provide essential services to their communities, acting as key social agents by playing the role of emergency first-responder, social worker, accountant, friend to the homeless, and babysitter to latchkey teens...

In San Francisco, like many other cities, the central library has always served as a sort of daytime homeless shelter. Aiming to balance the rights and needs of the homeless with the safety and comfort of other library users, the San Francisco library's main branch has begun to incorporate programming specifically for their homeless patrons, reports Eliza Strickland for SF Weekly. So, in addition to a warm, quiet refuge, the homeless can go to the library to get help from a member of the city's Homeless Outreach Team (though Strickland notes that these efforts are, in some respects, falling short).