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Urban Living

Hoofing It: One Girl’s Guide to Walking the Streets of Dayton

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Things I remember seeing during my 20-minute commute: Tree limbs swirling in a rain-swollen Great Miami River. Aged buildings with elaborate cornices rubbing shoulders with their modern-day glass and steel counterparts. Phil staggering down the sidewalk asking for spare change to buy a muffin.

Things I remember hearing during my 20-minute commute: The splash and giggle of kids jumping into a puddle. A glee club of birds overhead. The distressed screech of an ambulance .

I live in a historic neighborhood downtown, and since I live, work, hang out and work out downtown, I can walk pretty much anywhere I need to go.

Key words: Pretty much.

Places I drive: Kroger. DeWeese Park. Village Thrift Store. Taqueria Mixteca. Cookouts at friends’ back yards. And, I admit it, sometimes places as close as Drake’s Downtown Gym and the Dublin Pub.

One of my favorite shots taken during a walk home, shot from the Main Street Bridge looking east toward the Dayton Art Institute and Masonic Temple.

I’m about to find out exactly what “pretty much” means as I join Megan Cooper in an experiment in using alternative transportation to get from here to there. We’re both ditching our gas-powered rides for at least one week starting June 1. Megan will be trekking across town primarily via bicycle and the bus. Be sure to read her columns leading up to and during this adventure, in which she gives a frank and funny account of going car-less.

I will continue to get around primarily on foot, but I’m also going to figure out how to ride the RTA and rediscover my inner cyclist. The last time I rode the bus, I ended up at Children’s Medical Center while trying to get to Five Oaks, which is closer to Grandview Hospital. The last time I rode my bike any significant distance, my now- 19-year-old son was in a kid seat on the back.

But, like Megan, I’m determined to give this a whirl. Unlike Megan, my research and preparation for this adventure is a total zilch. Well, I did grab a fresh journal in which to chronicle the sights and sounds of this voyage. When I finish writing this, I’m going to try to figure out how to work a pedometer a friend gave me two years ago. I made a solemn vow to look at RTA’s web site tomorrow night. And cross-my-heart-hope-to-die, I plan to check my bike’s tires really soon.

I’m rolling ad hoc because I figure I can hoof it most places. I mean, perhaps my favorite thing about living downtown is the ability to walk so many cool places. I like having to step around Canadian Geese and their goslings on the gravel pathway atop the levee. I feel lucky I can stop at the RiverScape Metro Park concession and grab a cone of soft serve to enjoy on my way home. I even like the pitter-patter on my umbrella on rainy days and getting away with wearing rubber boots to the office.

Daffodils in full bloom at RiverScape MetroPark, taken during a recent springtime walk home.

Really, though, I am in denial.

I may live in a handy little city where I can walk from one end to the other in less than 30 minutes, but getting around is about to get a lot more complicated without a car. While visiting my sister in Piqua on Memorial Day, I realized I’d have no way to get up there to play cowboy and Play-Doh with my nephews without a car. Mulching some new plants tonight, I realized I’d have to travel toughman style if I needed to grab another bag of this heavy, goopy stuff and lug it on a bus.

View during my 20-minute commute on a recent May morning.

I also realize I am lucky to have a car, even an 11-year-old contraption missing the passenger-side window and in bad need of a new catalytic converter I lovingly call The Rattletrap. I feel like Barbara Ehrenreich as she recounted her experiences working as a maid and other minimum-wage occupations in Nickel and Dimed, a book I found so horribly patronizing I couldn’t finish the first chapter. I hope to be able to give you, dear reader, an authentic and entertaining account of this adventure with respect to those who have no choice but public transportation to reach such destinations as their workplace, school and kids’ day care. I hope to be able to examine the impacts of our auto-adoring culture on our health and environment with a fresh perspective. I hope to better understand the myriad ways transportation affects our daily lives.

And I hope you will help us: Do you get where you need to go without a car? If so, tell us your stories and (please!) give us some tips. Do you rev an engine to make it where you need to be? If so, tell us how you think your life would change if driving were no longer an option. Please share in the comments below.

And we’re off: One foot in front of the other!

The Litehouse Development solves a few of Dayton’s housing problems

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… but probably not what you think.

You know that the city of Dayton has a vacancy problem, and there has been a lot of discussion about what to do with vacant, abandoned properties. Tearing them down is one option of course, and probably the one that gets the most discussion, and there is a problem with tearing them down because then you have an empty space, and what do you do with that? I believe that the vacancy problem is two-fold. Not only does Dayton have too many homes, Dayton has too many of the wrong type of home.

Yes, Virginia, there really are people who want to live in Dayton Ohio. They want to experience all that Dayton has to offer- celebratory and inexpensive stuff to do, vibrant arts community, not-so-big city life. They want to be home owners, not renters, but they can’t find a house. Oh I know we have plenty of homes- too many homes in some neighborhoods. But for a certain type of buyer: young or creative or entertainment-seeking types who would be a perfect fit in the downtown area, Dayton doesn’t have what they are looking for because the housing stock that exists, is simply not a good fit for everyone. Downtown Dayton’s housing stock is plentiful, but it’s old, and the truth is that not everyone loves a historic home. Not everyone wants to live in or care for a historic home, and that’s okay, except, if you want a brick ranch, mid-century modern, vintage 20’s bungalow, or modern dwelling, then you have to live elsewhere. So the solution might be to mix things up a bit- not only tear down the unwanted housing stock, but build property that people want: Affordable, low maintenance, cool, hip, modern spaces that appeal to and attract a new breed of owners into the Dayton market.

I visited the Litehouse model home site last week during their Open House and was intrigued by what I saw. The exterior is modern and unlike anything else in the Dayton area. The interior is unusual as well, being a vertical stacked space that packs amenities onto a tiny physical footprint. This should appeal to a very specific buyer, but more than that, it’s going to add to the presence of residents in the direct downtown area, and that’s a cool thing, good for all the city residents.

The Litehouse townhomes focus on greener living, with local manufacturing, Leed standardization, Energy Star appliances to keep these homes as efficient as possible. This is going to be a growing trend and it’s nice to see a builder using proactive solutions for those buyers who are already looking in this direction. They are also looking to attract buyers who want an affordable home. This is going to be key for getting more buyers into Dayton: Affordable, modern, green properties that give buyers another downtown living option. The plan is to create a community of approximately 40 homes, and once a few more are occupied, you’ll see them attract more buyers- most people don’t want to be the first in a new development, although, you do get a nice view of Patterson Blvd right now.

These are sexy properties with a new attitude about how a home can function and what a home can be. Take a look at the couple to the right. Standing on the unfinished roof-top terrace of one of the Litehouse units, you can see the natural response to the possibilities this space might afford- the body language says it all. This is the type of housing that Dayton needs more of and it’s good for the entire Dayton area that we have the opportunity to watch this development add to our real estate options in Dayton Ohio.

So, how do you buy a new home? You can plunge ahead and contact the developer yourself if you’d like, or you can have a Realtor take you to a developer if you want a little extra guidance through the process. It’s similar to buying any home, except, as one developer told me, there is no other person’s dirt to wonder about.

The question is, can majestic historic beauties live in peace and camaraderie with ultra-modern clean cut lines? For all the talk about not wanting to live in little boxes that all look just the same, most people like a sense of continuity and similarity within their own neighborhood. With the Litehouse development, we can begin to integrate the new and old while we adjust to the future of Dayton real estate.

Photo credits: Teri Lussier

Choosing the City Life

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When my husband and I began to look for our first home almost ten years ago, we never thought of looking anywhere but the city of Dayton.  We lived in an apartment in Grafton Hill, and my parents had a lovely old house in Five Oaks.  We wanted an old house of our own, we wanted character, we wanted more for our money than we could get in the ‘burbs.

Most of our contemporaries thought we were crazy.  But we were thrilled when we found a big fixer-upper on a busy street in Belmont.  We had ourselves a “Belmont Beauty”.  At first we thought we might fix it up and sell it for a profit, but we soon discovered that we really liked living there.

So we’re still here, nine years and two-and-a-half kids later.

And we still really like living here!

We have super-nice neighbors, both with young kids, who have lived in their homes even longer than we have.  We have a double lot, so there is plenty of yard for our kids to play in.  Each spring we do something more to fix it up – this year it was a sweet swing set.  Next year, we’ll be gating off our driveway – the downside of the busy street we live on being that my kiddos can’t run free like I did when I was a child living on a lazy cul-de-sac.

There are other downsides of living in the city, of course: our old, uneven sidewalks and busy street make it difficult for bike riding and wagon-pulling.  But you know what?  Neither of my kids seem to think anything of that at all.  They have a safe, happy home full of fun, a nice big yard and a big front porch to play on.

And on every spring and summer date that even kind of qualifies as a holiday, they also get a free illegal fireworks show. 🙂  What more could a city kid want?

Attracting Business to Dayton – Start with Quality of Life

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magnetAs I read the latest DDN article about city, regional and state officials meeting behind closed doors to figure out how to “drawing NCR-like companies to Dayton”, I simply shook my head. I’ll actually give officials the benefit of the doubt since I saw nobody actually quoted as saying “NCR-like companies”; I’ll assume that was a DDN attempt to attract views by using the buzz-word de’jour – NCR. Still, I can’t help but wonder what ideas were shared between all of these powers-that-be.  Specifically – how many times was the phrase “tax incentive” tossed around?

It actually wasn’t what was said that I’m that concerned about, but more importantly – what wasn’t said. Did anybody talk about improving Dayton’s services and quality of life that would help attract young talent and ultimately the businesses that follow that talent?  While I agree that we must be looking at ways to directly attract businesses to our city and region, I would argue that it is every bit as important to improve our city’s environment and transform it in a way that attracts people.  Without doing the latter, it is a waste of time to bother trying to attract any businesses, let alone Fortune 500 corporations.

The following is a 30 minute video that I strongly recommend you view when you have the time.  It is a piece about Portland, OR – and it could very well be used as a call to action for Dayton.  Note – Portland continues to attract residents from across the country DESPITE having an unemployment rate of 11.8%.  The idea:  transform our entire downtown area (and beyond) into an uber-pedestrian and bicycle friendly environment, start Ohio’s first bicycle-share system, add a 3C/D rail station, and implement the first of many streetcar routes as has already been recommended.  It is all about “sense of place”, and it can do more to attract residents, business and investment into our city than any corporate welfare check could ever hope to do.

Downtown’s Latest Housing Project

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It looks like the housing development at the corner of First & Patterson is steps away from becoming reality, and it will be different than anything done in the region so far…

The plan is to build 36 townhomes on what is now a big parking lot
on the southwest corner of Patterson and First.  These will apparently
be modular construction and will also be LEED
certified (between Silver and Gold level).  LiteHouse Development Group (Rogero Buckman are the architects) are a couple weeks
away from getting all of their ducks in a row with the city, financing,
etc. and they plan to build a single townhome as a model on the corner
of Ice Ave and Patterson – possibly in time for Urban Nights in May. 

They will be three-story townhomes
similar in scale to the Cooper Place Townhomes.  One of the things I
found interesting was that the streets that go through the development
will be private property and they are planning to do them with brick
paver-type surfaces as opposed to asphalt in order to give it a village
feel.  All materials will be long-lasting, environmentally friendly and
come from manufacturers that have strong recycling/environmental
processes in place (like Shaw that recycle all used carpet into
new).  Windows will be placed in a way to maximize light and roofs will
include rain-capturing devices that will recycle rain water to irrigate
all landscaping.  There was also talk of solar panels.

They must
pre-sell at least 40% of a "row" (6-8 or so) in order to complete the
whole row of townhomes – there were like 5 or 6 rows on the plan.  So
as long as the market is there for these things, they’re talking
anywhere from 3-6 years for total completion.  Price points will be
from $170k for the smallest units (1000sqft) to $230k for the biggest
(1800sqft) – depending on how many options the buyer gets.  The buyer
will also have the opportunity to upgrade the environmental aspects of
the unit.

The other two parcels of land that were originally
part of the overall development (adjacent to WorkflowOne garage and
adjacent to Lincoln Storage on the other corners of First &
Patterson) are not included in this plan but are not off the table –
depending on how these sell those other parcels will be revisited.

See pics below (click each to enlarge) and let us know what you think…

[Read more…] about Downtown’s Latest Housing Project

Get Urban – What is next?

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This past Thursday night we held the Get Urban Miami Valley event that we’ve been promoting here for the past couple months and it was a huge success!  We had over 200 people register and a total of around 230 in attendance.  The room at the Webster Street Market (a perfect venue for this sort of thing) was buzzing with many current urbanites and urban-curious folks who were there to hear more about why anybody would actually CHOOSE to live in the City of Dayton over the burbs.  Our featured speaker Kyle Ezell gave a great presentation on what it means to "get urban" and he gave most of us a lot to think about in terms of changing a culture that for decades has valued suburb and exurb living over an urban existence.

[Read more…] about Get Urban – What is next?

Deeds Park Riverfront Housing is a GO…

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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.

Special Event…

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Date: October 4th, 2007
Time: 5:30-7:30pm
Place: Webster Street Market (Top of the Market)

This event is for you if you:
… have considered leaving the burbs for a downtown loft condo or a historic district house
… already live in an urban neighborhood and want to meet others that do or are thinking about it
… want to hear about the joys of "living urban!

CLICK HERE to find out more….

 

Are you ready to “Get Urban”?

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Those of us who live in urban neighborhoods by choice do so because we enjoy the lifestyle.  We enjoy the fact that we can walk to many places as opposed to having to drive everywhere.  We enjoy the history of the buildings and architecture that surround us.  We enjoy the energy and the constant traffic (people and even cars) that goes by just outside our windows.  And we enjoy living in diverse communities where we are close friends with many of our neighbors who also share our passion for urban living.  Though I understand that urban living is not for everybody, I do think that more people would be open to the idea if they knew what it was like and knew what it was that attracts so many of us to it despite the challenges.  Or better yet, if somebody were to somehow teach them how to actually "live urban".  Hmm, if only there were somebody we could find that could speak to some of these people…

Well, we may have found that somebody – and we didn’t have to go any further than
Columbus!  Kyle Ezell is the founder of Get Urban, Ltd. and is so passionate about city living that he has written two books on the subject:   
Get Urban! The Complete Guide to City Living

and
Retire Downtown: The Lifestyle Destination for Active Retirees and Empty Nesters. 

Kyle is a certified city planner, instructor of downtown housing at Ohio State University, and since 2005 has been a keynote speaker on the topic of urban living in cities all over the country – including San Francisco, Chicago, Columbus and more.  He has organized "Ruppie" parties to help attract active suburban empty nesters to downtown neighborhoods (we have several Ruppies here in Downtown Dayton).  And he has been featured in the Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, Cool Town Studios, Columbus RetroMetro and yes – here on MostMetro.com.

So why am I telling you about Kyle and Get Urban?  It could be because he seems to understand the potential we have right here in Dayton ("… When complete, Downtown Dayton could become one of America’s chicest Postindustrial Urbs.  Life here, even in the often-bypassed city of Dayton, Ohio, will be hard for any urbanite to resist." – Get Urban! The Complete Guide to City Living).  Or maybe somebody is planning a Get Urban event…

Yes, details are coming soon…