The Great Dayton Disconnect

I had been meaning to write about this for some time now, and this recent article from the Columbus Dispatch inspired me to do it now (insert the name Dayton wherever you see the word Columbus):

Poll: Some don’t link ‘burbs, city
Sunday,  December 9, 2007 3:28 AM
By Darrel Rowland, Alan Johnson and Mark Niquette
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

If the core of Columbus and other Ohio cities fail, the problems they’re experiencing will spread to the surrounding suburbs, exurbs and townships, experts warn.

If the core of Columbus and other Ohio cities fail, the problems they’re experiencing will spread to the surrounding suburbs, exurbs and townships, experts warn.

As many as 30,000 central Ohio residents might consider living Downtown, poll results showed. Such "urban pioneers" would help fuel a revival Downtown, attracting stores, restaurants and entertainment to the city’s core, one expert says.

Only about a third of the people who live around Columbus agree that a "strong link" exists between the health of the city and the health of the rest of the central Ohio region, poll results show.

Experts say Ohio’s big cities will never get turned around until people who live in the surrounding suburbs and exurbs realize their areas’ fates are linked to the health of the core city.

Without that understanding, the "why-should-I-care" attitude will not only thwart the cities’ comebacks, but will contribute to a spread of urban problems into the very areas people fled to escape them.

But only about a third of the people who live in the areas surrounding Columbus buy into this concept, judging from a poll by Saperstein Associates. That portion agrees a "strong link" exists between the health of the city and the health of the rest of central Ohio. Another 36 percent see "somewhat of a link."

I imagine that if we did a similar poll here in Dayton, the numbers would skew even more towards the "who cares about the city" attitude.  I have experienced this attitude first hand – both while living in Centerville for two years and almost being convinced myself that there was no reason to pay attention to the City of Dayton, and also from being a downtown resident and often having to defend my reasons for living here to the various suburbanites I know.  I am quite sure that the majority of people in Centerville, Beavercreek, Centerville, and yes – even Oakwood feel that things are just dandy where they live so why care about Dayton.

As long as the majority of this region’s residents don’t give a hoot about what is happening in the City of Dayton, we can forget about things like regionalism.  People in the our balkanized and affluent suburbs and/or outlying rural towns are happy with the status quo, and trying to convince them that they need to care about Dayton is like trying to convince people who drive Suburbans and Hummers that they need to care about global warming.  Statements like "as Dayton goes, so goes the region" are not going to do it.  We need to do a better job of selling Dayton – not to people outside of the region, but the people OF this region.  Because only when the whole Dayton region believes in Dayton can this city (and region) begin to grow and thrive.  What do you think?