Nearly 200 people, ready to share and hear ideas about improving their neighborhoods and the city as a whole, turned out early Saturday morning for the Vacant to Vibrant town hall meeting at the Dayton Convention Center.
People from several neighborhoods attended. I expected southsiders to be there, especially from the historical districts. But finding other people from northside neighborhoods like Five Oaks and Santa Clara was an encouraging sign.
After a general presentation about Dayton’s past, present and possible future, people split into groups and listened to what specific solutions and programs the city was pursuing concerning vacant buildings and lots. They also asked for suggestions about how to best utilize the empty lots once the nuisance properties were removed. People mentioned community gardens, playgrounds and green thoroughfares. Clearing up red tape so homeowners could buy the adjacent lots was another.
The best news I heard was that the city would be pursuing an architectural salvage program, much like what’s been done successfully in cities such as Cincinnati and Buffalo. Instead of demolishing vacant buildings, the properties are dismantled and the building materials and architectural details salvaged. It’s great hearing Dayton is heading in such a green, sustainable direction. A smart direction too. All that timber—most of it a hundred years old or more—shouldn’t be splintered into pieces and dumped in a landfill.
I suggested that the city take the program one step further. Transport the salvaged studs, joists and floor boards to a nearby prefab factory and then use them to build a more energy efficient home, which can be assembled later on the original lot. Not only would it provide a few more jobs and training, but it would also revitalize the abandoned neighborhoods. Energy efficient homes would be one way to attract people back to city neighborhoods. The idea was met with some interest.
The question about what to do with vacant properties depends on where you live. Some would say dismantling old homes and buildings would be erase a lot of Dayton’s history and charm. And yet from where I stand–near what’s been described as ground zero in Montgomery County’s foreclosure crisis–I can see where a few good bulldozers can make a world of difference. Heck, some neighborhoods need a good bulldozer like some colons need a good enema.
It’s just not my opinion. The city displayed a large map of the city with properties up for demolition marked with dots. Covered in a cluster of dots was my neighborhood. Heck, the city provided people with adhesive dots which they could place on additional lots that they thought should be demolished. People added even more dots to that cluster.
There was another display where people were asked to rank twelve vacant properties, with “1” being a demolition priority and “12” being a property that could be restored and reinhabited. I looked around at the other people’s sheets and the number one unanimous choice was a building in my neighborhood. And the building is major eyesore on a major street in town.
Honestly, some homes aren’t abandoned and vacant because people don’t care enough to live in them. No, some homes were neglected when they were inhabited, or the home improvement projects and additions throughout the years just rendered the places ugly, unappealing, or structurally unsound.
