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Economic Development – The Art of Connecting the Dots That Nobody Else See’s”

July 8, 2008 By Dayton Most Metro Leave a Comment

Last week on our DMM Forum, I did a quick post about an economic development project happening in Cleveland (and covered by Smart City Radio), and compared it to one economic development project happening in Dayton.  After a few received comments and much thought afterward, I decided to go a bit more in depth on the topic and post it here for those who may still read this blog but aren’t yet involved on the forum.  Besides, it was time for a new post since I’ve been completely absent here for a long time now…

On a recent SmartCity Radio show, Carol Coletta interviewed Ned Hill – VP of Economic Development at Cleveland State University.  “He’s combining the Cleveland area’s history, talent and expertise” to create the District of Design. This district would take a concentrated area of downtown Cleveland and transform it into the industrial design capital of the U.S.” …

First, I encourage you to listen to the program:



In my opinion, this is what true economic development is all about – taking a city’s existing strength and expanding it by using a cluster strategy, partnerships between city government/business sector/universities, and community building.  Unlike fad developments, as Mr. Hill explains, this District of Design makes sense because it “connects to the balance sheet” (ie generates revenue).  It is ultimately something that will attract more businesses, create more jobs, and grow a “creative class” group of designers based in a part of Downtown Cleveland.  And the residual effect is that it brings more life to downtown in the form of more workers – which will ultimately attract more retail and restaurant/bar business.  This is economic development – which Mr. Hill eloquently defines as “the art of connecting the dots that nobody else see’s”.

Dayton is also working on such a district – called Tech Town – but it is moving at a snail’s pace and seems to be more about real estate than about actually nurturing a business sector.  Sure, there is the technology business incubator (The Entrepreneur Center) that is there now, but I don’t see its connection to Tech Town other than simply being its first tenant.  Tech Town looks more like a “build it and they will come” real estate proposition.  Of course, in the past year the City of Dayton seems to have had its focus not so much on Tech Town as much as the “future”‘ Ballpark Village – which brings me to the main point of this post…

First, let me say that I’ve had mixed feelings about BPV from the start.  I started out excited about this when it was first announced.  Since I live two blocks away I wanted to see this happen – it would be great to have a whole new riverfront destination to walk to from my condo, and it will be nice to see more crowds of people coming downtown.  Then again, I do not want to see another generic “lifestyle center” ala The Greene with a bunch of boring chain restaurants that will simply poach customers from our existing independent businesses.  And now there isn’t even a developer, which makes one wonder if there is actually a market for yet another retail & restaurant cluster in this region.  But even more important than all of that is the fact that the city is treating BPV as if it were an economic development project.  And while I’m not the first blogger to claim this, I am here to say that BPV is NOT economic development.

BPV is first a real estate project (just like Tech Town), and secondly it is a consumerism project.  Consumerism in that it simply offers another venue for consumers to spend money – not a project that city government should be initiating.  It will not create jobs other than low-paying service jobs.  It will not enhance any existing businesses (other than maybe the Dayton Dragons but as they’re still selling out games what help do they need?).  And ultimately it does nothing to “connect to the balance sheet” or “connect the dots”.  Sure, IF the consumers do show up then there is tax revenue to realize – which I imagine is what the city is looking to score.  But other than additional tax revenue that might not even make up for the amount of money the city is spending on property acquisitions and whatever tax subsidies it will have to offer in order to attract a developer and tenants, what exactly is BPV going to do in terms of economic development?

This city and region are losing jobs by the thousands these days.  Our local economy is in the crapper.  Do we really need another consumer-based development?  Hell, with more and more people losing jobs and the cost of fuel and food rising to catastrophic levels, can the region even support the restaurants and retail we have now, let alone support a whole slew of new ones?  No, as much as I’d personally like to see BPV happen so that I have a new place to walk to and spend my money, I can’t say that this will be good for the city or the region in the grander scheme of things.

Instead of trying to be land developers, the city should be working on ways to help support and grow the businesses and industry we have here now.  Tech Town is a good place to start since it is already underway – instead of relying on the “build it and they will come” strategy that seems to be in place now, focus on fostering the partnerships between government, business and universities that will help to create a true cluster.  Make this much more than a real estate proposition and Tech Town may just succeed.  Focus on the other areas of downtown instead of ignoring them like is happening now (how many empty buildings do we currently have?).  Work with area developers on ways to not only rehab and reuse our existing building stock, but also put real plans in place that will actually encourage development.  Residential is a good place to start, but even that must be part of a bigger plan.

Ballpark Village is not the type of development the city should be trying to accomplish.  Listen to the story about the Cleveland District of Design and you’ll get a better sense of what a true economic development project looks like.

I’ve posted this on the DMM Forum – if you wish to comment on this then sign up and get involved in the conversation there.

Filed Under: Downtown Dayton

Creative Catalysts have a name and website: DaytonCREATE.org!

March 27, 2008 By Dayton Most Metro Leave a Comment

DaytonCREATE

Creating Regional Excitement, Action, Talent and Enthusiasm

A few weeks into the Creative Region Initiative and my fellow catalysts and I are busy getting organized and growing our teams (busy enough that I’ve been a bit quiet on this blog lately!).  Our communication team has really been impressive right out of the gate… They have recruited an online pro (hi Brooke!) who has been busy creating a new website for the group: www.DaytonCREATE.org

This new site is the place to keep up with each team’s progress updates.  And don’t worry, we’ll continue to do stories about the initiative here on DMM from time to time and our new DMM Forum will continue to serve as the official communication forum for both catalysts and non-catalysts alike.  You are ALL welcome to sign up there and get involved with the conversations.  And if you are interested in getting involved with one of the team initiatives then contact the appropriate person (more info at the DaytonCreate.org site).

Btw – I am on the Dayton Creative Incubator team and we are currently researching arts incubators.  As many of you know, Dayton has one helluva arts scene.  An arts incubator would provide our independent artists with affordable (free?) space and services in a true community setting.  And with the exciting things happening in the newly formed Oregon Arts District, now is the time to  capitalize on our region’s strong arts community by helping them grow.

The following is the first DaytonCREATE press release – check it out and then go check out the new website.  And of course your comments are welcome here on DMM.  What do you think?

[Read more…] about Creative Catalysts have a name and website: DaytonCREATE.org!

Filed Under: Getting Involved

Downtown’s Latest Housing Project

March 11, 2008 By Dayton Most Metro 7 Comments

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

Filed Under: Urban Living

A Level Playing Field

March 2, 2008 By Dayton Most Metro 3 Comments

What if federal, state and county governments were to end the cycle of sprawl by coming up with a system that is more fair… one that charges appropriate impact fees to developers who choose to tear down trees and build new housing developments that require more roads and infrastructure.  Perhaps some of those fees could go to rewarding developers who choose to undertake the often more expensive and challenging task of rehabbing current building stock in older and more established urban (and closer-in suburb) neighborhoods and districts that already have existing infrastructure in place.  This might provide a more level playing field between struggling city neighborhoods and the endless sprawl that continues to suck life out of our urban core.

The following is an article from the Boston Globe that we found on Richard Florida’s blog (who found it on The Economist’s View blog).

What do you think?

[Read more…] about A Level Playing Field

Filed Under: Downtown Dayton

Creative Region Initiative Officially Kicks Off

February 29, 2008 By Dayton Most Metro 8 Comments

Last night the Creative Region Initiative was officially kicked off as the organizers of the project and the 32 chosen catalysts met one another at the Westcott House in Springfield.  There was quite an energy in the room – we have some great people in the group and it is possibly the most diverse group of people I’ve ever been involved with in my life.  There is also the sense that this ambitious and unique effort is very different from any other community-based project ever executed in the past.  I believe there is a ton of potential to do some projects that have a huge impact on our community and will hopefully inspire even more spin-off projects in the future and beyond.

[Read more…] about Creative Region Initiative Officially Kicks Off

Filed Under: Downtown Dayton

Become a “Street Smart” Urban Cyclist!

February 21, 2008 By Dayton Most Metro Leave a Comment

You may not be thinking of cycling just yet, but Spring will be here before you know it. For those of you who enjoy bicycling in the urban environment as well as on the trails, the following course might be of interest to you. This is a course on urban bike riding offered by two "League of American Bicyclists"-certified instructors to be held at the Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center, 16 S. Williams St., on two Saturdays, April 5 and 12.

[Read more…] about Become a “Street Smart” Urban Cyclist!

Filed Under: Cycling

I am a Creative Region Initiative Catalyst

February 17, 2008 By Dayton Most Metro 6 Comments

I just learned this past Friday that I have been selected to be one of thirty community catalysts that will be working on the Creative Region Initiative for the next year.  Of course, I will be writing about my "creative class adventures" here on MostMetro.com, and we will be using the new DMM Forum to help communicate ideas from both within the group as well as everybody else that would like to share ideas for improving our economy and making our city and region a more vibrant place.

I encourage ALL of you to join our forum and share your ideas.  Don’t just be a spectator – get involved.  Because that is the whole point of this project – to get as many people as possible involved in deciding what Dayton’s future will be.  The thirty catalysts are only the beginning – this effort will need the help of many more people.  If you’ve ever heard of crowdsourcing – this is it.  Stay tuned, because you’ll read about the different projects that come out of this initiative HERE FIRST.

And if you are late getting here and have no idea what this is about, click here.

UPDATE (2/18/2008): I was just informed that not everybody that was selected has been notified yet, so if you applied and haven’t heard back, they may still be working on contacting you.  And if you aren’t ultimately selected to be a catalyst, you can STILL GET INVOLVED.

Filed Under: Getting Involved

Join our new DMM Forum

February 1, 2008 By Dayton Most Metro 2 Comments

We need ALL of you to join us in new discussions about our city and our region – right here on the newest Dayton Forum…

[Read more…] about Join our new DMM Forum

Filed Under: Community

Dayton could use THIS kind of marketing!

February 1, 2008 By Dayton Most Metro 12 Comments

Ok, this is actually an extended ad for BMW, but it is interestingly tied to Richard Florida’s Creative Class theory.  And while it is simply an ad for BMW, I believe it communicates the definition of the Creative Class in a very well done and well produced video.  Now I realize that this probably took a ton of money to produce, but imagine if Dayton could have some marketing like this!  THIS is what it means to be creative – watch it and tell us what you think… (click on the pic)

 

Filed Under: Downtown Dayton

Creative Region Initiative – It’s Official

January 20, 2008 By Dayton Most Metro 4 Comments

Yes, it is official – the funds have been raised and Dr. Richard Florida’s Creative Class Group will be coming to Dayton to work with thirty community catalysts who will be selected over the next few weeks. 

Leaders sought to be catalysts in region’s creative class initiative
Dayton Daily News
January 20, 2007

The money is raised, the consultant is hired and Richard Florida
himself will be here in March to train Daytonians on how to build and
sustain "creative class" growth here in the Miami Valley.

The Creative Region Initiative, the moniker given to the local
effort begun a year ago by the Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher
Education and a task force of 20 community groups, kicks off today with
a call for 30 volunteers to be trained by Florida’s consulting company,
the Creative Class Group.

It is obvious that this effort will continue to have skeptics, especially in a town that seems to have never met a consultant it wouldn’t throw a bunch of money to for a study that says what everybody already knows or whose advice ultimately isn’t followed (the recent $100k study by KMK Consulting comes to mind).  But unlike those past consulting efforts, I believe this one is different.  Instead of outsiders that come into town, poll a few people, write some fancy report , collect their paycheck and then leave town – this effort is managed and implemented by us.  Us as in we who live in this community and are likely already working towards making our community better.  Florida’s Creative Class Group simply lays out the road map; it is up to those of us who become community catalysts to do the real work.  And by doing that real work ourselves, we stand a much better chance at developing a successful and sustainable plan for growing our city and region – and especially our urban core… because after all, it is the urban core that the creative class typically gravitates to.

This of course is how I understand it; since I have not yet been a part of this whole process I really can’t speak with authority on how it works.  I invite those of you who have been involved since the beginning to comment here and give any additional details that you may have.  And look for MostMetro.com to play a role in this Creative Region Initiative in the near future…

Additional Links:

Creative Class on MostMetro.com (with NPR/Richard Florida interview)
More Creative Class on MostMetro.com
SOCHE Website
Creative Class Group
Richard Florida’s Blog on Dayton
Daytonology’s Creative Class in Dayton Analysis

Filed Under: Getting Involved

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