DAYTON, Ohio: In A Downward Spiral? Visiting The City Where Aviation Was Born

all right everyone I am heading into the city of Dayton Ohio making my way towards downtown now like many cities in this part of the country Dayton grew on the strength of manufacturing and it grew rapidly by 1960 it was a bustling city of 262 000 people but again like so many other cities in this area the manufacturing collapsed and along with that the city today there are 137 000 people in Dayton that is nearly half its population lost but it has slowed in recent years as the city has Diversified so I'll be curious as to what I'm going to see especially downtown all right everyone I am in downtown now I've driven up and down a few streets and I got to be honest with you uh it looks really nice overall looks pretty nice uh a lot better than I expected that it would look given the huge population loss anyway what I'm going to do now is get out on foot and uh take a look a little bit closer look and I will tell you all about the city uh the Montgomery County Old Courthouse uh wow Greek Revival definitely definitely takes cues from ancient Greece beautiful old building uh see I'm out on foot as you can tell I'll do a quick pan around show you uh what I'm seeing here in downtown it looks sunny or it doesn't look Sunny it is sunny and on camera you're thinking that probably seems Pleasant not really it's 22 degrees Fahrenheit out here there's a bit of a wind unless you hide beside a building like I am right now that 22 degrees Fahrenheit is -6 Celsius anyway uh I'm going to wander around here take a look first of all though I will tell you the statistics of the city I did get out or get the Drone out and get it up in the sky so as I show you that footage I will tell you what the city is about statistically now as I said earlier the City's population is 137 000. Metro is 814 000. so that's pretty big median age here is 42. the gender breakdown is 53 percent female 47 male race breakdown is 48 percent White 37 percent black six percent Hispanic two percent Asian now the city was founded on April Fool's Day in 1796. pretty old city now here's the income numbers per capita income is twenty one thousand five hundred a year that's 415 dollars a week median household income is thirty nine thousand three hundred and fifteen dollars a year or 756 dollars a week at here's the comparison to the U.S average the U.S median household income across the country is 69 700. so the incomes here are a little over half of what they are in the rest of the U.S poverty level is pretty high 28 percent that's uh over twice higher than the U.S average children 17 and under it's 44 percent and that's really high folks 65 and older it's 18 percent median home value 85 000. I have to be honest that is among the lowest for a big city that I've ever seen U.S average is 281 thousand so less than a third the U.S average I guess that means the cost of living is low though so that's always a plus now here's crime numbers and they're pretty high total crime is 46 incidents per 1000. U.S average is 23. so crime here is right at exactly twice higher than the US on average let's see I broke it down violent crime is 10.1 per 1000 U.S average 3.9 so violent crime is over twice higher property crime 36 per 1000 us average 20. so property crime is a little bit lower they've got a statue of Lincoln here Lincoln takes a stand now it's just in Springfield Illinois didn't we see a miniature of this I think we did let's see Abraham Lincoln spoke at this Courthouse the one I just showed you right here a couple minutes ago anyway he spoke at this courthouse in September of 1859. he stopped here between speeches in Columbus and Cincinnati at the invitation of his friend Dayton lawyer Robert C cheneck yeah they met while they were members of Congress there you go now like I told you earlier the city has experienced pretty huge population drop so we expect to see some abandonment here's a place right here this looks like yeah it was a place where there were shops maybe in restaurants and things this is all boarded up now and gates are locked you can't get down there yeah you really hate to see that and because yeah I am right in downtown let's see the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is nearby it is one of the largest military bases operated by the Air Force named after Orville Wright who was born here of course you know him as half the duo the Wright brothers who made the first flight the other name Patterson is John Patterson who was a local businessman that was very successful in many Endeavors well hopefully you can see that but this greet you as you come into the city or exit it the downtown area uh the memorial of Montgomery County to her soldiers dedicated July 31 1884. now running right on the edge of downtown is this River looks like they have a bit of a Riverwalk here they do it's lovely uh the Greater Miami River or it might be Miami depends on how you pronounce it I'm sure someone will let me know that's beautiful on a warm day I bet it's a pack of people but not today whoo I mean it's Sunday getting close to noon doesn't matter nobody out today in this freezing weather now you may not know this but Dayton is the birthplace of Aviation like I told you Orville Wright was born here him and his brother Wilbur built the right flyer right here in Dayton they took it apart and traveled to North Carolina Kitty Hawk put it back together and made the first flight there once that was done they returned here to Dayton made some improvements and all subsequent flights were right here in this area look these ducks coming right up to me I think they think I have some food I don't if I would have known these guys are going to come right up to me and hang out I would have brought some food sorry guys I didn't know they are beautiful though aren't they wow wow look at them they're not scared of me at all those are some well-fed birds I'm guessing that guy he is a beauty anyway I'm gonna head back into downtown which of course is right here and tell you some more Antioch Temple uh right across from it some more older buildings I got to be honest with you guys uh I'm not seeing the boarded up abandoned buildings that I thought it would down here mostly seeing this taking care of and beautiful now there are a few here's one right here but for the most part um downtown Dayton it looks pretty good there is an amazing amount of beautiful old buildings here it really is all in really good condition anyway how about some quirky facts about Dayton did you know that the very first Soapbox Derby ever in history was held here I particularly like this particular [Music] fact because I ran a few Soap Box Derbies as a child but anyway yeah 1934 first soap box derby Was Won by 11 year old Bob Turner we have Muncie Indiana a couple other things you know when you reach for that cold can of Pabst Blue Ribbon and you grab that aluminum flip top pop it open the satisfying sound well those those flip tops were invented here in Dayton Additionally you get in your car you turn the ignition and it turns on electrical ignitions for cars were invented here a couple other things that were invented here were the cash register the electronic cash register specifically and step ladders step ladders were invented here hmm that is astonishingly beautiful that building it's actually a collection of nine buildings called the Dayton arcade built in 1904 as this guy pulls up into the shot gotta love it huh anyway um yeah for 30 years this set empty which is or should be a crime in itself but the city finally got its act together and the building is now back in operation that has been renovated or still in the process of it it looks like and businesses and also residents I think are moving in so uh that's good to see so here's some fun facts concerning people and Dayton first of all the notorious bank robber John Dillinger was captured here in the 1930s 1933 to be exact while visiting his girlfriend see women get you in trouble all the time don't they guys here's some famous people that were born here Nancy Cartwright you may know her as the voice of Bart Simpson Gordon jump was also born here now if you're a fan of the show WKRP in Cincinnati like myself you know that he was the big guy but wait Gary Sandy was born here as well Gary was Andy Travis on the same show even more fun Cincinnati is just what 40 minute drive away from here anyway this is the deal guys it is so cold out here my camera is trying to freeze on me so I'm gonna head back to the Bronco and let's take a look at some neighborhoods close by all right so one of the crown jewels of the city is this the Oregon district it is a collection of what looks like old Office Buildings and maybe some warehouses that they have converted into entertainment shops and bars and pubs those kind of things you see it a lot quite often in these towns and it's a good idea oh what's that say honey make that purr wow that looks a little uh racy doesn't it anyway yeah it's an area that they have developed and uh I'm sure is very busy on the weekends it is Sunday about noon I already started to see a few people here but it's really nice yeah it's a great area so I'm out here on the edge of downtown what a beautiful building Sacred Heart Church that is gorgeous isn't it the city has lost a lot of population we know that but it has slowed down quite a bit the population loss the city is diversifying successfully in addition to of course the Air Force Base and Aviation the city has become a Center for Health Care and city government and those are the biggest employers now and you're seeing it like I said I was half expecting to see a lot of abandoned buildings downtown you see that a lot but I didn't see it here they have done a really good job of uh reworking the downtown and there are apartment buildings under construction there are older buildings that have been converted into Apartments so you're really seeing it as far as housing is concerned I don't know I'm gonna head into a neighborhood right now I know this neighborhood's over here wanted to see it it's beautiful isn't it yeah so I'll look around a little bit more but um what an absolutely gorgeous neighborhood see all these trees when it's warm and they're green it must be particularly spectacular but wow this is a great neighborhood it goes in different several streets on either side of me as well yeah you love to see this I got to tell you guys I'm a bit flabbergasted at the absolute beauty of some of these buildings in this town I wasn't expecting it the Dayton Art Institute right there let's see there's something here I don't know what but it is impressive whatever it is how about if I just drive up there and we'll take a look at it I mean look at this I don't even know what that is I guess somebody can fill in if I can't figure it out but that's gorgeous Masonic temple okay wow there's the river again uh here downtown on the other side of the river beautiful over here isn't it the sun is kind of in the wrong spot so hopefully you can see that well we got a lot of wildlife in the street here these guys uh yeah this is our road not yours hopefully I can get around him wow look at all this that's pretty cool let's see they got a replica of the right flyer right here that is pretty cool isn't it well I'm west of downtown now um still beautiful homes look at that one that is so cool looking I love that house see if I get you to look from the side that is really interesting but anyway uh yeah all these homes uh they're older but in Immaculate shape wow these are awesome uh the neighborhood so far in this town are impressive there is no sign have uh abandonment at least not yet well let's see I'm southeast of downtown now still more the same More Beautiful Homes older some of these look very similar so you could almost call them a bit cookie cutter but they're well kept taken care of this is really nice well let's see I'm east of downtown now the smaller homes but they're lovely um I love all these colors well I tell you what guys uh I think I've shown you a lot of the city it's not what I expected I'm not gonna lie I expected possibly another Gary with you know considering the massive population loss but the city has Diversified and it's starting to take hold it's starting to work you actually or I saw quite a few new apartment buildings under construction something you don't expect to see in a city that's losing a lot of population but it seems to me that it has stable stabilized somewhat and uh you know Dayton seems to me like it's on its way to coming back you know I'm sure there are bad neighborhoods here and there'll be no shortage of YouTube channels that will show them but I've ringed the city you know I've driven around the downtown pretty much what I've seen is what I'm showing you right now and it looks pretty nice looks really nice to be honest with you so all right I'm gonna I'm going to end this here I mean just everywhere you go straight upon Street of these great looking neighborhoods beautiful homes it's a really interesting all the colors they're painted isn't it anyway okay so that'll be it at this part of the video I'm gonna go grab the uh wife and we're gonna have some early dinner or this road is really bumpy anyway that's coming up next well I am back in downtown this time with the wife in tow or I guess she's in the lead rushing to get inside because she does not like cold weather anyway we're going to visit a local place mudlick Tap House menu looks really good so yeah early dinner here oh how do we get inside this place now we have to go upstairs oh wow this is kind of a crazy way to enter a place yeah well there it is let's go sit at the bar yeah we are seated in the bar uh restaurant's pretty full bar doesn't have anybody in it because it's Sunday probably and only centers set in a bar on Sunday am I right I'm definitely a sinner not me I'm not a sinner but you make me sit here oh yeah you do anyway uh you've got your Jack Daniel water I've got a local beer called Saunder puffier Coke Stout it's pretty it is Stout it's like a well above eight percent so it's in a snifter brewed locally nearby Mason Ohio my beer is excellent there's nothing like fresh made Stout local maid stats I'm sure your jack is good anyway we ordered uh deviled eggs as an appetizer they look pretty yummy don't they yep what do you think I'm about to eat one I'll do it there's like take a bite and tell us if it's good or not well yummy all right I'm ready to have one myself the deviled eggs didn't last very long I have one left but I think that's no you're gonna eat it you're bigger than me and you need more that's what you say remember I don't think so you say that when it comes to alcohol just alcohol that's it okay well anyways they're really good they're you can you can tell they have a lot of mustard in them there's a little bit a mustardy hint to it but yeah they're excellent all right our food is here I ordered fish and chips with extra tartar because I like to dip my fries in it coleslaw then you got black and salmon hey have you ever cooked that before Oh once or twice like a salmon salad but this salad looks awesome every meal on it and this palette looks awesome though it's not every meal it smells good though yeah it looks good smells good well we're going to dig in but these both look really good well let's see how's the food for me the fish and chips are among the best I've ever had the batter is fantastic they use a beer batter local beer batter the fries however so-so I just don't like it when they cut potatoes and slices and throw them in a fryer I don't like that they're okay how's yourself sounds actually amazing it's probably one of the best sounds it's nice and juicy juice the salad is really good it's got cucumbers onions it's got egg and bacon on it and it's just fresh really good all right go there you guys go good stuff well here's a quick look at the restaurant in case you're wondering and then the bar and then the wifey on her phone texting I'm not texting okay oh you're on Instagram okay cool but he went that way and he came back that way I'm confused I was just showing the uh good people of YouTube what the place looked like anyway uh do you want dessert yeah I don't want dessert either I'm full so we're just going to finish our grapes all right everyone so that's the end of this video uh it's cold here

Channel: Joe & Nic's Road Trip

Views: 150,213

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Id: wnjtiGuvqqQ

Length: 26min 55sec (1615 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 29 2023