zoning

Miller Lane compared to The Greene: Development by chance or choice

Miller Lane didn’t kill the Salem Mall, but it sure cost the taxpayers a ton of money. The Greene didn’t kill the Fairfield Commons Mall, or the Dayton Mall- but it also has cost the taxpayers a ton of money. The question is, which one gave us something worthy of the expense? And, why are Read More

The “does it scale” test

After spending a few days in NYC on business, I came back to Dayton and immediately was reminded of why we’re Dayton and NYC is well, NYC. Don’t get me wrong- I was glad to be home and despite eating some of the best food of my life (recurrent theme- amazing prosciutto). I walked into Read More

The real parking problem in Dayton

Photo Credit: Bruno Furnari via Compfight Imagine what would happen if NYC enacted rules requiring one parking space per every 1000 square feet of living space? NYC wouldn’t be NYC. That’s because the whole value of a dense urban downtown is that by cramming people together, you create critical concentrated buying power that supports retail. Read More

It’s all about “protection”

The thing I love about insurance companies is that they are like the mob now. Ever since we allowed them to stop being mutuals and they became faceless corporations- they’ve been allowed to run a racket where they get rich no mater what- and you pay through the nose if you don’t purchase their services. Read More

Three-minute thinking

The argument about how many liquor licenses should be permitted in the Oregon district continues to kill off the district’s potential to be the entertainment district it could be. Unfortunately, 30-year-old thinking is still being applied. The limits were put in place because a small group of residents were allowed to speak for the whole Read More