If you read the troll boards on the Dayton Daily News site [1], it would seem all you need to do is to be from here, have a nice suit, no earring and send your kids to Dayton Public Schools and you are qualified to be Mayor. Oh, wait, Mike Turner didn’t wear an earring, had a suit- was from here, and, uh, moved out of Dayton the moment he could- and put his kids in private schools.
People have scoffed about Gary’s English accent as well- so for today, I have a guest who also isn’t from around here- Sherif Hedayat [2], a greek born, Egyptian American comedian (he’s filling in for Greg- so we needed someone funny)- to talk about what Dayton is like- when you aren’t from here.
Some of us, who’ve lived elsewhere (I’m in that boat- born in Celina, raised in Cleveland with a short stint in Toronto, and then on a US Army tour of military bases along the East Coast) actually think Dayton has a lot going for it. And, maybe Gary’s accent could work wonders for us.
There are things to do in Dayton, if you look for them. If not, you can be like us- and create your own daily TV show.
Enjoy!
Nice seeing a fresh face next to your mug, David…lol. Great points, I think Gary does bring a new dynamic to the table not being from Dayton. Hopefully, he will be able to inspire others on the commission in new directions as well – mainly away from partisan politics and towards what’s best for the city/region. We’ll see.
On another note, not being from Dayton, I fully agree that Dayton is extremely undervalued by people who are from here. There are plenty of things to do here and your dollar will travel a lot farther than in places like LA, NYC, CHI.
Thanks to Sherif and David for the nice mention of DaytonMostMetro.com. Though it isn’t just me – we have some great people involved in producing content for the site and we continue to welcome new contributors. Yes it has certainly been a labor of love but we’re expecting even more good things in the year to come. And yes – it has expanded beyond urban and covers the entire region. Unfortunately some folks are not happy with us moving past the urban core but honestly, as David and I agree – Dayton will only move forward if the region starts working much better together. We’re hopeful that DMM can help to get more people to start thinking of Dayton as a region that offers many great and different options for everybody. Of course, our hearts will remain in the urban core and we will never lose that focus.
Quotable: “A lot of people think David’s an asshole, but the reality is he’s an awesome guy.” All true.
I hear a campaign slogan?
But seriously, great conversation.