Today’s paper talks about putting a levy on the ballot in Warren Country to build Sinclair South. The simple answer is no.
Sinclair Community College is one of Dayton’s (the region) competitive advantages. The low cost, high quality education and training programs it provides are a reason to locate your business or expand in Montgomery County. It’s also a good reason to live in Montgomery County.
While many of our resident’s have made short-sighted moves to the greener pastures to the South- including the Dayton Daily News Print Technology Center– there is a real cost to sprawl- and replicating Sinclair’s top notch programs would just increase both the cost and the sprawl factor.
Instead of spending millions to replicate what we have- a more innovative solution would be to build a high-speed rail connector between Warren County and Sinclair- right in the heart of Downtown. Not only would this save money by not replicating services- but would add value to the community. It could also help alleviate parking problems at the current campus, save wear and tear costs on I-75, provide a safer way for students to commute, and have the added benefit of boosting Downtown Dayton. Not to be ignored is the cutting down on the use of gasoline.
In the long term- building the rail connector helps more than just Sinclair and Downtown Dayton- it helps Warren County by saving the long-term ongoing costs of funding a strong community college. Using the I-75 right of way, with stops at The Dayton Mall/Lexis Nexis hub, UD Arena/NCR and Sinclair/Downtown Dayton- we create a strong regional forward thinking solution, instead of just sprawling and duplicating.
What do you think?