Dayton, Ohio

Dayton (pronounced /ˈdeɪtn/) is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census. As of the 2010 census, Dayton is the fourth largest metropolitan area in Ohio and the 61st largest metropolitan area in the United States. The Dayton-Springfield-Greenville Combined Statistical Area had a population of 1,072,891 in 2010 and is the 43rd largest conbined statistical area in the United States. Dayton is situated within the Miami Valley region of Ohio, just north of the Cincinnati metropolitan area.

Dayton is within 500 mi (805 km) of 60% of the population and manufacturing capacity of the U.S. and so is defined as one of only two major logistics centroids in the United States. It plays host to significant industrial, aerospace, and technological/engineering research activity and is known for the many technical innovations and inventions developed there. Much of this innovation is due in part to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and its place within the community. With the decline of heavy manufacturing, Dayton's businesses have diversified into a service economy, including the insurance and legal sectors and most importantly the healthcare and government sectors.

Other than defense and aerospace, healthcare accounts for much of the Dayton area's economy. Hospitals in the Greater Dayton area have an estimated combined employment of nearly 32,000, a yearly economic impact of $6.8 billion. It is estimated that Premier Health Partners, a hospital network, contributes more than $2 billion a year to the region through operating, employment, and capital expenditures. In 2011, Dayton was rated the #3 city in the nation out of the top 50 cities in the United States by HealthGrades for excellence in health care. Many hospitals in the Dayton area are consistently ranked by Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, and HealthGrades for clinical excellence.

Dayton is also noted for its association with aviation; the city is home to the National Museum of the United States Air Force. Orville Wright, poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, and entrepreneur John H. Patterson were born in Dayton. Dayton is also known for its many patents, inventions, and inventors that have come from the area, most notable being the Wright Brothers' invention of powered flight. In 2008, 2009, and 2010, Site Selection magazine ranked Dayton the #1 mid sized metropolitan area in the nation for economic development. Also, in 2010, Dayton was ranked one of the best places in the United States for college graduates to find a job, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

History

Dayton was founded on April 1, 1796, seven years before the admission of Ohio to the Union in early 1803, by a group of 12 settlers known as "The Thompson Party." They traveled in March from Cincinnati up the Great Miami River by pirogue and landed at what is now St. Clair Street, where they found two small camps of Native Americans. Among the settlers was Benjamin Van Cleve,^[15] whose memoirs provide insights into the history of the Ohio Valley. Two other groups who were travelling overland arrived several days later.^[16]

The city was incorporated in 1805 and was named after Jonathan Dayton, who owned the land. Dayton had been a captain in the American Revolutionary War and was a signer of the U.S. Constitution.

In 1797, Daniel C. Cooper had laid out the Mad River Road, the first overland connection between Cincinnati, Ohio and Dayton, opening the "Mad River Country" at Dayton and the upper Miami Valley to settlement.

The Miami and Erie Canal, built in the 1830s, connected the Dayton commerce from Lake Erie via the Great Miami River and served as the principal route of transportation for western Ohio until the 1850s. With the completion of the Miami and Erie Canal in 1829, Dayton was linked to Cincinnati, and the town continued to thrive. Nine turnpikes connected Dayton to other areas of the state. By the 1840s, Dayton was one of the largest and wealthiest communities in Ohio.^[9] In the 1880s, John H. Patterson opened the National Cash Register Company in Dayton. In the 20th century, Dayton continued to prosper. The city became known as the home of Wilbur and Orville Wright, the brothers who made the first successful flight in a powered aircraft while at the Outer Banks in Kill Devil Hills near present day Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

The catastrophic Great Dayton Flood of March 1913 severely affected much of the city, stimulated the growth of suburban communities outside central Dayton in areas lying further from the Miami River and on higher ground, and led to the establishment of the Miami Conservancy District in 1914. The flood remains an event of note in popular memory and local histories. The high waters damaged some of the Wright Brothers' glass plate photographic negatives of their glider flights at Kitty Hawk and power flights over Huffman Prairie near Dayton.

During World War II, Dayton, like many other American cities, was heavily involved in the war effort. Residential neighborhoods in Dayton and in nearby Oakwood hosted the Dayton Project, in which the Monsanto Company Chemical Company developed methods to industrially produce polonium for use in the triggers of early atomic bombs, including those dropped by the United States on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Dayton benefited greatly from the growth of wartime industries during World War II and received approximately $1.7 billion in government defense contracts during the war. The city's economy has remained strong in the decades following the Second World War, despite a decline in many of its traditional industries.

Dayton was home to the National Cash Register Company whose employees built airplane engines, bomb sights and code-breaking machines, including the American Navy bombe designed by Joseph Desch which helped crack the Enigma machine cipher.

Historically, Dayton has been the site for many patents and inventions since the 1870s.Famous inventors such as the Wright Brothers who invented the practical airplane and Charles F. Kettering who had numerous inventions also came from Dayton. According to the National Park Service who cited information from the U.S. Patent Office Dayton had more granted patents per capita than any other U.S. city in 1890 and ranked fifth in the nation as early as 1870.

On November 29, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech to more than 6,200 people at the UD Fieldhouse (now called Thomas J. Frericks Center) on the University of Dayton campus. A reel-to-reel recording of this speech was discovered at the University of Dayton. The audio recording was discovered in January 2009 by filmmaker David Schock of Grand Haven, Michigan. He found the unlabeled tape in a box of recordings.

Peace accords

The Dayton Agreement, a peace accord between the parties to the hostilities of the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the former Yugoslavia, was negotiated at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Negotiations took place from November 1, 1995, to November 21, 1995, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near to Fairborn, Ohio.

Richard Holbrooke wrote about this event in his memoirs:

There was also a real Dayton out there, a charming Ohio city, famous as the birthplace of the Wright Brothers. Its citizens energized us from the outset. Unlike the population of, say, New York, Geneva or Washington, which would scarcely notice another conference, Daytonians were proud to be part of history. Large signs at the commercial airport hailed Dayton as the "temporary center of international peace". The local newspapers and television stations covered the story from every angle, drawing the people deeper into the proceedings. When we ventured into a restaurant or a shopping center downtown, people crowded around, saying that they were praying for us. Warren Christopher was given at least one standing ovation in a restaurant. Families on the air base placed "candles of peace" in their front windows, and people gathered in peace vigils outside the base. One day they formed a "peace chain", although it was not large enough to surround the sprawling eight-thousand-acre base. Ohio's famous ethnic diversity was on display.

Nicknames

Dayton's primary nickname is the "Gem City." The origin of the name is no longer clear; it appears to stem either from a well-known racehorse named "Gem" that hailed from Dayton, or from descriptions of the city likening it to a gem. The most likely origin appears to be an 1845 article in the Cincinnati Daily Chronicle by an author writing with the byline "T", that reads

"In a small bend of the Great Miami River, with canals on the east and south, it can be fairly said, without infringing on the rights of others, that Dayton is the gem of all our interior towns. It possesses wealth, refinement, enterprise, and a beautiful country, beautifully developed."

Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872–1906) later acknowledged the nickname in his poem, "Toast to Dayton", which contains this stanza:

"She shall ever claim our duty,

For she shines—the brightest gem

That has ever decked with beauty

Dear Ohio's diadem."

Another explanation for the nickname Gem notes that Dayton's sister city to the south, Cincinnati, is known as the "Queen City", which makes Dayton a gem in the queen's crown.

The city was advertised as "The Gem City, the Cleanest City in America" in the 1950s, 60s and into the 70s. The phrase was often seen on public trash cans, and other places throughout the city during this time period. Additionally, Dayton has one of the most consistent street cleaning schedules. Every morning, street cleaners sweep downtown Dayton of any trash from the previous day.

Ohio's nickname "Birthplace of Aviation" is frequently seen due to Dayton being the hometown of the Wright Brothers. In their bicycle shop in Dayton, the Wrights developed the principles of aerodynamics, and designed and constructed a number of gliders and portions of their first airplane. After their first manned flights in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, which had been chosen only due to its high average wind speeds, the Wrights returned to Dayton and continued testing at nearby Huffman Prairie.

The region is dominated by a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa), characterized by hot, muggy summers and cold, dry winters. It should be noted that the table presented above is from Dayton International Airport, 10 miles (16 km) to the north of downtown Dayton, which lies within the Miami Valley, and thus temperatures in the former location are often cooler than in downtown.

At the airport, Monthly mean temperatures range from 26.4 °F (−3.1 °C) in January to 74.3 °F (23.5 °C) in July. The highest temperature ever recorded in Dayton was 108 °F (42 °C) in July 1901, and the coldest was −28 °F (−33 °C) in February 1899.

Dayton is subject to severe weather typical of the Midwestern United States. Tornadoes are possible from the spring to the fall. Floods, blizzards and severe thunderstorms can also occur from time to time.

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1830	2,950		—
1840	6,067		105.7%
1850	10,977		80.9%
1860	20,081		82.9%
1870	30,473		51.8%
1880	38,678		26.9%
1890	61,220		58.3%
1900	85,333		39.4%
1910	116,577		36.6%
1920	152,559		30.9%
1930	200,982		31.7%
1940	210,718		4.8%
1950	243,872		15.7%
1960	262,332		7.6%
1970	243,601		−7.1%
1980	193,536		−20.6%
1990	182,044		−5.9%
2000	166,179		−8.7%
2010	141,527		−14.8%
Population 1830–1970. Population 1980–2000.

Note: the following demographic information applies only to the city of Dayton proper. For other Dayton-area communities, see their respective articles.

As of the census^[29] of 2000, there were 166,179 people, 67,409 households, and 37,614 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,979.3 people per square mile (1,150.3/km²). There were 77,321 housing units at an average density of 1,386.3 per square mile (535.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 53.40% White, 43.10% Black, 0.30% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.70% from other races, and 1.83% from two or more races. 1.58% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.^[30] The population of Dayton has been declining since the 1970s, as can be observed from portrayal of historical population data. This is in part due to the slowdown of manufacturing in the region and the growth of Dayton's affluent suburbs including Englewood, Beavercreek, Springboro, Miamisburg, and Centerville.

Households

There were 67,409 households out of which 27.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.2% were married couples living together, 20.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.2% were non-families. 36.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 3.04.

 Age structure and gender ratio

The age structure of Dayton's population is:

• under 18 years: 25.1%
• 18 to 24 years: 14.2%
• 25 to 44 year: 29.0%
• 45 to 64 years: 19.6%
• 65 years of age or older: 12.0%

The median age is 32 years. For every 100 females there were 93.1 males, while for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.6 males.

 Income

The median income for a household in the city was $27,523, and the median income for a family was $34,978. Males had a median income of $30,816 versus $24,937 for females. The per capita income for the city was $34,724. About 18.2% of families and 23.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32.0% of those under age 18 and 15.3% of those age 65 or over.

Political structure

In 1913, Dayton became the first large city in the United States to adopt the council-manager system of city government. In this system, the mayor is considered the chairperson of the city commission and has one vote on the commission just like the other commissioners. The commission hires a separate city manager, who holds administrative authority over the city government.

The city also encourages resident participation through the use of neighborhood associations and priority boards. A total of 65 neighborhoods comprise seven priority board districts.

See also: Neighborhoods of Dayton, Ohio

Economy

Dayton's economy is relatively diversified and vital to the overall economy of the state of Ohio. In 2008 and 2009, Site Selection magazine ranked Dayton the #1 medium sized metropolitan area in the U.S. for economic development.^[10][11] Also, in 2010, Dayton was ranked one of the best places in the United States for college graduates to find a job, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.Dayton is also among the top 100 metropolitan areas in the United States exports and export related jobs by the Brookings Institution. Dayton ranked number 16 out of the top 100 metropolitan areas for exports and number 14 in export related jobs with 44,133 Dayton employees related to exports. The report placed the value of exports from Dayton at $4.7 billion, ranking the metropolitan area at number 56 for the statistic.The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area ranks 4th in Ohio's Gross Domestic Product with a 2008 industry total of $33.78 billion.Additionally, Dayton ranks 3rd among 11 major metropolitan areas in Ohio for exports to foreign countries. In 2008, products and services with value of more than $4.5 billion were exported from the Dayton area. Moody's Investment Services revised Dayton's bond rating from A1 to the stronger rating of Aa2 as part of its global recalibration process. Standard and Poor's upgraded Dayton's rating from A+ to AA- in the summer of 2009.

Many major corporations and companies such as Reynolds and Reynolds, CareSource, Cargill, NewPage Corporation, Huffy Bicycles, LexisNexis, Kettering Health Network, Premier Health Partners, Standard Register, Dayton Reliable Tool and Teradata have their headquarters in Dayton. It is the former home of the Speedwell Motor Car Company and the Mead Paper Company before it became MeadWestvaco. NewPage Corporation is a Fortune 1000 company.^[36] Behr Dayton Thermal Products LLC is also located in Dayton. The Dayton Development Coalition is attempting to leverage the regions large water capacity, estimated to be 1.5 trillion gallons of renewable water aquifers, to attract new businesses.

Research, development, aerospace and aviation

The Dayton region gave birth to aviation and is known for its high concentration of aerospace and aviation technology. In 2009, Governor Ted Strickland designated Dayton as Ohio's aerospace innovation hub, the first such technology hub in the state.Two major United States research and development organizations have leveraged Dayton's historical leadership in aviation and maintain their headquarters in the area: The National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). NASIC is the U.S. military's primary producer of intelligence on foreign air and space forces, weapons and systems, while the AFRL provides leading-edge warfighting capabilities to keep the United States air, space and cyberspace forces the world's best.^[41] Both have their headquarters at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.^[42] Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is one of the largest Air Base Wings in the Air Force, its over 27,400 employees and 68 tenant units generated a Total Economic Impact in the Dayton area of $5.1 billion in its 2009 fiscal year.^[43] It is the fifth largest employer in the state of Ohio and the largest employer at a single location.^[44] In addition, state officials are working to make the Dayton region a hub and a leader for UAV research and manufacturing.

There a several research organizations that support NASIC, AFRL and the Dayton community. The Advanced Technical Intelligence Center, is a confederation of government, academic and industry partners that leverage advanced technical intelligence expertise. Along with the ATIC, The Wright Brothers Institute, works with its foundational stakeholder, AFRL, to operate as a neutral enabler and place for multidisciplinary (government, industry, and academia) teams to come together in collaborations focusing on complex problems or challenges. daytaOhio is a non-profit organization on the campus of Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, along with Wright State Research Institute, a major research unit at Wright State University which performs use-inspired basic research and development in engineering, computer science, health sciences, and economic development.^[47] The University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI), is a research institute led by the University of Dayton. In 2004 and 2005, UDRI was ranked #2 in the nation in federal and industry-funded materials research by the National Science Foundation. The Cognitive Technologies Division (CTD) of Applied Research Associates, Inc., that performs human-centered research and design, is headquartered in the Dayton suburb of Fairborn. The city of Dayton has also started Tech Town, a development project intended to attract technology-based firms to Dayton and revitalize the downtown area. Tech Town is home to the world's first RFID business incubator. The University of Dayton-led Institute for Development & Commercialization of Sensor Technologies (IDCAST) at TechTown, is a world-class center for excellence in remote sensing and sensing technology, and one of Dayton's technology business incubators housed in The Entrepreneurs Center building.

The NCR Corporation (originally named the National Cash Register Corporation), which was founded and headquartered in Dayton for over 125 years announced on June 2, 2009 that it was accepting a $96 million offer to move its corporate headquarters to Duluth, Georgia.While NCR has retained about 45 employees at its corporate-wide data center in Dayton, the move resulted in a loss of about 1,250 positions. The 455,000-square-foot (42,300 m²) building complex that formerly housed NCR's World Headquarters was quickly absorbed by the University of Dayton Research Institute for $18 million.

Healthcare

The Kettering Health Network and Premier Health Partners have a major role on the Dayton area's economy. Hospitals in the Greater Dayton area have an estimated combined employment of nearly 32,000, a yearly economic impact of $6.8 billion.^[4] It is estimated that Premier Health Partners contributes more than $2 billion a year in positive economic impact through operating, employment, and capital expenditures. Thomson Reuters rated the Kettering Health Network as one of the top 10 hospital networks for clinical excellence in the United States. In addition, several Dayton area hospitals consistently earn top national ranking and recognition including the U.S. News & World Report's list of "America's Best Hospitals" as well as many of HealthGrades top ratings. The most notable hospitals are Miami Valley Hospital and Kettering Medical Center. In 2011, the Dayton area was rated number three in the nation out of the top 50 cities in the United States by HealthGrades for excellence in healthcare. Also in 2011, Dayton was ranked the fourth best in the nation for emergency medicine care.

Several key institutes and centers for health care exist in the Dayton region. The Center for Tissue Regeneration and Engineering at Dayton is a center that focuses on the science and development of human tissue regeneration. The National Center for Medical Readiness (NCMR) is also located in the Dayton area. The center includes Calamityville which is a state-of-the art disaster training facility. It is conservatively estimated that over a five year period the Calamityville will generate a direct and indirect economic impact to the Miami Valley Region of $374 million. Also, the Neurological Institute at Miami Valley Hospital is an institute focused on the diagnosis, treatment, and research of neurological disorders.

The Dayton region's largest employers

Largest employers and Number of employees:

• Wright-Patterson Air Force Base 27,406
• Premier Health Partners 14,335
• Kettering Health Network 9,500
• The Reynolds and Reynolds Company 6,000
• WinWholesale Inc. 5,200
• Wright State University 3,095
• LexisNexis 3,000

Architecture

Unlike many midwestern cities of its age, Dayton has very broad and straight downtown streets (generally two or three full lanes in each direction), facilitating access to the downtown even after the automobile became popular. The main reason for the broad streets was that Dayton was a marketing and shipping center from its beginning: streets were broad to enable wagons drawn by teams of three to four pairs of oxen to turn around. In addition, some of today's streets were once barge canals flanked by draw-paths.

A courthouse building was constructed in downtown Dayton in 1888 to supplement Dayton's original Neoclassical courthouse, which still stands. This second, "new" courthouse has since been replaced with new facilities as well as a park. The Old Court House has also been a favorite campaign stop. On September 17, 1859, future President Abraham Lincoln delivered an address on the steps of the building. Eight other presidents have visited the courthouse, either as presidents or during presidential campaigns. They include Andrew Johnson, James Garfield, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton.

In 2009, The CareSource Management Group completed construction of a $55 million corporate headquarters at the corner of Main Street and Monument Avenue in downtown Dayton. The 300,000-square-foot (28,000 m²), 10-story building marks downtown's first new office tower in more than a decade.

The two tallest buildings of the Dayton skyline are the Kettering Tower at 408 ft (124 m) and the KeyBank Tower at 385 ft (117 m). Kettering Tower was originally Winters Tower, the headquarters of Winters Bank. The building was renamed after Virginia Kettering when Winters was merged into BankOne. KeyBank Tower was formerly known as the MeadWestvaco Tower before KeyBank gained naming rights to the building in 2008.Neighborhoods

Dayton's ten historic neighborhoods — Oregon District, Wright Dunbar, Dayton View, Grafton Hill, McPherson Town, Webster Station, Huffman, Kenilworth, St. Anne's Hill, and South Park — feature mostly single-family houses and mansions in the Neoclassical, Jacobethan, Tudor Revival, English Gothic, Chateauesque, Craftsman, Queen Anne, Georgian Revival, Colonial Revival, Renaissance Revival Architecture, Shingle Style Architecture, Prairie, Mission Revival, Eastlake/Italianate, American Foursquare, and Federal styles of architecture. Downtown Dayton is also a large area that encompasses several neighborhoods itself, and has seen a recent uplift and revival.

Suburbs

Dayton's suburbs with a population of 10,000 or more include Beavercreek, Centerville, Clayton, Englewood, Fairborn, Harrison Township, Huber Heights, Kettering, Miami Township, Miamisburg, Oakwood, Riverside, Springboro (partial), Trotwood, Vandalia, Washington Township, West Carrollton, and Xenia.

 Culture

Fine arts

The Dayton Region ranked 33rd in the nation out of 373 metropolitan areas in arts and culture. Dayton is the home of the Dayton Art Institute (see below).

The Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center in downtown Dayton, is a world-class performing arts center and the home venue of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, Dayton Opera, and the Dayton Ballet.^[66] In addition to Philharmonic and Opera performances, the Schuster Center hosts concerts, lectures, traveling Broadway shows, and is a popular spot for weddings, and other events.^[67] The historic Victoria Theatre, located in downtown Dayton, hosts concerts, traveling Broadway shows, ballet, a summertime classic film series, and more. The Loft Theatre, also located downtown, is the home of the Human Race Theatre Company. The Dayton Playhouse, in West Dayton, is the site of numerous plays and theatrical productions.

Dayton is the home of the Dayton Ballet, one of the oldest professional dance companies in the United States.^[70] The Company runs the Dayton Ballet School, the oldest dance school in Dayton and one of the oldest in the country. It is the only ballet school in the Miami Valley associated with a professional dance company.^[71] Additionally, Dayton is home to the Gem City Ballet and Progressive Dance Theater, companies in residence at the Pontecorvo Ballet Studio. Dayton is also home to "World Class" Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC), one of the most popular African American dance companies in the world.

Food

Dayton is home to a variety of popular pizza chains that have become woven into local culture, the most notable of which are Cassano's and Marion's Piazza.

Also based in Dayton is the Mexican Restaurant chain Hot Head Burritos, which was ranked by AOL.com in 2009 as one of America's next big chains.

Other Dayton-based food chains are Super Subby's which specializes in submarine sandwiches and chili, The Flying Pizza which is a New York–style pizza chain, Fricker's which specializes in chicken wings,and The Submarine House which specializes in submarine sandwiches. Along with these food chains, Esther Price Candies (a candy and chocolate company), and Mike-sells, the oldest potato chip company in the United States, are also based in Dayton.

Two other restaurants that have become part of Dayton's culture are The Pine Club and Milano's. The Pine Club, noted for being one of the best steakhouses in the area, gained notoriety by making then Vice-President George H.W. Bush wait for a table because they do not take reservations. Milano's specializes in pizzas and sub sandwiches and recently was remodeled and has become a hotspot for UD students.

Religion

Christianity is represented in Dayton by dozens of denominations and their respective churches.^[78] Notable Dayton churches include the First Lutheran Church and the Sacred Heart Church both located downtown. Dayton is also home to the United Theological Seminary of the United Methodist Church. Christmas on Campus invites children each year to celebrate Christmas on the campus of the University of Dayton. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati list 21 parishes in City of Dayton and 32 total in Montgomery County.

Judaism is represented by Temple Israel synagogue, Beth Jacob Synagogue, Chabad of Greater Dayton, Temple Beth Or, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton. Islam is represented by the Dayton Islamic Center, Masjid of Islam, and the Islamic Community Center. Non-Abrahamic places of worship in the city include the Dayton Hindu Temple and the Baha'i Center of Dayton.

Tourism

Tourism visiting Montgomery County accounted for $1.7 billion in business activity in 2007. Tourism also accounts for 1 out of every 14 private sector jobs in the county. Tourism in the Dayton region is led by The National Museum of the United States Air Force at nearby Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. It is the largest and oldest military aviation museum in the world. The museum draws over 1.3 million visitors per year and is one of the single most visited tourist attractions in Ohio. The museum houses the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

Other museums also play significant roles in the tourism and economy of the Dayton area. The Dayton Art Institute, a museum of fine arts, owns collections containing more than 20,000 objects spanning 5,000 years of art and archaeological history.^[83] The Dayton Art Institute was rated one of the top 10 best art museums in the United States for children. Dayton is also home to a children's museum. The Boonshoft Museum of Discovery is a local children's museum of science with numerous exhibits, one of which includes an indoor zoo with nearly 100 different animals.

Some historical museums also have notability in the region. The Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, operated by the National Park Service, commemorates the lives and achievements of Dayton natives Orville and Wilbur Wright and Paul Laurence Dunbar. The Wright brothers' famous Wright Flyer III aircraft is housed in a museum at Carillon Historical Park. America's Packard Museum is the world's only restored Packard Dealership operating as a museum. The museum contains over 50 restored Packard vehicles, and in addition, significant artifacts from the Packard Motor Car Company are on display. Another notable park, SunWatch Indian Village/Archaeological Park is located on the south end of Dayton. SunWatch is the location of a 12th century American Indian village that has been partially reconstructed and includes a museum where visitors can learn about the Indian history of the Miami Valley.

Entertainment

The Vectren Dayton Air Show is an annual air show that takes places at the Dayton International Airport. The Vectren Dayton Airshow is one of the largest air shows in the United States and is known as one of North America's premier events.

The Dayton area is served by Five Rivers MetroParks, encompassing 14,161 acres (5,731 ha) over 23 facilities for year-round recreation, education, and conservation. In cooperation with the Miami Conservancy District, the MetroParks maintains over 70 mi (113 km) miles of paved, multi-use scenic trails that connect Montgomery County with Greene, Miami, Warren and Butler Counties. Five Rivers Metroparks, from 1996 to 1998, Dayton hosted the National Folk Festival. Since then, the annual Cityfolk Festival has continued to bring the best in folk, ethnic and world music and arts to Dayton. The Five Rivers MetroParks also owns and operates the PNC Second Street Market located near downtown Dayton. The Market has more than 50 vendors selling items such as produce, cooked foods, baked goods, crafts, and flowers.

The Dayton area hosts several arenas and venues. South of Dayton in Kettering is the Fraze Pavilion, which hosts many nationally and internationally known musicians for concerts. Several notable performances have included the Backstreet Boys, Boston, and Steve Miller Band. South of downtown, on the banks of the Great Miami River, is the University of Dayton Arena, home venue for the University of Dayton Flyers basketball teams and the location of various other events and concerts. UD Arena also hosts the Winter Guard International championships, at which hundreds of percussion and color guard ensembles compete from around the world. North of Dayton is the Hara Arena that frequently hosts expo events and concerts. In addition, the Dayton Amateur Radio Association hosts the annual Dayton Hamvention, North America's largest hamfest, at Hara Arena. Up to 25,000 amateur radio operators attend this convention. The Nutter Center, which is just east of Dayton in the suburb of Fairborn, is the home arena for athletics of Wright State University and the former Dayton Bombers hockey team. This venue is used for many concerts, community events, and various national traveling shows and performances.

Located in the nearby suburb of Moraine is an outdoor waterpark known as Splash Moraine. The park is best known for its large wave pool.

The Oregon District is a historic residential and commercial district in southeast downtown Dayton. The district is populated with art galleries, specialty shops, pubs, nightclubs, and coffee houses.

The City of Dayton is also host to yearly festivals. Most notably the Dayton Celtic Festival and the City Folk Festival. The Dayton Celtic Festival attracts more than 30,000 people yearly and has Irish dancing, food, crafts, and performers such at Gaelic Storm. Other festivals held in the city of Dayton include, the Dayton Blues Festival, Urban Nights, the African American and Cultural Festival, and the Dayton Reggae Fest.

Sports

Club	League	Venue	Established
Dayton Dragons	MWL, Baseball	Fifth Third Field	2000
Dayton Gems	CHL, Ice hockey	Hara Arena	2009
Dayton Air Strikers	PBL, Basketball	James S. Trent Arena	2011
Dayton Dutch Lions	USL, Soccer	Miami Valley South Stadium	2009
Dayton Flyers	NCAA Division I Baseball, Basketball, Cross country, Football, Golf, Soccer, Rowing, softball, Tennis, Track and field, and Volleyball	University of Dayton Arena (Basketball), Welcome Stadium (Football), Thomas J. Frericks Center (Volleyball), Time Warner Cable Stadium (Baseball)	1903
Wright State Raiders	NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Basketball, Baseball, Softball, & Men's and Women's Soccer	Ervin J. Nutter Center (Basketball), Nischwitz Field (Baseball), Alumni Field (Soccer)	1968
Dayton Area Rugby Club	Midwest Division II Rugby	Eastwood Metropark	1969

Baseball

The Dayton Dragons is Dayton's only professional baseball team and is the minor league affiliate for the Cincinnati Reds. The Dayton Dragons are the first (and only) team in minor league baseball history to sell out an entire season before it began and was voted as one of the top ten hottest tickets to get in all of professional sports by Sports Illustrated.

Collegiate

The University of Dayton and Wright State University both host NCAA basketball. The University of Dayton Arena hosted 82 games in the NCAA men's basketball tournament over its history, the second most prolific venue in NCAA history and the most prolific among active venues,^[100] with the most recent being first and second round games of the 2009 tournament. Wright State University's NCAA mens basketball is the Wright State Raiders and the University of Dayton's NCAA men's basketball team is the Dayton Flyers.

Hockey

The Dayton Bombers were an ECHL ice hockey team that most recently played the North Division of the ECHL's American Conference. In June 2009, it was announced that the Bombers would turn in their membership back to the league. The move means the end of the second-longest tenured team in the ECHL after 18 seasons. However, hockey will remain in Dayton as the Dayton Gems of the International Hockey League began play in the fall of 2009 at Hara Arena.

Football

Dayton hosted the first American Professional Football Association game (precursor to the NFL). The game was played at Triangle Park between the Dayton Triangles and the Columbus Panhandles on October 3, 1920 and is considered one of the first professional football games ever to be played. Present football teams in the Dayton area are the Dayton Flyers Football and the Dayton Diamonds women's football.

Golf

The Dayton region is also known for the many golf courses and clubs that it hosts. The Miami Valley Golf Club, Moraine Country Club, NCR Country Club, and the Pipestone Golf Course are some of the more notable courses. In addition, several PGA Championships have been held at area golf courses. The Miami Valley Golf Club hosted the 1957 PGA Championship, the Moraine Country Club hosted the 1945 PGA Championship, and the NCR Country club hosted the 1969 PGA Championship.Additionally, NCR CC hosted the 1986 U.S. Women's Open and the 2005 U.S. Senior Open. Other notable courses include the Yankee Trace Golf Club, the Beavercreek Golf Club, Dayton Meadowbrook Country Club, Heatherwoode Golf Club, Community Golf Course, and Kitty Hawk Golf Course.

Rugby Union

The city of Dayton is the home to the Dayton Area Rugby Club. As of 2010, the club fields three squads and play their home games at Eastwood Metropark.

Media

Dayton is served in print by The Dayton Daily News, the city's sole remaining daily newspaper. The Dayton Daily News is owned by Cox Enterprises. As well as the daily print, the Dayton region's main business newspaper is the Dayton Business Journal. Nielsen Media Research ranked the 11-county Dayton television market as the #62 market in the United States.^[106] The market is served by stations affiliated with major American networks including: WDTN, Channel 2 – NBC, operated by LIN TV, WHIO-TV, Channel 7 – CBS, operated by Cox Communications, WPTD, Channel 16 – PBS, operated by ThinkTV, which also operates WPTO, assigned to Oxford, Ohio, WKEF, Channel 22 – ABC, operated by Sinclair Broadcasting, WBDT, Channel 26 – The CW, operated by Acme Television, and WRGT-TV, Channel 45 – Fox/My Network TV, operated under a local marketing agreement by Sinclair Broadcasting. The nationally syndicated morning talk show The Daily Buzz originated from WBDT-TV, the Acme property in Miamisburg, Ohio, before moving to its current home in Florida. Dayton is also served by 42 AM and FM radio stations directly, and numerous other stations are heard from elsewhere in Southwest Ohio, which serve outlying suburbs and adjoining counties.

 Transportation

Public transit

The Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority (RTA) operates public bus routes in the Dayton metro area. In addition to routes covered by traditional diesel-powered buses, RTA has a number of electric trolley bus routes. In continuous operation since 1888 with some form of electric transit, Dayton is the second longest-running of the five remaining trolleybus systems in the U.S., having started them in 1933.

Dayton operates a Greyhound Station which provides inter-city bus transportation to and from Dayton. The hub is located in the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority North-West hub.

 Airports

Air transportation is available just north of Dayton proper via the Dayton International Airport. The airport operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and offers service to 21 markets through 10 airlines. In 2008, it served 2.9 million passengers. Dayton's central location means that the airport is within 90 minutes by air from 55 percent of the nation's population. The Dayton International Airport is also a significant regional air freight hub hosting FedEx Express, UPS Airlines, United States Postal Service, and major commercial freight carriers. The Dayton area also has several regional airports.

The Dayton area also has several regional airports. The Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport is a general aviation airport that is owned and operated by the City of Dayton located 10 miles (16 km) south of the central business district of Dayton on Springboro Pike in Miami Township. It serves as the reliever airport for Dayton International Airport. The airport primarily serves corporate and personal aircraft users. The Dahio Trotwood Airport, also known as Dayton-New Lebanon Airport, is a privately-owned, public-use airport located 7 miles (11 km) west of the central business district of Dayton, in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States. The airport is situated on North Lutheran Church road between Trotwood to the northeast and New Lebanon to the southwest. The Moraine Airpark is a privately-owned, public-use airport situated 4 miles (6.4 km) southwest of the city of Dayton in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States. The airport is situated on Clearview Road in the city of Moraine.

Major highways

The Dayton region is primarily served by three interstates:

• Interstate 75 runs north to south though the city of Dayton and many of Dayton's north and south suburbs.
• Interstate 70 is a major east-west interstate that runs through many of Dayton's east and west suburbs and intersects with I-75 in Vandalia, Ohio just north of the city. This intersection of I-70/I-75 is also known as "Freedom Veterans Crossroads" which was officially named by the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2004. I-70 is the major route to the airport.
• Interstate 675 is a partial interstate ring along the eastern suburbs of Dayton. It runs north to south and connects I-70 to the north and I-75 to the south.

Other major routes for the region include:

• US 35 is a major east-west highway that is most widely used between Drexel, Ohio and Xenia, Ohio.
• Route 4 is a freeway that is most heavily traveled between I-75 and I-70.
• Route 444 is north-south state highway. Its southern terminus is at its interchange with Route 4 and its northern terminus is at Interstate 675. The expressway serves Dayton and Fairborn and is a significant route to access points serving Wright Patterson Air Force Base.

The Ohio Department of Transportation is currently in the process of $533 million of construction to modify and reconstruct I-75 through downtown Dayton. ODOT is upgrading and widening I-75 from Edwin C Moses Blvd. to Stanley Avenue.

In 2009 and 2010, Dayton was rated first in the state and 12th in the nation on Allstate Insurance company's 2009 best drivers list. In the study, Dayton has consistently been one of the safest cities in the nation every year Allstate has released the report.

Rail freight

Dayton has been identified as a hub in the proposed Ohio Hub project, which would bring high-speed rail to Ohio. Dayton also hosts several inter-modal freight railroad terminals. Two Class I railroads both CSX and Norfolk Southern Railway, operate switching yards in the city. Because of its transportation system, which affords direct access to major markets, Dayton has become an important warehouse and distribution center.

Bicycling

In cooperation with the Miami Conservancy District, Five Rivers MetroParks maintains over 70 mi (113 km) miles of paved, off-road, multi-use scenic trails that connect Montgomery County with over 270 mi (435 km) of trails in Greene, Miami, Warren and Butler Counties. The contiguous bike trail system extends as far east as southwest Columbus and as far south as the Ohio River just east of Cincinnati.

The League of American Bicyclists named Dayton as one of only two major cities in Ohio to be "bicycle-friendly". This comes after construction of a new bike hub developed by Five Rivers MetroParks, the river corridor bike trail system built and maintained by the Miami Conservancy District, and the regional bike plan coordinated by the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission. Dayton has also implemented "bike only" lanes downtown.

Bicycling organizations active in the Dayton area include: Dayton Cycling Club (daytoncyclingclub.org), Major Taylor Cycling Club (majortaylordayton.org), Team Dayton Cycling (teamdaytoncycling.com), Dayton BMX (bmxdayton.com), Ohio Bicycle Federation (ohiobike.org), Ohio Mountain Bike Association (joinomba.org), MoMBA (metroparks.org).

Education

Public schools

The Dayton Public Schools operates 34 schools that serve 16,855 students, including:

• Paul Laurence Dunbar High
• Thurgood Marshall High
• Meadowdale High
• Belmont High
• Stivers School for the Arts
• Ponitz Career Technology Center

Private schools

The city of Dayton has 35 private schools located within the city.

• Archbishop Alter High School
• Chaminade-Julienne Catholic High School
• The Miami Valley School
• Carroll High School

Charter schools

Dayton is the nation's top charter school district. There are 33 charter schools operating in the city.

• Dayton Early College Academy

Colleges and universities

Dayton is home to two major universities: First, the University of Dayton, a private, Catholic institution founded in 1850 by the Marianist order which has the only American Bar Association (ABA) approved law school in the Dayton area. The University of Dayton is also Ohio's largest private university and is one of the top 10 Catholic universities in the United States. UD is also home to the University of Dayton Research Institute which ranks second in the nation for sponsored research, and the Center for Tissue Regeneration and Engineering at Dayton which focuses on human tissue regeneration.

Second, the public Wright State University, which became a state university in 1967. Wright State University established the National Center for Medical Readiness, a national training program for disaster preparedness and relief. The Boonshoft School of Medicine at Wright State University is the only medical school in the Dayton area and is a leader in biomedical research.

Dayton is also home to Sinclair Community College the largest community college at a single location in Ohio  and one of the largest community colleges in the nation. Sinclair is acclaimed as one of the country's best community colleges.Sinclair was originally founded as the YMCA college in 1887. Dayton is also home to Miami-Jacob's College, the International School of Broadcasting, and the Dayton School of Medical Massage. Other schools just outside of Dayton that shape the educational landscape are Kettering College of Medical Arts in Kettering, DeVry University in Beavercreek (Dayton), and Clark State Community College in Springfield. Just outside of Dayton proper is the public Air Force Institute of Technology, which was founded in 1919 and serves as a graduate school for the United States Air Force. The Air Force Institute of Technology is located at the nearby Wright Patterson Airforce Base.

The Dayton area was ranked the 10th best metropolitan area in the United States for higher education by Forbes.

Public safety

Dayton has experienced an improving public safety environment since 2003, with crime declining in key categories according to FBI Uniform Crime Reports and Dayton Police Department data. City officials reported in January 2008 a decline of 6.1 percent in crime for 2007 when compared to 2006. From 2003 to 2007, crime decreased by 10.7 percent. Among violent crimes (homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault), Dayton saw a decline of 17.3 percent over the five years ending December 31, 2007. Targeted crimes in Dayton declined 39 percent over the five-year period. In 2009, crime continued to fall in the city of Dayton. Crime in the categories of forcible rape, aggravated assault, property crime, motor vehicle theft, robbery, burglary, theft and arson all showed declines for 2009. Overall, crime in Dayton dropped 40 percent over the previous year.

A new police chief, Richard S. Biehl, joined the Dayton Police Department in January 2008. Biehl brought more than 25 years of law enforcement experience (with expertise in prevention and community policing) to Dayton following a career with the Cincinnati Police Department and the Community Police Partnering Center (where he served as Executive Director), also in Cincinnati.

Also notable, John Dillinger a famous bank robber during the early 1930s, was at one time captured and arrested by Dayton city police while visiting his girlfriend at a high-class boarding house in downtown Dayton.

Sister cities

Dayton has five sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International:

• Augsburg, Germany
• Holon, Israel
• Monrovia, Liberia
• Oiso, Japan
• Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina