Where the College Grads Aren’t
Dayton has used internships as a glue to keep recent graduates, and the city found through a recent survey that graduates were twice as likely to stay if they had done an internship at a local business. One of them, Richard Kaiser, who graduated from Wright State University, stayed in Dayton because it was cheaper and seemed faster to advance in a career, a choice he does not regret. Friends who moved to Chicago, he said, “ended up sitting at home and drinking cheap beer and playing video games every night.”
College graduates tend to flock to cities with other young college graduates, which means San Francisco, New York, or Raleigh, N.C. where there’s a “booming technology sector and several major research universities,” so cities like Dayton in Ohio are trying to figure out how to lure more graduates. Obviously, the best way to lure a graduate is to give him or her viable job options, and also interesting things to do, because life should be more than slaving away at a job. Dayton! What are the interesting things to do in your city?
I’ve lived within an hour of Dayton my whole life. I think it’s always considered the worst out of the three (Columbus, Cinci, Dayton) but my friend who live there always seem to have fun. It’s a typical midwestern city. Minor League baseball, art museum. The young professionals hang out a The Green or The Oregon District. The Oregon has a good art/indie vibe. The Green is a mall. That pretty much sums up the city of Dayton. Not bad, definitely not great
@Leslie There is actually a place considered worse than Cincinnati? The town that tried to take down Larry Flynt? I don’t believe you.
@MuffyStJohn Oh yes. Dayton is smaller and hence has even less of everything than Cinci. Cinci felt like a thriving metropolis to me when I was young! I grew up in a small rural town 45 minutes from Dayton though, so Dayton was also a thriving metropolis to me – Cinci was just way moreso.
My mom grew up in Eaton, a small town (~8,000 people) about halfway between Dayton and Richmond, Indiana. Apparently a local joke was “I’d rather date a girl from Eaton than eat a girl from Dayton.”
Sorry, I know that’s not relevant, but I love that joke and have few opportunites to share it.
I live in Dayton, partly because it is cheap but also to be near my (awesome) family. People tend to complain about or look down on Dayton for whatever reason, but I feel like most of them either don’t make an effort to find things to do, or they’re just saying that because that seems to be the general consensus about Dayton.
However! I never run out of things to do here, whether I want to volunteer or go out to eat or find some live music. Granted, there’s more to do in bigger cities (duh) but there are people working really hard to make Dayton a fun place to live.
Like the above poster said, there’s The Greene (although…it’s a mall, I don’t know a lot of people who get excited about going there) and The Oregon District. There’s the Victoria Theatre Association (bringing Broadway and other shows to Dayton), Dayton Opera, Dayton Ballet, The Human Race Theatre, Dayton Philharmonic, Dayton Dragons, and Yellow Springs (home of Dave Chappelle) is nearby. Columbus and Cincinnati are also only about an hour away.
Plus! Martin Sheen sometimes comes to visit (he’s from Dayton), meaning there’s always the possibility of witnessing a President Bartlett speech firsthand.
@Jennie Baxla@facebook I’m from Greenville (smallish town 45 mins or so from Dayton), and from age 14 – 18 I thought Yellow Springs was the coolest thing that ever happened to the planet. I saw my first woman who didn’t shave her armpits there! My mind shattered and came out my years. It was great. I had no idea Dave Chappelle was from there.
@Killerpants Yeah, him and I think John Lithgow? But Dave Chappelle still lives there. I think he moved back a couple of years ago.
Dayton: birthplace of The Breeders, Brainiac (Enon), and Guided by Voices.
Funk more your thing? Bootsy’s Rubber Band, The Ohio Players, Lakeside, Slave, Heatwave, Sun, Dazz Band, and Zapp.
And Larry Flynt is just disgusting. I may not agree with Cincinnati’s conservative politics (which is mainly in the outlying areas! the city itself votes democratic!!), and will always support his freedom of speech, but seriously, fuck Larry Flynt.
You cannot hate on Cincinnati without hating on Bootsy Collins, and it is impossible to hate on Bootsy Collins. Funk University!!
It’s on the one, bobble!
“Friends who moved to Chicago, he said, ‘ended up sitting at home and drinking cheap beer and playing video games every night.’”
Sounds like your friends won, buddy.
Dayton is great, anywhere you live you must create your own fun. It’s easy to make rent and really not work yourself to death. People complaining about having nothing to do would and concerned with living someplace cool probably say the same thing living in NYC, Boston, San Diego, etc…. Not perfect, but what is?
Guided by Voices, who are “The greatest rock band of the modern era” according to current White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, were formed by Robert Pollard in the early 80′s in Dayton and continue to release music to this day. Pollard releases about 6 albums a year under different monikers, bands and solo projects. GBV is the best thing to come out of Dayton since the Wright Brothers.