Ok, another location check: Who here is from DAYTON, OHIO??

[AndrewR]

Difference here is that I am almost certainly moving to Dayton, specifically Wright-Patterson AFB. Can anyone living there give me your impressions of it? Good, bad, ugly? If you can compare it to any of these places, it would provide from useful insight:
Nashville
Atlanta
Washington, DC (NOVA)

How's traffic? How are the cultural events? Outdoors activities (hiking, camping)? Shopping? Dining? Weather? What's downtown like?

It pretty much looks like a done deal for me from the Air Force's perspective, but I'd like to know what I'm facing. From what I've seen online, it looks like a fairly nice place, and there are certainly much worse places the military could send us. Any info is appreciated!

 

[edro]

Wright-Pat is a fine place to live, but it is kind of dreary. My sister and brother-in-law both lived there while they were in the Air Force. There is plenty to do, with the Nutter Center (concerts and sporting events) and the Fairfield Commons mall. About 5 miles down the road is Wright State University, so there are a lot of college people around there. The college kids get tehir beer from Wright Pat, because they don't pay tax on it (if they know a military friend).

It's not bad, if you're from Ohio.

 

[toekramp]

Ohio is teh suck....come back to nova where we have everything and butt loads of traffic 🙂

 

[hevnsnt]

I am not from Dayton, Ohio!

 

[edro]

Oh yeah, you got the Air Force museum too... You can go there like 5 times a week! Ok, so it is neat the first time, but after that it gets boring (like all museums).

 

[Fritzo]

I live in Toledo, but have gone to Dayton many times. It's a kind of delapitated industrial town. Kind of reminds me of a smaller Detroit. Columbus is close- that's where the action is 🙂

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: Fritzo
Columbus is close- that's where the action is 🙂

Remember that... memorize the route from Dayton to Columbus (it's terribly difficult, lol 😉). You'll want to be in Columbus whenever possible, if you like current events, stuff to go to, etc.

 

[Farvacola]

Living in toledo ohio, i can tell you, having gone through dayton many times, its a fairly boring place, not a whole lot to do. Have fun!

 

[badmouse]

Originally posted by: Fritzo
I live in Toledo, but have gone to Dayton many times. It's a kind of delapitated industrial town. Kind of reminds me of a smaller Detroit. Columbus is close- that's where the action is 🙂

Hey, since when has Columbus been a happening place?? I moved out of Ohio a long time ago, but family is still there. Nobody has ever mentioned Columbus as an action spot - guess they don't want me to get excited and move back 😉 .

 

[Antisocial Virge]

Dude. Dayton is a dump.

 

[no0b]

Living at University of Dayton, Downtown is sh!t the only real highlight is the oregon district but thats just pub after pub. The most interesting thing to do is go to the AFB museum. The suburbia around Dayton is nice especialy Vandalia and around the south side of UD. The Dayton mall which 12min south (I-75)of downtown is the only big shopping area. There are two main strips for cookie cutter restraunts(IE fridays, red lobster, outback..) one is at the mall south of dayton and the other is off of I-75 and around I-70 north of dayton (Vandalia, and near the airport). There are a few scatered mom and pop restraunts but I do not know of many, if you find some that you like tell me about them. I do not know much about around the base but just do not live in the path of the runways. The way the run ways are setup its a straight line from the base to campus so we get tons of C-7's and ocasionaly airforce one flying over head. Considering the altitude they are at when they reach UD and the sound coming from them I would never want to live much closer to the base along the line of the runways.

If you want some crazy random parties UD is the place to go for the weekends(althought the party atmosphere seems to be dying it is alot better than Wright State).

Traffic in downtown is always light (cause its deserted) however traffic around 75 north of dayton can be backed up alittle but compared to DC it is nothing.

No real cultural events that are huge but the city does try every once in awhile. Weather is mostly alittle warmer than Chicago. But during this time of year it rains every other day. Also it doesn't snow much compared to Chicago, maybe only 3 snowstorms where the snow sticks and thats only a few inches.

 

[kreb]

Originally posted by: badmouse

Originally posted by: Fritzo
I live in Toledo, but have gone to Dayton many times. It's a kind of delapitated industrial town. Kind of reminds me of a smaller Detroit. Columbus is close- that's where the action is 🙂

Hey, since when has Columbus been a happening place?? I moved out of Ohio a long time ago, but family is still there. Nobody has ever mentioned Columbus as an action spot - guess they don't want me to get excited and move back 😉 .

when compared to the other cities in OH, it really isn't that big of a feat..

One thing I'd mention is to brush up on your cornhole skills. 🙂

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: badmouse

Originally posted by: Fritzo
I live in Toledo, but have gone to Dayton many times. It's a kind of delapitated industrial town. Kind of reminds me of a smaller Detroit. Columbus is close- that's where the action is 🙂

Hey, since when has Columbus been a happening place?? I moved out of Ohio a long time ago, but family is still there. Nobody has ever mentioned Columbus as an action spot - guess they don't want me to get excited and move back 😉 .

Yeah, they vamped the place up over the last 10 years. Lots of great places to eat, things to do, it has a big concert venue. Pretty much known as a big party town now.

 

[Injury]

How's traffic? Not bad at all. In comparrison to other cities, at least. You can get from one side of the city to the other without effort.

How are the cultural events? Non existant. Really. You'll have to drive about an hour to Cincy for anything worth going to. (Oktoberfest, Taste of Cincinnati, MidPoint Music Festival). The dragon's games are sweet if you can get some tickets.

Outdoors activities (hiking, camping)? Tons of nature centers and hiking trails, camp grounds all over. Some excellent places for this.

Shopping? Dining? Weather?

What's downtown like? Downtown Dayton really isn't that interesting. You have the Oregon District for some good bar hopping... but not much more worth going to.

The weather has it's good days and bad, but it's usually fair weather. You don't get the huge snowstorms like people more north get, and you don't get the raging heat in the summer like the south gets.

Shopping isn't really a big thing in Dayton itself, but there are plenty of Malls in the area (Mall at fairfield commons is about 5-10 from the base... 20-25 in Christmas Traffic) and there is just about everything over in that area.


Really most people from WPAFB don't care for Dayton itself. The airforce base is practically next to Wright State Univeristy, so you can imagine that area has a lot more going on that Dayton itself.


All in all, it's not a bad place to live... you just gotta get creative to find entertainment sometimes.

 

[edro]

Originally posted by: kreb

Originally posted by: badmouse

Originally posted by: Fritzo
I live in Toledo, but have gone to Dayton many times. It's a kind of delapitated industrial town. Kind of reminds me of a smaller Detroit. Columbus is close- that's where the action is 🙂

Hey, since when has Columbus been a happening place?? I moved out of Ohio a long time ago, but family is still there. Nobody has ever mentioned Columbus as an action spot - guess they don't want me to get excited and move back 😉 .

when compared to the other cities in OH, it really isn't that big of a feat..
One thing I'd mention is to brush up on your cornhole skills. 🙂

When did you move out? Polaris, Easton, Nationwide Arena District... are all hot spots. TONS of stuff to do there.

 

[Train]

I'll be down in Dayton next fall for the Air Force Marathon (one of the best ones in the midwest, IMO)

I have a few good friends that live there, its a good mix of everything in Dayton, a big enough town to have everything (entertainment, shopping, sports etc), but not too massive to die waiting in traffic or something Big City folk have to deal with. Im more familiar with Toledo (1 hour north) or Columbus (~1 hour east) as far as Ohio cities go though. Cincinnati is only 30-40 minutes south, and Indianapolis is im guessing 1.5 hours west, so your kinda in the middle of a lot.

 

[AndrewR]

Hmm, doesn't sound all that bad. I've received some opinions from Air Force people that have been stationed there, and the overall impression is a good one. We prefer smaller cities after having experienced DC and Atlanta. While it's nice to have all the options of areas like that, the traffic is just unbearable, and I find myself reaching for my handgun when I get stuck after too long (only half-kidding).

Anyone know what the gun laws are like in Ohio? I have two rifles and two pistols, and I plan on adding to that collection before long. We were looking to move to Arkansas or Texas, and I was excited about the possibilities there for firearms. I know nothing about Ohio though.

I have also have loads of family in northern Ohio and Michigan. It will be nice to live close to family after being across the Pacific!

 

[Train]

Originally posted by: AndrewR
Hmm, doesn't sound all that bad. I've received some opinions from Air Force people that have been stationed there, and the overall impression is a good one. We prefer smaller cities after having experienced DC and Atlanta. While it's nice to have all the options of areas like that, the traffic is just unbearable, and I find myself reaching for my handgun when I get stuck after too long (only half-kidding).

Anyone know what the gun laws are like in Ohio? I have two rifles and two pistols, and I plan on adding to that collection before long. We were looking to move to Arkansas or Texas, and I was excited about the possibilities there for firearms. I know nothing about Ohio though.

I have also have loads of family in northern Ohio and Michigan. It will be nice to live close to family after being across the Pacific!

Ohio Just passed the concealed carry law, not sure of the details. I do know that you can own a rifle in Ohio but you cant shoot it (unless your in a desginated place to shoot rifles, like the range at Camp Perry, where they have the annual sniper competition) Shotguns are the only firearm hunting permitted (slugs ok)

 

[RKS]

Originally posted by: AndrewR

How's traffic? Not bad after rush hour. Some weird bends on I75 can be a PITA.

How are the cultural events? In Dayton, are you serious? You may have some good concerts at the Nutter center and the Dayton Dragons minor league baseball is okay but Cincy isn't too far for theatre etc.

Outdoors activities (hiking, camping)? In Dayton, are you serious? Red River Gorge or Gatlinburg in TN are a few hours away.

Shopping? Dayton Mall is okay, Columbus has a nice City Centre Mall. Many areas around Dayton have Outdoor malls with upscale shops and boutiques.

Dining? Ubiquitous sitdown restaurants are everywhere. For fine dining you probably have to venture to Cincy for The Masionette etc.

Weather? Typical midwest with a few days of severe snow (anything more than 6")

What's downtown like? Non-existant after 5PM

Any other questions LMK I live between Cincy and Dayton near Kings Island.

 

[Nick5324]

Originally posted by: Fritzo
I live in Toledo, but have gone to Dayton many times. It's a kind of delapitated industrial town. Kind of reminds me of a smaller Detroit. Columbus is close- that's where the action is 🙂

Yeah, Columbus. My biggest complaint about Columbus is driving around here. Most people either lack the ability to drive a car or choose to drive like an asshat. I guess you'd have this pretty much anywhere you'd go though.

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: Nick5324

Originally posted by: Fritzo
I live in Toledo, but have gone to Dayton many times. It's a kind of delapitated industrial town. Kind of reminds me of a smaller Detroit. Columbus is close- that's where the action is 🙂

Yeah, Columbus. My biggest complaint about Columbus is driving around here. Most people either lack the ability to drive a car or choose to drive like an asshat. I guess you'd have this pretty much anywhere you'd go though.

No, I'd say that Columbus has more than its fair share. I've lived in Columbus before, am currently in Columbus, and work in Columbus. I prefer driving elsewhere... but it's possible to drive in Columbus without wrecking 😉

 

[OJ]

I was born in Dayton (Kettering a burb of Dayton) and lived there many years, not a bad place and very afforable. I have a friend who moved back from California and he bought two houses here with the proceeds from his home sale in California to avoid capital gains problems.