tgasper

I realize I'm coming in late to this discussion - but I've enjoyed all the insight and depth of thought as I got caught up with this thread. I've spoken with some of the people involved in this project over the years here in Dayton and their perspective is that for the region to compete nationally or even globally, we need to do three things: 1) strengthen the core, 2) develop Austin Rd into THE destination interchange along 75 between Dayton & Cinci, and 3) continue to implement BRAC 2005 (the consolidation of jobs to WPAFB from Brooks, Rome, Hanscomb & Mesa). My issue is that I don't see anything exciting about this boondoggle. So far it sounds like the same as any other interchange - hotels, offices, restaurants, gas stations - oh, and we promise we won't pull anything away from the Dayton Mall. Yeah, right. From my perspective, the only one who will win is RG Properties - and the politicians the family has made contributions to in exchange for support on this disaster waiting to happen. To me, if this is going to be THE destination then we need to do something BIG and BOLD and WORLD CLASS, especially tied to Green and Alternative Energy. However, I don't think we have leadership at any level who can grasp that concept, let alone execute it. Montgomery County officials feel this is their last chance to gain some much needed additional tax revenue. They are essentially trying to do to Butler/Warren Counties what Greene County did to Montgomery with The Greene. Well, guess what, these days we all need more money. So does that mean we turn our backs to hookers & common thieves & drug dealers - they need the money too? I'm sorry, this just feels like Montgomery County is going for a short term, knee jerk solution that ultimately is the same as selling their soul. No one has been able to tell me where these 21-28,000 jobs are going to magically appear from. And when you consider that TeraData and Lexis Nexis aren't likely to be in the area 3-5 years from now, I really don't understand why we're doing something on this scale to accommodate them. Especially because the next company recruited to the area will look at their empty buildings, decide the footprint doesn't work, and will want something pretty & new and designed specifically for them. And the cycle repeats. If we keep designing for cars & traffic, we will continue to get cars & traffic. I'd much rather see this $48m go toward light rail or a bullet train between Cincy & Dayton (as well as to all the major cities in the state) to eliminate all the car congestion. It's time we look at moving PEOPLE around, not CARS.