Dayton’s Third & Main Problem,  The Problem that everyone here talks about and blames downtown’s woes on.  What is it?

 

 

Simply stated it’s “too many of them thar coloreds watin’ fer th’ bus”.  And recently it’s too many black teens transferring from school to home getting rowdy.  This intimidates whites, who equate black faces with crime.  Or, another way, its whites projecting their own racist & classist fears on black folks waiting for the bus.

 

 

The reality is that, yes, there are problems with black teens down here getting rowdy, which the RTA is going to solve with their new bus loading area.  The mid-block bus hub will be private property, permitting RTA to evict and bar troublemakers, thus controlling the situation.  It also is an unstated accommodation of racist stereotypes by “cleaning up Third & Main”, by moving all bus riders off the street and into the RTA hub and concourse…meaning no crowds of blacks waiting to get on the bus, reducing the white fear factor.

 

 

But note the map label showing a business district south of the bus hub.  This is one of the side benefits of having a lot of people coming through this one block downtown; a little retail concentration selling, perhaps, to bus riders.  This is the unseen opportunity of Third & Main, not the problem.  Though I’m sure this kind of retail is anathama to yuppie snob appeal and hipster cool….”A dollar store…the horror!” …..well, tough shit,  poorer folk need to buy stuff too.

 

Starting our brief tour, Grace Beauty Supply on the 4th & Main corner, moved from across the street.

 

 

 

This says “Hair”, but its more than a wig shop, being more of a variety store.

 

 

TNT Fashions, with a LA-style sidewalk sale thing going on, adding some life to the street.

 

 

Honey-Be girls and young womens cloths.

 

 

And Sunys. Which is also sort of a variety store, with the latest Obama-wear in the window.  Ive bought stuff here before (socks and a finger nail file)

 

 

 

This Chinese buffet-style place is one of the few downtown open on Saturday and later during weekdays.  Nice big window to look out while you’re eating

 

 

Inside the RTA concourse, to the right on the far wall are three little sundry shops (Take a Break and two others), to the left another little shop (Get n Go), and two fast food places on the left wall (one a gyros place, the other the American Way, one being one of the oldest fast food places in the city, originally starting in the Arcade as Walkers Fruit Drinks)

 

 

Take a Break does a good lottery business with bus riders waiting for the bus on Third, so this convenient window.

 

 

Putting it all together, this is the last halfway consistent retail block left on Main Street (and this shows the location of “non traditional banking”, AKA Refund Anticipation Loan (RAL) offices, which is its own kind of consumer service. 

 

 

…so instead of a problem maybe the RTA action here, concentrating a lot of people on one block, is an opportunity to build on a niche market for retail, people coming down by bus who aren’t afraid of downtown.  If most of them happen to be black, so what?  At least these folks are using the city, not running from it.

 

 

 

I'm glad that transit center is coming along fast.

I understand your point, but from a person who knows better than the, oh-no-black-people!!!!11 crowd, a large problem is black teens (males specifically) adopting thug culture, which of course can end in rowdiness at best and a shooting at worst. The problem here is that the city should be stepping in where a fight or whatever may break out. In other words, maintaining a degree of social order that makes Downtown more palatable.

Why don't they just blast classical music and Jazz music like they do in College Hill and Downtown, Cincinnati at the bus stops? You never see thugs hanging around those spots anymore.

^ I find it strange that the music actually keeps people away.

^They could just blare rap music 24/7. I know I would come by.

 

Sort the weak from the strong!

They had studies on whether music really kept kids away and it apparently didn't work. I know LA did this a while back at bus stops and it did not help. However they do have high pitch devices which some claim keep the kids away since younger people generally hear higher pitched sounds but not sure if any studies have been done on it.

other than aiming cannons at the citizenery  :laugh:  i don't see any problem. or at least that is all typical transit related retail stuff. hopefully with more to come.

 

btw the best way to deal with rowdy teens is to strongly encourage intact families at every turn. for example, getting rid of the marriage tax penalty. the government should be encouraging marriage instead of basically fining you for it.

^

Hah!  Glad to see someone picked up on that! (the cannon, that is)

 

The problem here is that the city should be stepping in where a fight or whatever may break out. In other words, maintaining a degree of social order that makes Downtown more palatable.

 

This is being done.  RTA contracts with the Dayton Police to have officers stationed on the corner to provide security and quick response, and this has prevented at least two incidents from getting out of hand.  When the hub opens internal security will be handled by RTA (some wits have suggested RTA contract with Blackwater for this) and the contract with DPD will be terminated.

 

The music thing is already being done there (more on the 3rd Street side, where the lotto window is), but this doesnt solve the problem because teens have to take the bus.  The Dayton Public Schools (DPS) does not provide transporation for their high schoolers because they cant afford a full fleet of yellow & black school busses, so these kids transfer through here to get to and from school, whether they want to or not.

 

I speculate that one reason there are "issues" here is that DPS has such lax discipline, refusing to discipline (or expel) bad actors.  DPS has the lowest discpline rates of all Ohio urban public schools (the big 7 plus Canton).  So DPS is socializing the fallout of its policys (no school busses and an undisciplined student body). 

 

@@@

 

Beyond these issues I still think this is a real possibility for niche retail.  In a way this is indirect proof of that "Social Compact" drill down stuff, which says there is hidden opportunities in what appear to be poor urban markets. Social Compact seems to be more neighborhood based, but I think you could look at neighborhoods in aggregate, where RTA gets most of its riders from, as the real market here, not downtown proper.