case d1:greening dayton's vacant lots--book cover/perface

Geo 459/559: Advanced Urban and Regional Planning

Dr. Jacqueline Housel, Instructor

Greening Dayton’s Vacant Lots Spring

2012

May 2, 2012 To readers, This document is the culmination of work completed by students in an Advanced Urban and Regional Planning course (Geo 459/559) at Miami University in Spring of 2012. Taught for the second time in Dayton, Ohio, this course is a practicum in which students gain firsthand knowledge of opportunities and challenges in our cities through a combination of readings, presentations, and a significant hands on planning experience. Dayton with its diverse, engaged community provided an ideal setting to consider planning issues from the point of view of a planner faced with a shrinking city. This term twenty-five advanced undergraduates and graduate students had the opportunity to collaborate on small teams to work through an urban planning project using a structured approach to planning and development. More specifically, students:

Collected and mapped demographic and housing data as well as delinquent & nuisance properties for the City of Dayton using GIS

Researched neighborhoods in Dayton

Developed a walking neighborhood audit which was completed during an on-site visit

Generated possible creative reuses of a vacant lot and proposed one reuse

Documented project work in the form of a book chapter

Presented results to the Department of Planning and Community Development, City of Dayton (April 26) and to the larger Dayton community at Urban Nights (May 11).

While many of the undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in this class were Urban & Regional Planning majors, we were fortunate to have a diverse group of students majoring in American Studies, Finance, Political Science, English, Economics, Spanish and two graduate students in Environmental Science. Most students were in three member teams and each team focused on a particular neighborhood. Through these projects, we tangled with the challenges faced by urban planners and the residents of these neighborhoods. We are particularly grateful to Tony Kroeger, Planner in the Department of Planning and Community Development for the City of Dayton. Tony has been a mentor to our students and we are particularly grateful for his trips to Oxford to talk and meet with students as well as his willingness to correspond with teams by email. We were also fortunate to have Professor Mary Rogero, Liz Nahrup, Ashley Shavers advise our students during a round robin session and help us evaluate possible reuses of the vacant lots. Additionally, we are grateful to Randy Harmon, Luci Beachdell, Suzanne Mills-Wazniak, and the residents of Dayton’s neighborhoods who patiently answered questions and offered advice. Still, the work presented here is primarily our learning experience. Any omissions or inaccuracies are our responsibility alone.

With gratitude, Jacqueline A. Housel, Ph.D.

DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY

SHIDELER HALL ROOM 216

OXFORD, OHIO 45056-3656

513 529 5010

513 529-1948 FAX

Book of Contents

Class Participants

Classroom Guests and Presentations

Preface

1. Introduction: Greening Dayton

2. Southern Dayton View



5. University Row

6. Old Dayton View

7. Riverdale

8. St Anne’s Hill

9. Twin Towers

10. Twin Towers

Class Participants

Undergraduate Students

Chelsey Armstrong

Business Economics

Urban and Regional Planning

Scott Belsky

Urban and Regional Planning,

Benjamin Crownover


Paul Garchar


Benjamin George


Matthew Gibson


Brent Graham

Environmental Earth Science


GIS Certificate

Taylor Harmon


Joseph Haydon


Patrick Howard

Political Science

Katelyn Jackson

English

Kaili Liu

Economics


Actuarial Science, Minor

Kendall McQuay


David Moore


Joseph Pfeifer

Finance

Kyle Robbins

Public Administration

Urban and Regional Analysis, Minor

Roy Shabaya

Finance

Matthew Skesavage


Tyler Sperli


Robert Tyra


Lucas Wagers


Yinuo Wei


Matthew Witt

Political Science

Graduate Students

Adam Cummins Masters of Environmental Science Urban and Regional Planning Concentration Elizabeth Downs Masters of Environmental Science Urban and Regional Analysis

Geo 459/559 Instructors

Jacqueline A. Housel, Ph.D.

Visiting Assistant Professor

Department of Geography, Miami University

Ashley Tinney

Teaching Assistant

Department of Geography, Miami Univeristy

Ken Grabach

Map Librarian, Miami University

Our Planning Mentor

Tony Kroeger, Professional Planner

Dept. of Planning & Community Development

The City of Dayton

Classroom Guests

Dayton: Green and Gold Planning Strategy Tony Kroeger, Director of Dayton Department of Planning & Community Development

Demolition of Abandoned Buildings and Nuisance Properties in Dayton

Randy Harmon, Local Business Owner

Urban Agriculture and Food Security Suzanne Mills-Wazniak, OSU Extension, Montgomery County

Community Gardens

Luci Beachdell, Grow with Neighbors Program, Five Rivers Metro Parks

Alternatives for Vacant Lots Professor Mary Rogero, Department of Architecture, Miami University

Liz Nahrup, Graduate Student, Department of Architecture, Miami University Ashley Shavers, Graduate Student, Department of Architecture, Miami University

Class Presentations

April 25, 2012 from 4-5PM City Hall, Dayton, Ohio

Department of Planning and Community Development, The City of Dayton

May 11, 2012 The LiteHouse, Dayton, Ohio

Urban Nights

Preface

This book is a collection of projects completed by undergraduate and graduate students for the

Miami University Geography Department, Advanced Urban and Regional Planning course. This course

is designed to challenge students to critically analyze the demographics of Dayton, a mid-sized,

Midwestern city, with the goal of using group collaboration to generate ‘green’ reuse plans for

different neighborhoods in the city.

Chapter one of this book provides an overview of the loss of manufacturing and population in the

Rustbelt, outlines the particular challenges of Ohio cities, and lastly provides detailed information

about the city Dayton. The remaining nine chapters are the work of twenty-five students who formed

nine teams. Each chapter details the process of selecting a neighborhood, identifying a vacant lot,

proposing a ‘green’ reuse of the lot as well as reflecting on their experience with group collaboration.

The projects presented in this book were the result of several phases of brainstorming, researching,

and narrowing. Project management was key for the groups throughout the duration of the course in

order to direct the groups towards a successful end product. After identifying individual strengths,

student chose teams with the intention of having a variety of skills and interests (for a clear example

see the University Row Chapter, p. 5-2). Groups then developed project task management in the

form of timelines and communication plans. The team that focused on the St. Anne’s Hill

neighborhood developed an effective communication plan (see p. 8-3 for detail). Another team

created a SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) to assess the

strengths of the team (see 10-4). These tools were helpful in understanding how to better manage

the team project. Within each phase of the project, teams engaged in collegial discussions to

develop opinions, research and review findings, and select an appropriate option.

The teams gained knowledge of Dayton by progressing through well-defined phases. After

researching the history of Dayton, to determine how it evolved to be the city seen today, groups

gathered, mapped and analyzed census demographic and housing data using Geographic

Information System (GIS) software for several neighborhoods (see 1-7 and 1-8) . Another strong set

of informative maps can be found in Chapter 2 Southern Dayton View (see p. 2-14 to 2-20). Each

member researched a different neighborhood and then the group collaboratively narrowed their

options to one.

Teams individually designed a ‘walking audit’ and supplementary documentation in order to collect

and record physical and social observations made during an on-site visit (for examples, see 6-19, 9-

15, 10-22-23). In chapter 10, the Twin Tower Gateway Team discussed their walking audit findings

by way of a matrix, highlighting the differences between mapping the community based on the data

and actually visiting the community to embrace the social aspects of the neighborhood (see 10-22-

23). The varying route maps, photo logs, in-field sketches, and field notes for the groups are

provided as an appendix to each chapter (for a strong example see Chapter 3 appendices). Informal

interviews with local residents and officials also proved incredibly informative for the groups.

Through interviews, The St. Anne’s Hill team was able to learn valuable insights that lead to their

proposal to redevelop the lots adjacent to Gabriela Pickett's art gallery. Multiple visits to the

neighborhood were also deemed useful by many groups to gain a more in-depth understanding of

neighborhood dynamics.

After researching the neighborhood and conducting an on-site visit, each team developed green

revitalization plans for selected lots deemed vacant or delinquent according to their research.

Alternatives were generated for selected vacant properties, of which several examples are provided

in one of the chapters focusing on Southern Dayton View (see p. 3-19). Creative and appropriate

solutions such as a cinema on wheels (Ch 9), caged basketball courts and chess tables (Ch 7), and

splash parks (Ch 6), are presented and supported via drawings and financial projections within this

book.

While methods varied, this book presents interesting observations and conclusions within each

group's chapter. Two groups (Ch 2 and Ch 4) focused on the Dayton Tire Co. ex-superfund site.

Chapter 2 informs the reader of the legislative details attached to the property. These two chapters

demonstrate the degree of variance possible for alternative solutions on the same lot. In addition to

class resources and in-field research, local residents and activists from the Dayton area discussed

with the students their perspective on redevelopment for the many neighborhoods that compose the

City.

Tony Kroeger, from the City of Dayton Planning and Community Development Department, presented

the lot vacancy issue from the perspective of a city planner. With an emphasis on planning by the

“Gold and Green” strategic plan, Tony highlighted his goal of balancing environmental and economic

responsibility while revitalizing the area and attracting new residents. Serving as the planning mentor

for the groups, Tony offered his professional opinion of how to approach the project as well as

providing referrals to local experts via email.

We were fortunate to have local professionals and activists visit our class and offer varying opinions

and constructive advice. Randy Harmon, a demolition and construction professional in the Dayton

area, described his experience with building demolition and the resulting lot use. Urban gardening

activists, Suzanne Mills-Wasniak, OSU Extension, and Luci Beachdell, Five Rivers Metroparks, shared

their triumphs and challenges with developing urban gardens to demonstrate the need of community

commitment and involvement in order to achieve longevity of the ‘project’. Lucy's main effort is to

assist communities in the creation and maintenance of community gardens in order to strengthen

the camaraderie of neighborhood residents. As a city of immigrants, Susanne Mills-Wasniak

emphasized through her focus on efforts towards large-scale urban agriculture and how urban

gardens have helped educate, feed, and bring a sense of community to the many cultural groups in

the Dayton area. Community gardens were indeed deemed appropriate lot renovations for both the

St. Anne and University Row neighborhood projects.

Professor Mary Rogero and graduate students Elizabeth Nahrup and Ashley Shaver from the

Department of Architecture at Miami University provided valuable insights to the teams as they

discussed the appropriateness of reuses of vacant lots. Pulling from worldwide 'green' innovations,

and the team's creatively developed new ideas, the groups brainstormed and pinpointed an

appropriate renovation for the lot of interest. In order to present and publically display the suggested

lot renovation, each group designed a poster, which is included as an appendix to that chapter. The

posters will be exhibited at Dayton's Urban Nights as well as presented to the Dayton Planning

Department.

As a result of these projects, the students were shown the importance of shifting from planning for

development, to planning for shrinkage with an emphasis on reuse. Exemplified by the neighborhood

demographics such as a relatively low median income, several Dayton communities have had to

socially and physically embrace the challenges of vacancy and abandonment. For such reasons, the

groups aimed to develop reuse ideas for the community with the constraints of inexpensive

development costs, low maintenance, and environmentally consciousness. Further communication

between neighborhood communities and planning groups, such as this class, could generate more

appropriate solutions for the area as well as helpful insight as to the desires and needs of the

residents.

Special thanks to all the students, professors, professionals and activists who aided in the

development of the individual projects as well as the composition of this book. It was the input and

collaboration of others that helped improve the quality of the individual projects and the book as a

whole.

Beth Downs, 25 April 2012

case d1:greening dayton's vacant lots--book cover/perface

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