A City's Rebirth

[talli]

Hi Everyone,

I don't know much about Dayton or the specific challenges it faces, so I thought twice before coming here to post this. But then I figured, who knows?  There may be something in this presentation that sparks an idea.

Anyway, this is a presentation I came across on a friends facebook page, titled: The Rebirth of Colorado City, 20 years 1975-1995, from 'slum and blight' to Historical Gem of El Paso County.   Link: http://history.oldcolo.com/html/lecture-1-6-09/img0.html

At the very least, its always good to read  about people working together and achieving goals.

[Will Brooks]

Thanks ! I'll check it out.

[metromark]

Thanks, Talli, and welcome to the forum! 

I lived in Colorado Springs in the mid-80s and remember what was going on in Colorado City during those days. It was a cool section of town with lots of night life and great restaurants. I haven't been back there for years; but if you go to C-Springs, Colorado City is definitely a destination.

[FTLOD]

This is nice stuff, thanks for sharing.

[talli]

Thanks. Twenty years of ideas, efforts, and results in one presentation; I thought it was kind of cool.

In related news (in terms of changing perceptions), my husband was in long talks recently with his potential employer. He's working on a project for them and they were visiting. I told him NOT to ask about Downtown, I'll admit I was worried they'd poison him against it  .
But, of course, he asked. And we were pleasantly surprised. Though they did speak HORRORS about the West, they had really good things to say about the core, the South, South East and East (they didn't mention the North). These people have lived in suburbs south of Dayton for over twenty years, but they're aware of efforts to bring back the urban center and their perception was that the areas above were safe, and going through a renaissance of sorts. Nooone discouraged him from moving downtown at all.

[Bill Pote]

In related news (in terms of changing perceptions), my husband was in long talks recently with his potential employer. He's working on a project for them and they were visiting. I told him NOT to ask about Downtown, I'll admit I was worried they'd poison him against it  .
But, of course, he asked. And we were pleasantly surprised. Though they did speak HORRORS about the West, they had really good things to say about the core, the South, South East and East (they didn't mention the North). These people have lived in suburbs south of Dayton for over twenty years, but they're aware of efforts to bring back the urban center and their perception was that the areas above were safe, and going through a renaissance of sorts. Nooone discouraged him from moving downtown at all.

That is refreshing to hear!  Yeah, not ALL suburbanites are anti-downtown.  Heck, many of the active people on this forum are suburbanites that are big downtown supporters.  I would even venture to say that MOST suburbanites want a thriving downtown but many still won't have anything to do with downtown until it is thriving  - classic chicken and egg dilemma. 

As for the west side - yeah there are definitely areas you want to avoid but let's face it - ALL urban cities have a "side" that is dangerous.  Wanna talk scary - I'd put Chicago's west side up against Dayton's west side any day of the week!