It's Alive, It's Alive! I'm choosing to embrace my hometown....

“It’s Alive! It’s Alive! It’s Alive!”
This is probably one of the most classic lines ever from a horror movie. And yet, I found myself repeating these same lines over and over this past Sunday while walking the streets of the Oregon District.
For years, everyone from Forbes Magazine to our own media touted that Dayton, Ohio was a dying city. With the loss of the GM and Delphi plants, many large corporations and more, it was almost like people were giving up hope – that there was no reason to even try. Ask almost anyone how they felt about Dayton and the entire Miami Valley, and the general consensus was, “I can’t wait to get the heck outta here.”
Slowly but surely, we are pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps. Slowly but surely, we are – once again – rebuilding our great city. In the aftermath of the flood of 1913, all the residents, near and far, rallied around each other, and helped put together the town, piece by piece, brick by brick.
This time around the re-building may not be as literal as it was after the flood, but the results of the damage were almost as devastating. Apathy seemed to be the common denominator. People took a “why bother” stance.
But something great was happening in the background. Positive energy and forward thinking and visions were brewing underneath the complacency and negativity. There were enough people around that loved Dayton, and that felt strongly enough about the culture, the people and the future, that good things started happening.
As a town that has one of the best arts, music, nightlife and park systems around, people starting re-discovering why they loved this area in the first place.
The “Dayton is Ok – if you’ve never been anywhere else” stickers were being torn down. The wonderful positive attitude of the few started spreading to the many. Our town started a re-birth. And most everyone was drawn to the potential and that we could have an “It’s Great in Dayton” attitude once more.
This past Sunday, at the First Four Festival, I couldn’t stop smiling. I couldn’t stop looking around at all the people that had come to celebrate not just basketball, but something bigger than that. Something you just can’t name. We were a town again. We were a city to be proud of. Our businesses and our politicians and Wright Pat Air Force Base came together with the Downtown Dayton Partnership and the Dayton Development Coalition to put on a party that celebrated so many things: community, college basketball, families, friends, survival and re-birth. And what a party it was.
Dayton, Ohio isn’t just the Birthplace of Aviation and the home of so many visionaries, inventors and more. More than that, Dayton is a just wonderful place to call home.