Oregon District New Plan - Too little too late?

On July 24th 2008 the Director of planning and development "approved a new strategic plan...designed to better integrate the popular neighborhood with greater downtown and compete with other entertainment destinations"

This, of course, is in reference to the Oregon District. The first thing that will happen is the parking lot next to Gem City Records will be completely redone. If any of you have eaten at Thai9 for lunch recently you don't need me to point out that this is sorely needed.

In the Dayton Daily News article it was stated:

"The five-year plan identifies goals, weakness and opportunities for the Oregon District. Among the goals:

• Create a sophisticated mix of uses to form an "authentic live-work-play" district.

• Connect the district with the region by improving access and image.

• Maintain a vibrant and comfortable urban ambiance."

Some of the weaknesses mentioned were:

• Lack of retail and service uses
  
• Parking shortages (see my article below about The Greene and their parking nightmare)
  
• Parking safety issues
  
• A worn appearance
  
• Saturation of adult bookstores and adult-oriented uses.

I agree with both the positives and negatives.

I view the Oregon District as a more "blue collar" place. Many bikers, lots of tattoos, lots of piercings and the occasional young male involved in a "domestic disturbance". Most of the bars I would frequent have their own uniformed security guard, not a bouncer, at the front door.

Unfortunately it is kind of a culture clash currently. For instance: There was a huge backlash on the smoking ban in Ohio from the Oregon District bar owners. Their claim was that they would lose business due to the number of patrons who smoked. This was basically an isolated opinion that clearly did not represent the rest of the community's opinion. As it turns out the smoking ban has helped. A friend of mine is related to the owner of Oregon Express and their business is doing better than ever.

If they get rid of the safety concerns, improve parking and lighting, and encourage a few new cool bars and restaurants, the Oregon District has a very real chance of competing against The Greene. I am excited to see what they will come up with. Until then I am planning on voting with my dollars and going to places that are safe, clean and fun.

The Greene - No Parking!

It occurred to me some time between when I was driving around in circles trying to park at The Greene and in the middle of my 3 mile run at Urban Active that The Greene has a serious problem. No Parking is available. It is borderline criminal!

The Greene is fantastically popular and it definitely has a share of my wallet. I visit The Bars and Restaurants often and belong to Urban Active. I noticed that it does get insanely busy on the weekends, which is to be expected at a mall, but recently that traffic has bled into the weekday. I can barely find a parking spot to go work out for 45 minutes on a Tuesday night at 8:00PM.

This problem was a long time coming. I first recognized it may be a problem when I compared Easton to The Greene. Easton has a huge multi level parking garage in addition to the surrounding ground parking. Even at Easton it is barely enough. The Greene has fewer stores, and drastically less parking. It only compounds the problem that they are attempting to add a third level onto the parking that is in between Bar Louie and Urban Active and have temporarily closed half of the parking garage.

It is at Urban Active on the second floor where I find my self running on a treadmill watching people endlessly circle half of the parking that is left. I almost start to laugh when I realize that just 15 minutes ago that was me, pulling my hair out, trying to simply get a work out in.

I think the parking will get worse before it gets better, but what a negative perception problem to have. It reminds me of a Yogi Berra quote: “Nobody goes there anymore…it’s too crowded.”

Good grief, hurry up and fix the parking problem!

Adobe Gilas in Dayton

I am not sure if any of you Daytonians have been aching for a Yuppie bar like I have, but I believe we now have our first. Adobe Gilas recently has opened at The Greene. I was out with some people from Reynolds & Reynolds at the Funny Bone Comedy Club, also at the Greene, to meet some of the other sales reps that work on the east coast. We left the comedy club and heard this music coming from a non-descript second story bar. There were a few people standing outside and we decided to ask what was going on.

As it turns out it was the opening night for Adobe Gilas. You needed a special pass to get in, but because it was so late they let our group of 10+ in without any fuss. Also, they did not have their liquor license yet so all of the alcohol was FREE. What a screwed up law: If you have a liquor license you have to charge for alcohol, but if you dont have one currently you can only give it out for free.

Believe me when I tell you that we all took advantage of this new found alcohol induced freedom. It was a fabulous time. The music was a little too loud, the waitresses were georgous, the yuppies were out in full effect. I've found my bar. I have since been there probably half a dozen times with friends and co-workers. Adobe Gilas is exactly what Dayton needed.