Many thanks to all those who attended the last round of public meetings. Your feedback was insightful and your comments on both the Dayton Riverfront Plan and the proposed park site plans are integral to the development of final plans. Currently, partners are evolving the Dayton Riverfront Plan to to address six goals they wish to achieve:
- Economic engine: Leverage the rivers to catalyze development in greater downtown and ensure long-term vitality to the region.
- Something for everyone: Provide programs and experiences, and ensure their equitable distribution across the riverfront
- Heart of Dayton: Enhance Dayton’s identity through place-making initiatives that celebrate the historic legacy, cultural heritage and vibrant future of its rivers.
- Healthy city: Build in places and programs that support health, safety and wellness for all who live, learn, work and play along the riverfront
- Many Rivers, one city: Improve access through physical connections to and across the riverfront and to the surrounding community
- Living protection: Promote the ecological health of the riverfront while continuing to protect from flooding
The next blogs will take a deeper dive into the identified goals and how the Dayton Riverfront Plan has been adapted to achieve them. Learn more about how Dayton Riverfront Plan partners plan to harness the riverfronts as an economic engine below:
The Dayton Riverfront Plan seeks to identify ways to invest in the riverfront can catalyze new development while enhancing riverfront access for all people. Strategies are:
- Create a continuous civic experience along both sides of the river from Riverside Drive Bridge to the 5th Street Bridge with a unique riverfront identity that connects parks and open spaces with downtown’s experiences and amenities.
- Energize these spaces with a diverse mix of festivals, parades events and programs.
- Invest in road diets, street realignments and streetscape improvements to link active spaces and support the Greater Downtown Dayton Plan’s strategy to activate first floor retail.
- Develop a signature pedestrian/cycling connection that connects west Dayton and downtown across the river between Sunrise MetroPark and Sunset MetroPark.
- Identify key opportunity areas along the river corridors for both public open space and private investment, supporting and catalyzing the plans that are already underway.
To stay up to date on strategies to achieve other goals identified in the Dayton Riverfront Plan, visit www.daytonriverfrontplan.org/blog.