April 2004

Planning

Copyright by American Planning Association

2004 HUD Secretary's Opportunity and Empowerment Award

Wright-Dunbar Village Preservation and Redevelopment

Dayton, Ohio

By James H. Andrews

Young Wilbur and Orville Wright and Paul Laurence Dunbar lived a few blocks apart near downtown Dayton, Ohio, in the late 19th century.

Dunbar, who became well-known as a poet, edited the city's first African American newspaper, which was printed in the Wright brothers' print shop.

The neighborhood became a thriving African American community, but later, over some four decades, it was devastated by highway construction, civil disturbances, redlining, disinvestment, and abandonment. As late as 1988, city plans called for demolition and clearance of the area.

But in 1995, the city reversed course and adopted the Wright-Dunbar Urban Renewal Plan to revitalize the housing stock with an emphasis on restoring and enhancing historic buildings. This successful effort to preserve and revitalize the neighborhood receives the 2004 HUD Secretary's Opportunity and Empowerment Award.

Given by APA in partnership with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the award recognizes a plan, program, or project that "demonstrates improved quality of life for low- and moderate-income community residents," and shows how housing, economic development programs, and private investment have been used in a comprehensive plan for community development.

Challenge to the city

In Wright-Dunbar, the city faced disinvestment over many years, yet had some of its richest history, says Becky Gaytko, AICP, special project administrator in the city's planning and community development department. "We needed to do something to keep people in their homes, yet bring in new investment," says Gaytko, who has been involved in the Wright-Dunbar project since 1996.

Two very different grassroots groups played catalytic roles in defining the Wright-Dunbar program, says Kathy Emery, the city's community affairs manager. Both insisted that the neighborhood be saved from clearance and conversion to industrial use, or later, to multifamily housing.

In 1981 a group of white men, organized as the nonprofit Aviation Trail Inc., bought the former Wright Cycle Shop and Wright & Wright Job Printers property. When the city moved to clear the neighborhood, Emery says, the group threatened to stand in front of the bulldozers, and the city backed down. The next year another group, Inventing Flight, organized to develop a national park, revitalize the neighborhood, and plan a flight centennial celebration for 2003. In 1992 Congress created Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park.

A group of mostly elderly African American women, with some backing from other Dayton residents, also played a crucial role. They insisted that the national park recognize the heritage of Paul Dunbar as well as the Wrights. When the city urged them to sell their houses and move elsewhere, 24 longtime residents said "no."

Neighborhood revival

The Wright-Dunbar reclamation includes the national park (part of it is the Dunbar State Memorial); a mixed income, close knit historic neighborhood that now contains 107 occupied homes with the city's most significantly increased property values; Oak and Ivy Park, celebrating Dayton's African-American heritage; restoration of the West Third Street business district; a new facility that provides medical care to people who are uninsured or rely on Medicaid; and construction in three adjacent neighborhoods of 190 houses for families at or below 80 percent of the median income for the area.

The city's housing rehabilitation program has helped 37 elderly homeowners in a variety of ways, including no-cost temporary housing in the neighborhood, assistance with packing and unpacking, zero percent forgivable 10-year loans, and tax abatements.

A construction partnership between the Dayton Home Builders Association and minority builders and trades people has, in the last seven years, produced 109 renovated or new houses in Wright-Dunbar. Home Builders-sponsored shows of new houses attracted 8,000 people in 1997 and 10,000 last year. In February Mayor Rhine McLin bought one of the featured houses, located on Paul Laurence Dunbar Street.

People are buying lots and building on their own. Home prices, which were $5,000 or $6,000 in 1996, Gaytko says, are going up; a few houses are selling for more than $200,000. Middle-aged and younger people, black and white, some with children, are moving in. The community is active and taking on big issues, Gaytko says.

Spending on Wright-Dunbar programs so far totals about $75 million in city, state, federal, and foundation funds, says Emery. About $6 million came through community development block grants, HOME, and other HUD programs.

For more information, contact Becky Gaytko at 937-333-3874 or rebeccagaytko@cityofdayton.org.

James Andrews is associate editor of Planning.