| Dayton-Lane is located just east of Downtown Hamilton between 5th St and Erie Blvd. The district includes an officially designated Historic District hosting mansions of some of Hamilton’s most prominent industrialists at the turn of the last century. Architectural styles include Queen Anne, Italianate, Second Empire, and Georgian Revival. The neighborhood also mixes in plenty of middle class homes and worker housing, a good example of how many turn of the century communities were built as truly mixed income districts out of the necessity of proximity before the creation of the automobile. From an urban form perspective, Dayton Lane has decent density and convenient access to Downtown Hamilton. There is still a fair amount of blight here on the neighborhood edges and the district’s two commercial districts (i.e. Erie and High Street) are generally auto centric. Urbanizing these commercial districts with quality urban infill and permitting mixed-use development within the core of the neighborhood would go a long way towards improving Dayton Lane’s urbanity. |
URBAN STRENGTHS:
| * Highly convenient to Dwtn, only a 5-15 minute walk. Good generational and racial diversity. * Some of the best architecture in Hamilton and certain the best representation of late 19th century mansions. * Crazy diversity in housing prices ranking from 25K for an old worker house to 300K for a large Victorian mansion. * The neighborhood hosts a cafe, drug store and lots of chain restaurants along Main Street. Most of the district is no more than a 15 minute walk to all the Downtown amenities. |
URBAN WEAKNESSES:
| * Bike infrastructure is non-existent. * About 1/4 of the neighborhood is living in poverty. Interesting contrasts with wealthier households that own that large historic mansions. * Neighborhood is a mix of well mentioned and gritty/blighted pockets. Because of this safety is still somewhat of a concern here. * Rental product is a limited but very affordable. * Only a couple pocket parks within Dayton Lane but the Smith Field sports complex and Greenwood Cemetery are walkable. * The two commercial districts on the edges of Dayton Lane, High & Erie are pretty auto centric. High Street at least has usable sidewalks and some older buildings left. This does provide a fair amount of retail, albeit generally chains. * A public elementary and middle school lie about 1/2-1 mile east of the neighborhood. |
Evaluating our Urban Communities [with a focus on America] 