The Dayton Banana

Borrowing a concept used in EU regional/economic planning…the “blue banana”…and applying it to the new spatial order of suburban Dayton.

The Dayton Banana represents the arc or banana shape of new suburban population growth, retail development, and office/industrial/high-tech expansion at or beyond I-675. The Dayton Banana is the reordering of markets and economic activity in the region into a linear city, with concentrations at both ends.


The easy and central access to markets and a skilled and educated workforce, provision of large floor-plate office & industrial space, and plenty of free parking makes the Banana the optimal location for most types of enterprise.

Living near the Banana provides a variety of employment opportunities, reduced commuting time, and a convenient and wide choice in services, shopping, food and entertainment options.

Taste the bananan. I'ts unpeeled for you via this virtual tour.

Dayton: limits to "caring"/limits to "voice".

Dayton is really just the city of Dayton. Most people who live in this area do not identify with the city, but rather with the suburb they live in. For me it is Washington Township/Centerville, specifically the area in the pix above. which is really a suburban edge city, near the Dayton Mall. This and similar places near the freeways are where the real economic life of the Dayton metropolitan area is happening, and where most of the people live, work, and shop.

I enjoy studying the old city as sort of a hobby (and go down there for arts/music things), and I do post on Dayton city issues elsewhere . Yet I really am not a stakeholder in the city as I do not pay taxes there, don't own property there, nor vote there. It is merley a leisure-time entertainment place for me.

I can care about the place, or be interested in it , but only up to a point as I have no real voice or valid stake regarding city issues, which is something one needs to be aware of it.

As a topic of study and comment, I am also thinking suburbia is maybe more relevant, too, given its importance. Living here in Washington Township is an excellent urban observatory for suburban studies. There is even a journal devoted to the suburban studies concept: Oopollis