The RTA hub is one block north of Levitt and one block south of Courthouse Square, between Third and Fourth Streets, and stretching between Main and Jefferson.
Dayton City Commissioner Chris Shaw said there is a significant threat to the future of the city if crime causes downtown businesses to pack up and leave.
“Downtown Dayton and the business community down there fund everything else we do throughout the city,” Shaw said. “It’s important that we protect that very important asset. ... And I agree, we need to protect our children.”
Wagner said crime issues near the bus hub are causing problems for many of the businesses that “make this town super cool and fun to be downtown.”
She said some of businesses that draw people downtown are getting ready to move out if things do not improve. Wagner said people have been questioning if it’s really safe to come downtown for Levitt shows and other attractions.
The Levitt is a free outdoor music venue that is entering its seventh season of performances. Tens of thousands of people attend Levitt shows every year.
“Levitt in two to three years is not going to be sustainable if we don’t have people on that lawn,” Wagner said.
Wagner was one of eight people who spoke at a recent Dayton City Commission meeting about problems near the transit center and safety challenges facing Dayton Public Schools students who transfer buses at the bus hub to get to and from school.
Wagner said DPS needs to find a way to transport their students without having to come through the downtown transit center. But she said criminal activity near the bus hub is a separate issue from school busing challenges. Wagner urged the community to come together to figure out solutions to both issues.
For years, downtown Dayton has been statistically safer than many other areas of the city, according to Dayton crime statistics. But the bus hub has become a hot spot.
Violence that has occurred near the bus hub and Levitt Pavilion include a drive-by shooting in 2023 and the fatal shooting of Dunbar High School student Alfred Hale earlier this month. Last year, the city installed “hostile landscaping” on the Jefferson Street side of the hub to prevent people from loitering.
Multiple people who spoke at the city commission meeting on April 16 said young people need safe spaces where they can hang out that are not their school or home.
Tara Campbell, executive president of Dayton United for Human Rights, said the lack of free and accessible afterschool programming for young people is a problem.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
She said some of the issues at the bus hub and downtown are occurring because young people do not have safe places to go. Omega CDC and a clergy group are launching a pilot program from May through August to offer safe, structured and engaging activities for teens.
“Let’s put funding behind the values that we hold together,” Campbell said.
Debi Chess, Dayton Metro Library’s director of external relations and development, said there needs to be a robust plan to provide resources, services and dedicated spaces for young people downtown.
She said problems with fights and disruptions involving young people led the downtown library to implement a chaperone policy and the Southeast Branch on Watervliet Avenue near Belmont High School had to temporarily shut down during afterschool hours.
Chess urged the city to work with partners to develop a transportation model that protects and meets the needs of young people and the community overall.
“Letting students off at the downtown bus hub with no alternatives or direction is a bad decision,” she said. “The Dayton Metro Library exists to be open to all, and without this type of understanding of transportation needs, we’re in jeopardy of losing a precious resource.”
Maggie Burk, a local resident, said the city would benefit from having safe community spaces, including “youth-led” spaces, where young people can gather and pursue their interests and develop new skills.
Crystal Allen, president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Dayton, said there are youth organizations that are doing incredible work in the community, but the city has been reacting to crises when it needs prevention strategies to effectively tackle youth violence.
Jamica Garrison, a Dayton resident, said she thinks the city’s mediation center could partner with Dayton Public Schools offer training to students to teach them how to deescalate conflict and avoid violence.
Dayton City Commissioner Darryl Fairchild said he would like to see a concerted effort to improve the lives and safety of young people, possibly in a way that’s similar to what the city did with police reform.
A large number of people became members of five committees that studied police policies and procedures and came up with recommendations for changes. Fairchild said youth safety and downtown safety are very important.
“I think we should have a task force that is looking at what else we can do so that our downtown business community has a safe environment,” he said. “I (also) think this is an opportunity we have to get to a place where we have a solution for our young people.”
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