On June 2, 2021 the Dayton City Commission adopted resolution 988-21-A that outlined the City’s intent to invest proceeds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) into six investment areas.
To gather community input on these investments, the City administered an online survey that ran from June 28 to July 9, 2021. City leadership also conducted seven community listening sessions where the same survey was administered. In total, approximately 1,700 people completed the survey.
Demolition received the most responses indicating it was a high or moderate priority by 1,430 or 83% of responses, followed by Addressing Housing at 76%, and Funding to Address Crime at 71%.
Only 4.3% of responses stated that Support of Small Businesses was not a priority, while nearly 71% rated Support of Small Businesses as a high or moderate priority.
Supporting Black and Brown Businesses was a high or moderate priority for 65% of respondents.
69% of responses listed Playgrounds, Parks, and Greenspace as a high or moderate priority while 63% of responses indicated the same for Sidewalks Improvements.
Investments in City Facilities and Assistance to Vulnerable Economic Sectors were rated a high or moderate priority by a majority of responses with just 3.9% and 6.1%, respectively indicating these categories were not a priority.
The survey also included a comment section and respondents submitted 1,197 comments.
A word count analysis was conducted on the comments; the top six themes that emerged are depicted in the chart to the left with their relative share.