Urban Research Initiative

The City of Dayton faces a range of opportunities and challenges shared by  21st century mid-sized cities, as well as opportunities and challenges unique to its economy, location, neighborhoods, and history. This project assists the City of Dayton and City Manager with increased research and implementation capacity to enhance competitiveness.  The Fitz Center for Leadership in Community created the Urban Research Initiative to analyze opportunities and provide resources regarding implementation for the City Manager and the City of Dayton.

The Urban Research Initiative also offers technical assistance and training to community groups and neighborhood nonprofit organizations, building  their capacity to successfully implement projects throughout the city.  The site offers a variety of data including City of Dayton plans or studies and open data resources. 

To assist community organizations and neighborhood groups in writing grants and collecting or using data, the Urban  Research Initiative offers neighborhood information and data that can be used as indicators or as elements within needs assessments. The page on Neighborhood Data contains numerous pages with information from the City of Dayton,  Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission, Census Reporter,  the Opportunity Atlas, 211 Dashboard, and many other resources. 

To help organizations learn how to improve their ability to report and use statistics, the Urban Research Initiative will offer training, e.g., a Data Academy for neighborhood organizations, nonprofits, residents, and other groups.  Training offered throughout the year will include the grant writing and fundraising, grants management and financial stewardship, volunteer management, program evaluation and other topics.