Programs and curricula are being developed in direct conversation with local employers, ensuring that graduates walk into jobs with skills that are immediately relevant. For industry, it is a reliable pipeline. For students, it is a clear path from classroom to career without leaving the community. Dayton understands that keeping young people and attracting new residents takes more than jobs. It also takes a lifestyle that supports families at different stages of life.That is why investments in recreation— pickleball courts, futsal courts, enhanced sidewalks, improved walking tracks, and upgraded parks—are treated not as luxuries but as core infrastructure.The goal, as Yawn puts it, is to give people “the things they need, instead of having to go outside to other towns and move away.” DOWNTOWN AS A LIVING HUB Dayton’s downtown revitalization efforts converge around its historic courthouse, built in the late 1800s and still the architectural anchor of the city center. The surrounding courthouse square is the heart of Main Street Dayton, a nonprofit organization aligned with the State of Tennessee’s Main Street program. Its mission is to make downtown more pedestrian friendly and to attract people not only for shopping, but also for arts, entertainment, and recreation. Just a couple of blocks from the courthouse is the RC3 community center, which offers programming for every age group, from toddlers to seniors in the Silver Sneakers program. Another few blocks away, a wooded creek way features a walking track of roughly two miles.The proximity of these amenities to the courthouse square is deliberate. By clustering activity around the traditional civic core, the city is turning downtown into what Shinn calls a “living, breathing place” rather than a set of buildings that go dark after business hours. New recreation amenities, from courts to trails, 213 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 07, ISSUE 01 DAYTON, TN
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