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Dayton Street Area: Infrastructure

Updated: Dec 24, 2021

Dayton Street Area: History & Description

Dayton is a neighborhood within the city of Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. It is part of the city's south ward[1] and was named after Jonathan Dayton. The area is bounded on the north by Peddie Street (Thomas Baldwin Peddie), on the east by Newark Liberty International Airport, on the south by Elizabeth and on the west by Elizabeth Avenue.[2] The main road through the neighborhood is Frelinghuysen Avenue, but it is surrounded by U.S. Route 1/9, Interstate 78 and U.S. Route 22. The neighborhood of Dayton encompasses all of Weequahic Park, the second largest Park in Newark. The park includes an 80-acre (320,000 m2) lake (the largest in Essex County), a golf course and an old racetrack now used for jogging. The park has gospel and jazz concerts at night. The park is bisected by US 22 and the larger, southern section of the park (including Weequahic Lake) is easily accessible to Dayton.[3]



*Jonathan Dayton (October 16, 1760 – October 9, 1824) was an American politician from the U.S. state of New Jersey.

He was the youngest person to sign the United States Constitution and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, serving as the fourth Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and later the U.S. Senate.


Years ago, the area of Dayton was also known for Twin City, a skating rink located on the Newark-Elizabeth border in the area of Virginia Street. St. Thomas Aquinas RC Church is located on Ludlow St.


There is one train station in Dayton, Newark Liberty International Airport, served by New Jersey Transit's Northeast Corridor Line and North Jersey Coast Line, and Amtrak's Northeast Regional and Keystone Service. The station was built in 2001 to connect NJT's commuter lines and Amtrak's Northeast Corridor services with the airport's AirTrain system. It opened four years after service was run between terminals on the AirTrain. The station is only a transfer station and not publicly accessible by any roads. [4] Proposal to extend PATH service to the airport may include a station at Dayton. [5][6]



As of 2012, the Dayton Street neighborhood is home to 3,005 residents and 1,583 households. Given the small size of the neighborhood, the sizable land holdings of Newark Housing Authority (NHA), and the density of NHA units within the high-rises, 85% of the households in the Dayton Street neighborhood live in public housing and in 2013, the neighborhood was awarded a CHOICE neighborhoods grant from HUD to revitalize the housing and neighborhood, as a whole. A high concentration of elderly housing translates into 15% of the population being 65 or older. But the neighborhood is also home to a large youth population (26%). According to 2011 American Community Survey estimates, the Dayton Street neighborhood is predominately Black (78%) and Latino (21%). 81% of households are native English speaking English with 17% Spanish primarily speaking at home.


The June 2012 closure of the Dayton Street School (due to low performance) left the neighborhood without an operating school. Sixty-seven percent (67%) of school age children from the now unoccupied Seth Boyden public housing complex are now attending at least 22 different K-8 schools and at least 17 different high schools in the City. Lack of education, training and employment opportunities contribute to the neighborhood’s unemployment rate of 15% and labor force participation rate of 44%. The high percentage (15%) of senior and disabled residents does not fully account for the difference between the city-wide unemployment rate of 10%, and 62% of the work-able population is in the labor force. The Dayton Street neighborhood has low rates of educational attainment,

elevated unemployment, and low participation in the labor force. More than one-third (37%) of adults age 25 and over do not have a high school diploma or equivalent, and only 6% have earned a Bachelor’s degree or higher.


Infrastructure

Infrastructure is the set of fundamental facilities and systems that support the sustainable functionality of households and firms. Serving a country, city, or other area, including the services and facilities necessary for its economy to function.


*The Dayton Street area is ground zero for extreme climate impacts – i.e. high vulnerable to flooding due to sea level rise by 2050. The NHA did not even know this until Clean Water Action brought it to their attention.


The Dayton Street Choice Neighborhood project was a “build from scratch” collaboration between the Newark Housing Authority, HUD and City of Newark. The existing “Dayton Street Transformation Plan” included a new ‘Green Training Facility’. It is under construction by NHA, the long-term operator of this facility. Clean Water Fund was asked by NHA to partner with them, as well as help bring Newark One Stop Career Center, Rutgers University,

and USEPA to the table with their green job training expertise and funding potential. That shared goal was to connect residents to essential resources that would generate families supporting green jobs, business opportunities for local residents, as well as prioritize municipal and private investment around green infrastructure and

neighborhood designs; starting with the Dayton Street areas and the Upper Clinton Hill Business District.


It was noted by Clean Water Fund, that establishing a neighborhood-based training facility would help to ensure residents of Newark, more particularly members of the Dayton Street Community, has the opportunity to experience a continuous and timely knowledge of and access to green jobs, career exploration, training, certification and other opportunities to succeed within the emerging green economy.


In the Dayton Street neighborhood, CWF worked to reduce greenhouse gases and other global warming agents through a comprehensive strategy that includes in Year 1: undertaking a community mapping exercise to identify diesel hotspots, conducting 1 or 2 diesel truck count and community-based air monitoring projects along Frelinghuysen Avenue, developing a “no idling” strategy” in the neighborhood, and meet with commercial trucking and other businesses, city and & USEPA to discuss diesel reduction strategies, signage, and enforcement. In Year 2, CWF worked with NHA to advance energy efficiency, conservation and renewable energy measures that possibly would integrate into the design plans thereby keeping down utility costs while maintaining comfort. CWF also

maintained vigilance on no idling and other diesel reduction measures through community watch and report techniques.


In the Dayton Street Neighborhood, CWF worked to reduce flooding and heat island effect by formalizing the partnership with NHA. Together, CWF and NHA engaged the community and other stakeholders in the design and implementation elements of HUD’s CHOICE neighborhood project, as well as sought agreement on the following elements: green training/job opportunities for public housing residents, installation of post demolition and pre-construction ‘interim’ land uses with green infrastructure elements (e.g. reduce flooding, heat island and pollution) that complement the long term plan. CWF and the community has been a consistent presence in working with NHA on both design and final implementation of redevelopment plans; and will ensure that NHA keeps multi-faceted, cost effective, and sustainable resiliency measures in the forefront when making choices about building, grounds, infrastructure, and quality of life amenities.



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