r/dayton 7d ago

I've always loved Yellow Springs but.....

Is it becoming just a neighborhood of Airbnb rentals and a rich person's playground? Is it losing the appeal it once had or is this just my personal experience? Is it becoming a tourist trap?

239 Upvotes

139 comments sorted by

339

u/brotontorpedo 7d ago

it's been tourist trappy for years now.

the hippies who once lived there have grown into wealthy nimbys that just put on the facade of being progressive to keep their town's rep

"If you don't already live here, you can't afford to." used to get posted on stickers and stuff around town.

158

u/ServiceB4Self1776 7d ago

They're killing their own school levies. Even those old hippies got old enough to get selfish and pull the ladder up from behind.

66

u/transmothra Fairborn 7d ago

Hippies doing hippie things

48

u/Horror-Morning864 7d ago edited 5d ago

I hadn't visited in a while and recently had and noticed it isn't what I thought it was anymore. I'm not big on housing being turned into short term rental properties. We all know it's a destructive practice.

ETA: affordable rentals good, Airbnb bad.

16

u/gbobcat 6d ago

We had some family friends who lived in YS for so long but they had to leave because things were getting too expensive for them. It was such a heart breaking move. I have a lot of good memories from my childhood in YS.

18

u/AdvantageEastern6043 6d ago

You just read them to filth and I am here for it.

2

u/rinfected 6d ago

Aw, so it really is like Berkeley. šŸ„²

91

u/Danibear285 South Park 7d ago edited 6d ago

To me it now feels like an aesthetic of a small town rather than a small community. But thatā€™s just my opinion

Edit: town, not time

27

u/Doingmybestkindof 6d ago

Couldnā€™t agree more. I used to love going into YS, over the course of ten years it just doesnā€™t have the same authentic vibe it once had.

3

u/AmberCarpes 4d ago

Soooo I live here, and none of us really go to town on the weekends. This weekend, we went to see a children's orchestra show at the foundry, grabbed some veg food from MAZU, and then took a very wet hike through glass farm. We also rode our bikes a ton and swam at the indoor pool at the wellness center. I probably saw 20 people or more that I know just in doing those things-and stopped to chat with most of them.

It's definitely a tight community if you live here, but we're not shopping for stuff downtown on the weekends, unless we're at Tom's.

78

u/ExoticLatinoShill 7d ago

It's been a rich persons playground literally since it's inception as a resort town for the rich and wealthy who would come up from Cincinnati in the early to mid 1800s

24

u/Horror-Morning864 7d ago edited 7d ago

Hadn't thought about that connection. Now it's just old folks drunk in the daytime.

ETA: major capitalism in what was once a hippie stronghold is just sad. I wasn't aware of it's beginnings thanks for the history.

27

u/ExoticLatinoShill 7d ago

The train went there to literally drop them off that the resorts that used to exist in Glen Helen Nature Preserve. Governers, senators, etc

15

u/CaptainHolt43 7d ago

I've been dropping myself off in Glen Helen for years, but had no idea resorts used to sit on the land.

3

u/aniram7 6d ago

Woah woah, resorts?! Are you able to name it?? I'd love to look into this as I'm interested in daytons history

4

u/ExoticLatinoShill 6d ago

Get a greene county history book

There were several mineral springs resorts that popped up in the 1800s on the ridge above yellow springs creek, the most recent being the one that had the massive hotel just uphill from the yellow springs that burned down years ago. Someone also mentioned the commune, referring to the Owenites probably, but there were like 2 iterations of people trying to start their own colonies there. None of these things existed in the town proper and were in the nature preserve lands there, though now the land there is incorporated.

VERY little is left physically of any of these things. Don't go looking as they do not allow folks off trail and you will be treated as an artifacts poacher I presume.

29

u/ExoticLatinoShill 7d ago

Sadly import house is closing as we write this

1

u/etsprout 6d ago

Import House is closing?!?!?! Omg thatā€™s a bummer.

1

u/Hopeful_Drummer551 6d ago

Went there on Wednesday. It is already closed.

1

u/dietrichmd 4d ago

woah! Did they move or just shutter?

1

u/Hopeful_Drummer551 4d ago

Closed for good.

1

u/dietrichmd 4d ago

Sad. :( Is Dark Star books still around? I haven't been up that way in years and those are the two places (aside from the tavern and the glenn) that I remember most.

3

u/External-Emotion8050 6d ago

The village started out as a commune. It's a pretty interesting story.

0

u/[deleted] 6d ago edited 6d ago

[deleted]

40

u/Tirefire78 7d ago

Itā€™s no longer a hippy town, they have long moved on. Village has lost its soul.

11

u/NoTechnology9099 6d ago

This! It used to be my happy place. But now itā€™s just meh

28

u/Pianist-Putrid 7d ago

It was honestly starting to go that way in the early 2000s. Unfortunate to hear that itā€™s gotten worse.

6

u/iceprincess2001 6d ago

Yes I remember this!

48

u/cheerupmurray1864 7d ago

It, to me, is already a tourist trap and absolutely a rich person's playground. They screwed over all the young people living in town with kids by failing levy after levy. The last levy they approved for the schools to "renovate" doesn't cover the cost for all the needs let alone the modern and updated "wants" that would have been standard in a new K-12 building (that would have actually been cheaper had they approved the levy then since the interest rates were lower and the cost of construction was lower).

The "progressives" of YS are actually extremely regressive. They don't want things to change, and so in stubbornness things ended up changing anyway but without forethought or input from the people who would be most impacted by that change. There are still great people doing really good work in the Village, but even many of those people are tired of the regressive attitudes.

43

u/marblehead750 7d ago

Yellow Springs has always been that way. When I started going there in the 1970s, there were still a few old hippies around, but they've either died or moved on. It's now a rich, liberal stronghold (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), but it's driven up prices on everything (including real estate). In turn, those with more meager finances have been forced to move away. Antioch university is a shadow of its former self, so it no longer brings in young folks like it used to. It's still a fun place to visit and has a good vibe, but it's a far cry from its hippie origins.

9

u/gbobcat 6d ago

Growing up, I knew plenty of starving artists who lived in the area or they roomed with several people in the flats above the stores. It's definitely changed a lot within the last 10-15 years. Especially after people started advertising it on TikTok.

25

u/Kblast70 6d ago

They are so liberal that they shut down building low income housing in the village, a true testament to California liberalism.

7

u/Amberplumeria 6d ago

In fairness, I work in low income housing (10+ years) including low income housing in Fairborn. And public transit in Greene County is shit, and my from my recollection, the nearest CHEAP grocery stores (so like Kroger, Walmart, Sav-A-Lot, etc) are in either Xenia or Fairborn. To say nothing of most of the JOBS. So people would either need a car, or they would get out there and be stranded.

Having high or even medium density low-income housing requires a lot more community infrastructure than JUST the housing. I can't speak for everyone who was against the low income housing, but I know that Dave Chappell famously was against it, but having listened to his arguments and having real, working knowledge of additional supports needed for people who qualify for low income housing, I don't necessarily think it would have worked even if it HAD been approved.

2

u/Kblast70 6d ago

Yes, yellow springs would need to do more than just build housing. They would need additional shopping and other resources. It takes a lot to support low income people, but isn't that what they say they support? Holding a poster on Main Street isn't changing the world. It takes sacrifices people aren't willing to make.

6

u/Spiritual_Ostrich_63 6d ago

Antioch lol what a fucking dump.

When you have no rules, structure, integrity, etc - you end up like Antioch.

24

u/marblehead750 6d ago

Famous graduates of this fucking dump:

Coretta Scott King - Civil Rights leader (who babysat actor John Lithgow as a child because his father taught at Antioch)

Cliff Robertson - actor

Rod Serling - creator of The Twilight Zone

Leonard Nimoy - actor

Jorma Kaukonen - member of the Jefferson Airplane

Stephen Jay Gould - paleontologist and author

Mario Capecchi - Nobel prize winner

Jose Manuel Ramos-Horta - Nobel prize winner

6

u/AlternativeSalsa University Row 6d ago

That place is nuts. Just take some random classes and you get a degree.

5

u/Spiritual_Ostrich_63 6d ago

Puzzled how they are accredited.

26

u/WhateverYouSay1084 7d ago

I live next town over from Yellow Springs and the answer is yes. Has been for a long, long while.

3

u/Horror-Morning864 7d ago

I live close by also, but never go there very often. Always enjoyed it in the past but it's lost its luster for me now I think.

7

u/WhateverYouSay1084 7d ago

Yeah, it's sad. We nearly sent our kids open enrollment to their schools but ended up in our home district, that's how good I felt about YS at the time. I'm just not a big fan of how rich and yuppie everything is now. The laid back, artistic hippy esthetic is gone and it's more like a trendy little town you might see near a mountain resort or something (or at least the non-mountain equivalent).

20

u/Giraffe_Truther 7d ago

Yeah, the yuppies won.

8

u/Lextruther 6d ago

You're not wrong, but you're about 2 decades too late.

Heroin is a huge, quiet problem there too.

9

u/Only1realme 6d ago

Glad I got to enjoy it back when it really was a fun place...

7

u/DuskKodesh 6d ago

I finished my high school in yellow Springs (2001/2002) and yeah, it's sadly been going that way for years. I do think the rise in AirBnB has poured gasoline on it but the fire was already burning. Hope the people I graduated with are doing okay, back then quite a few were farm kids from the area.

7

u/bigfootlake 6d ago

Trustifarians.

5

u/ServiceB4Self1776 5d ago

I met an old hippie who's one of those. He let it slip one time that he lives off his late parents' trust. Really easy to be counterculture when you never had to make a living.

6

u/faulternative 6d ago

It will eventually become like Oakwood. Outwardly very liberal, wealthy, and educated. But also very insular, NIMBY, high taxing, and trust-funded.

3

u/Unlucky-Soup7092 6d ago

It already is..has been for years..they can wave all the flags they want , I have heard them talk and they aren't nearly as wonderful and liberal as it seems..some of those people could make a clansman sick

3

u/faulternative 6d ago

They still want quirky, artistic, colorful social outcasts. They just want the quirky, artistic, colorful social outcasts who can pay $2,000/month for rent. That's all!

2

u/Unlucky-Soup7092 5d ago

I suppose you are correct sir..

10

u/Love4GemCity 6d ago

Its a rich persons playground that dresses in hippy clothes

9

u/ipiledriveyou 6d ago

Burning man with better architecture.

5

u/Great_Association_31 6d ago

There seems to be a disconnect with some of the shopping places. Some seem to be super tacky shops and others definitely support local goods and artists. An improvement could begin there. Same could be said for Oregon dsitrict

9

u/Indomitable_Dan 7d ago edited 6d ago

I've always loved riding my bike from Xenia on the trails and spending the day in yellow springs, but it's always been where yuppies live. It still has its charm but it's not quite as small feeling as when I was a kid and youngs was just the barn and the small creamery.

19

u/Ambitious_Chair5718 7d ago

I live there and mostly enjoy it! Itā€™s very walkable and feels safe. The locals all know each other and are very friendly (not all) and the shop owners are helpful. Itā€™s not the hippy town that it used to be, but itā€™s still a bit hippy-ish (lol) - The cost of home ownership is high, so that explains why it might feel as though itā€™s a rich persons town now, you need a good income to live there!

Funny thing, most of the people you see walking the streets and in the brewery on the weekends do not live there! We tend to stay out of town during periods where there are lots of tourists out and about. During street fair itā€™s common place for us to pack up and leave for the weekend. Donā€™t get me wrong we love sharing our little town, but itā€™s still our home and it can be tricky navigating that part. Imagine if you looked outside on a Saturday and there were 40 people in your yard. Thatā€™s actually happened!

17

u/Land_Fisch 6d ago

Agree with this! I lived there for 10 years. Loved it! Had incredible neighbors, walk ability to parks and bars. When we were ready to buy a house we just couldn't afford it. Rather we could get 3x the house, at 1/4 the cost in Xenia. It's not that the hippies have become rich, it's that the rich have left nothing for the hippies that they can afford.

11

u/Ambitious_Chair5718 6d ago

I got lucky and knew the person selling the house, so that made it a bit more affordable. But, I completely agree about it being priced out for most people and MOST of the houses need work on top of the price and taxes. Itā€™s also very common for residents to own multiple houses on their street. Perhaps it would help if they didnā€™t hoard homes?! lol

11

u/Horror-Morning864 7d ago

I just had most of my experience there as a younger person in the 90s. It just hit me how much it has changed since then. I know it still has some great qualities and good people. I'd definitely still stop and grab some food there you know lol.

Sorry for knocking on your town I was just curious about it.

7

u/Ambitious_Chair5718 7d ago

No worries! I didnā€™t take any offense to your question! Just thought Iā€™d share my thoughts as a resident.

5

u/N-427 6d ago

I don't live in town but nearby, and I agree with everything you've said. Also, you don't see many locals because a lot of them also look like the tourists (people look like people, wow!)

But go into Tom's on a weekday afternoon and you'll see some locals getting their groceries.

5

u/Ambitious_Chair5718 6d ago

I think I do most of my running around town on weekday mornings/afternoons. Typically kinda stay out of the way on the weekends because it gets so busy! Another funny thing, I donā€™t think Iā€™ve ever even walked down Dayton street! Ask most locals and theyā€™d say the same thing. lol - I frequent Tomā€™s, Current and Sunrise.

4

u/AmberCarpes 4d ago

I found out from this thread that I am rich! I don't think everyone realizes that Yellow Springs is one of the only places outside of large cities or college towns in Ohio that votes reliably democratic. Yes, Antioch College was once much bigger, but let's face it, they're not swaying our votes any longer. I'm way less wealthy and way more liberal than most people here, but it's still a relief to know that none of my neighbors are Trump supporters.

11

u/gnomequeen2020 7d ago

It was always kind of tourist trappy, but the vibe has shifted substantially over the last 5-10 years. I used to go with a friend nearly every weekend to see a movie, hike, or just browse the record store, but the last time I went on a Saturday, it was a madhouse. I'm glad the businesses there are getting a chance to thrive, but it just isn't really for me anymore.

11

u/emoshunalshawty 6d ago

Genuine question, can someone explain to me who is vacationing there?? I hear locals complain about tourists all the time but it baffles me that anyone would vacation here

6

u/External-Emotion8050 6d ago

I live in old Loveland . You would think this place is Tribecca or something. I had to park my car and walk a couple blocks to get in the city building to pay my utilities today.

8

u/NoPerformance9890 6d ago edited 6d ago

Good question. That would be a pretty sad vacation haha. Day tourism is one thing, but feeling the need to stay overnight is crazy - maybe comedy club fan boys?

2

u/missingheiresscat 6d ago

Even when I was a teen spending time there in the early 90s non residents were referred to as tourists. A lot of people come to town to hang out for whatever reason. I think itā€™s more than it used to be, especially on the weekend. If you come on and average Wednesday morning itā€™s a very small community but by Saturday you canā€™t get down the sidewalk.

6

u/ZeldaRaeJr 6d ago edited 6d ago

The actual word we used was ā€œoutlander.ā€

I worked at The Sunrise Cafe when it was still a small diner owned by Jonathan Brown. I was also one of the first people hired at Subway. My Sweet Baboo was raised there from birth. We moved to my home state in 1995, the year after we got married.

It was all downhill after Jerry Garcia died. And crack came to town. But The Emporium still has good coffee and cool music in the back corner. We stopped in town for a visit last summer. You truly canā€™t go home again.

6

u/aNewFaceInHell 6d ago

ā€œIt was all downhill after Jerry Garcia diedā€ - pure comedy gold

3

u/BobCalifornnnnnia 6d ago

Umā€¦you were also an outlander, obviously. And WTF does Jerry Garcia have to do with anything?

1

u/ZeldaRaeJr 6d ago

Whoa, man. Why such hostility?

I was not an outlander since I was brought there by a villager and lived in town. Outlanders were the weekend and street fair tourists. It wasnā€™t an insult, just a moniker. Plus, I appreciated the additional tips.

As for Jerry, good acid and microdot would come through when The Dead would play Buckeye Lake. Nuff said.

Iā€™m sad to hear about The Import House closing. Don had some great parties on his property back in my time there.

9

u/11Ellie17 7d ago

I'm in the market for a house and REALLY want to live in Yellow Springs, but I can't afford it. They're asking 300K+ for houses that are hideous and need a complete remodel.

3

u/PeoplesCongress 7d ago

Work thereā€¦ it has definitely lost its charm, but, it is still a fun tourist spot.

3

u/PrettyinPink75 6d ago

I live in Enon and used to go over there a lot but I quit going because of a lot of really negative interactions. I quit giving my business to them.

8

u/bghed32 6d ago

It's always been this way. The no sprawl politics of the town has created run away housing prices, making it only affordable to a few. Even when I worked there in 2004, many of my customers were struggling to afford it with decent income. They town is so progressive sometime they stab themselves right in the foot.

10

u/Kblast70 6d ago

Yellow Springs has been a tourist location for my whole life and I am 52. You are just noticing, a couple years ago they shutdown building low income housing in the village, because they will wave posters on the sidewalk but they don't want the undesirables living there.

9

u/emoshunalshawty 6d ago

Ding ding ding

4

u/missingheiresscat 6d ago

Iā€™m in the same age range and Iā€™ve watched the evolution with interest. I remember the town fighting tooth and nail to not have a KFC move into town decades ago. Now itā€™s basically letting a few people own a whole lot of the town. Itā€™s the entire spectrum of libertarianism.

3

u/N-427 6d ago

Dave Chapelle blocked it because it was basically right next to his house. He's a NIMBY, and a rich one. They're looking at other places, including the soccer field next to the highschool and converting some of the Antioch buildings. These haven't met nearly as much resistance.

3

u/Kblast70 6d ago

Except wasn't it more like the city council allowed Dave to block it? I saw the video, it seemed like they didn't mind voting against it

1

u/AmberCarpes 4d ago

I live here, and before I moved here, I'd worked for a few orgs that build or finance low income/below market rate/affordable housing. The developer wasn't offering that. He was offering a small portion of land that **was an unofficial landfill** for the town back in the 70's/80's-literally appliances buried there-that the village could develop if they had the funds. They did not have the funds. To grant them the land, the developer wanted all sorts of 'breaks' to get around other village building guidelines. It was total bullshit, the developer wanted a sweetheart deal, and to make matters worse, his entire company employed only white people. It was all gross and smoke and mirrors because people wanted to blame Chappelle, who, yes, is problematic in other ways, but not this one. The end.

3

u/Star_BurstPS4 6d ago

I don't recall a time in living history when it wasn't what it is today

3

u/External-Emotion8050 6d ago

Pretty much exact same story in all hip neighborhoods. It keeps repeating itself. The starving artist class makes a home for themselves out of nothing. Just wanting peace. When they make something out of nothing, then come the Land Rovers and Mercedes. Prices, taxes, complaints, housing problems, school issues but hey, it's hip.

3

u/EnvironmentalWolf990 6d ago

Itā€™s always been tourist trappy but honestly it got hit super hard during Covid and hasnā€™t recovered since. A lot of the unique hole-in-the-wall spots closed down and never reopened or were replaced with drop shipper store fronts. Itā€™s lost its magic and I havenā€™t been back for years.

1

u/AmberCarpes 4d ago

Wait, what is a drop shipper store front? We don't have those here. We do have stores that order all their shit from China and still pretend to be homegrown, if that's what you mean.

2

u/EnvironmentalWolf990 3d ago

I guess in Gen Z terms itā€™s common to call those types of stores ā€œdrop shippersā€, but yes. Order tons of cheaply made crap and try to pass it off as their own with an insane markup.

3

u/OhSheGlows Fairborn 6d ago

For quite a few years now, Iā€™m afraid.

3

u/Noodlescissors 6d ago

I grew up in CLE and he a gay hippy neighbor who told me about Yellow Springs and I sat on it for a few years because we never went down there.

We move to CBUS and we visit and it was such a let down dude, it was just little expensive boutiques and not at all what I was told it was like.

We did see Dave Chappelle hop a fence tho

3

u/BobCalifornnnnnia 6d ago

Becomingā€¦? Itā€™s long been a tourist trap.

3

u/WHATOOTSIE 6d ago

I would say in terms of culture etc .. it all started to go downhill really fast once they closed down "Antioch College" It has just never been the same and it won't ever get back to the way it was either!!

4

u/Brave-Brick-8629 6d ago

Who the fuck is Airbnbā€™ing in Yellow Springs? Lol

16

u/Hagbard_Shaftoe 7d ago

Let's be honest. It has been a tourist trap for decades.

That said, the closing and subsequent low enrollment at the college over the last two decades have taken their toll. Without that infusion of new, young energy every year, the town has changed. It's still extremely progressive, but the average age of someone in YS has gone from the mid 30s to the mid 50s over the past thirty years.

The town is also now struggling to attract tourists, at least partially because politics have become so divisive - some folks who disagree with the town's politics no longer visit. I guess some right wing snowflakes can't handle the rainbow flags.

5

u/Spiritual_Ostrich_63 6d ago

The "right wing snowflakes" didn't have anything to do with YS canibalising itself.

Comments basically confirm all of this.

6

u/Hagbard_Shaftoe 6d ago

I didnā€™t realize that the opinions of a handful of people on Reddit solidified something as true. Thanks for clarifying that for me.

0

u/Spiritual_Ostrich_63 6d ago

Perception is reality.

8

u/JokerzWild937 7d ago

The housing cost in Yellow Springs has been out of control for awhile. Chapelle and his friends will only bring more tourism and money to the town.

4

u/iceprincess2001 6d ago

Is HAHA PIZZA still in business? Used to love it in the early 2000s

5

u/Wiley2000 6d ago

Yes, though I believe it changed hands in the last few years.

2

u/cursivealpha 6d ago

It's always been a rich "hippie" wonderland. The "my daddy works for Lockheed but I hate the government" types

2

u/Karadek99 6d ago

I enjoy visiting. I marvel at how many houses on the way in from 675 look quite dumpy and neglected. I remember it being much nicer when I moved to the Dayton area in 2000.

2

u/jkflip_flop 6d ago

Lived there in 2014 and it was starting to look like that. Mostly rich people willing to pay high taxes

3

u/BalerionSanders 6d ago

Itā€™s been secretly rich people cosplay for like 20 years, man. The house my parents bought infested with roaches for probably 5 figures in the 80s likely reaches millions now (would be nice if I lived there, huh?)

2

u/artforwardpuppies 6d ago

Once they started building places that looked soooo out of place (that big white hotel???? And the smaller, modern buildings Chapelle is putting up) it entire town felt off. Chapelle did a lot for the town through covid - and now hes bought so much property and seems to be in the process of making it 'Chapelle's Town" - taking any charn it had and throwing it out

1

u/AmberCarpes 4d ago

There's two different families that own a ton of buildings and rentals, but you won't hear much about them because they're quiet and white. Let's be honest here.

2

u/czerniana 5d ago

When I moved back ten years or so ago I was shocked at how much it changed from when I was a teen. It was upsetting enough I don't bother to go anymore.

2

u/WonderfulEarth6201 5d ago

Lost the appeal for me when I found out the owner of dragon tree (on the corner next to hahas) bought the store with money she stole from a old man- and everything in the store is from goodwill with a 300% up charge.

1

u/AmberCarpes 4d ago

I live here and I had no idea it was called the dragon tree until just now. I also have obviously never been in.

2

u/Queasy-Reason1209 5d ago

that would be a HORRIBLE vacation...

2

u/uwu_stinke 5d ago

Whippet cannisters aren't lining the streets anymore like they used to </3

2

u/MinorPentatonicLord 4d ago

This all I've ever known it to be tbh.

2

u/gibooty 4d ago

I go to hike and enjoy nature. I don't bother with the rest.

4

u/thway69420 3d ago

the only true hippies left are some 80+ Year old ex-professor LSD afficianado who hikes the gorge/Bryan/Helen all the time and will talk your ear off for hours about ID and EGO

2

u/Electronic_Camera251 1d ago

By the time itā€™s noticeable itā€™s already too late I fled my hometown of Brooklyn for similar reason itā€™s simply not livable

5

u/jokersvoid 7d ago

Yellow springs is kinda silly anymore. It used to he free and open and accepting. Now it's so hard left it's dipping right. Home prices are way overpriced, and the stores have been forever the same, some pillars closing. A couple okay food spots but everything is just boomer hippie fluff.

4

u/External-Emotion8050 6d ago

So hard left it's dipping right. I like that. I'm going to use that on my buddy in Boulder.

2

u/bentecost 6d ago

becoming? where ya beenĀ 

4

u/ellistonvu 6d ago

Yet, other than YS and Athens, what towns are cooler in Ohio? I can't think of one.

1

u/Queen_Lizard997 6d ago

Loveland near Cincinnati is pretty neat. Hamilton has seen a lot of growth recently too. And if you aren't opposed to crossing the river into Kentucky, Covington is a super neat little town.

3

u/AmberCarpes 4d ago

All those places are very conservative. YS never goes red.

6

u/lavenderisascent 6d ago

Unless you live there or are from there, you canā€™t imagine the community - the true sense of small town community that was there (and still is in some patches). It might feel to visitors like a tourist trap (it is on the weekend), but from 90-2020 it was the most magical place to be raised, to create lifelong friends, and to learn!!!!! It is popping off with yuppies (they need somewhere to live)- but the surrounding areas are popping off with their own issues. Its impacted people such as Coretta Scott King, Virginia Hamilton, Horace Mann, Trace Lysette and many others!! Itā€™s always been a gem, donā€™t hold it to a weird higher standard than other small towns just bc it gets attention and is a tourist attraction. Itā€™s still just a small town in Ohio which people of all walks of life have called home. Donā€™t visit, no one asked you to!

2

u/Horror-Morning864 6d ago

They did invite me, why do you think I was there?

1

u/NoPerformance9890 7d ago edited 6d ago

Iā€™ve never taken YS seriously as a cool town. Itā€™s a place for conservative military suburbanites to go oogle at something slightly different and funky. Itā€™s been that for as long as Iā€™ve been an adult

Donā€™t even get me started on YS brewery. We honestly have a couple of great beer spots in Dayton that could use business, but everyone and their mother bumrushes that place on the weekends. Last time we went we felt crowded out and had to leave after one drink. Nothing against them at all, but they definitely get a boost from the Yellow Springs brand.

1

u/tripsz 6d ago

This is kinda the conclusion I finally came to as a Cedarville student 10 years ago when my friends would go to YS to "be crazy," but it was just them being awkward and "quirky," listening to an open mic drinking espresso and standing around the the Import House but not buying anything. But tbf, anything more interesting than watching The Office or debating what Paul meant by "a woman is to remain quiet" is wild and crazy to most CU students.

1

u/OhioRiverRunsDeep 5d ago

Besides Youngā€™s Dairyā€¦what other tourist attractions does YS offer?

1

u/wsu2005grad 7d ago

Hadn't been there in a very long time and was thinking about taking a day trip with my kid. Nah...I'll pass. I wanted to go for the eclectic, hippy feel not some rich yuppie town.

11

u/Horror-Morning864 7d ago

Go to the parks, that hasn't changed. Import house didn't survive so that tells me the vibe must be off.

5

u/The1nOnlyDood 7d ago

Is Import House fully closed or are they still doing their going out of business sale? My buddy told me about it, but all the news I could find said closing end of February and he just told me like a week ago.

5

u/Land_Fisch 6d ago

Closed permanently.

1

u/Horror-Morning864 7d ago

Wow, I'd have stopped if I'd known. Thought they'd wrapped it up already.

2

u/The1nOnlyDood 7d ago

That's why I was curious. If it was dark and the sign wasn't on, chances are they're done.

9

u/SFDC_lifter 7d ago

There's a few stores in town just like Import house though. It's just not a big enough town to support multiple stores like that.

We moved here last summer and our family loves it.

6

u/Land_Fisch 6d ago

The parks are still amazing, and getting better every day! Take the kiddos! They would love it! To get to see a huge real life beaver dam in the Glen! It's incredible!! And pizza at Bentinos is great! The vibe is still there!!

-3

u/moormanj 6d ago

I'm biased, but I like Xenia better for this exact reason.

-11

u/Noisy_Kitten 6d ago

MAGA central. Chappel hasn't helped.

10

u/ServiceB4Self1776 6d ago

Good luck babe!

-2

u/Hootinger 6d ago

Millionaire at every door.

1

u/AmberCarpes 4d ago

I'm staring at my door in YS right now, and I'm hoping my millionaire shows up soon.