Welcome to Dayton: hometown of the Wright Brothers and the Birthplace of Aviation. It’s still flying high. The city witnessed $400 million in new investments in its downtown in 2024—double that of 2023. Multi-million-dollar projects are springing up, bringing housing and commerce to a metropolitan area that is blessed with myriad natural gifts, from the Great Miami River it straddles to its countless green spaces—#8 in the nation. An aerospace hub since it was just “aero”, Dayton’s economy continues to cast off its Rust Belt reputation by attracting innovators. Most recently, start-up Joby Aviation—a so-called “Uber of the Skies”—announced it would build its aircraft in Gem City at a new $500-million facility, expected to come online later this year and create nearly 2,000 jobs. Hungry talent drawn by opportunities like this—or the city’s #4 ranking for Housing Affordability—will find an epicenter of the arts, where the Bach Society, Dayton Opera, Dayton Ballet, and many others thrive. Dayton’s museums (#69) are no slouch either: appropriately, there’s the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in addition to the Dayton Art Institute and the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery, which is currently undergoing a revitalization into a STEM and defense hub.