The first thing Dayton might bring to mind is airplanes, being the place where the Wright brothers developed and manned the world’s first flying machine. You can immerse yourself in all things aviation at spots such as Huffman Prairie Flying Field and the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. However, the Gem City is also the state’s epicenter of the arts. The Bach Society, Dayton Opera, Dayton Ballet, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, and the Dayton Playhouse are just some of the organizations that thrive here. The Contemporary Dayton and Dayton Art Institute are but two of several galleries. Dayton made the Top 10 in our Culture subcategory, at #8. Along with a #19 ranking for Nightlife, the city hit #20 overall for Programming, a category that also includes Restaurants and Shopping. With strong manufacturing, health care, and IT sectors, Dayton is the state’s aerospace hub today and in the future, with investments like The Air Force Life Cycle Management System’s recently awarding the University of Dayton Research Institute a 10-year contract worth $28.5-million to provide F-15 sustainment engineering studies.