Realtor.org has posted the results of a recent study showing the top ten most affordable cities. Not surprisingly, 4 of 10 cities are in Ohio, 8 of 10 are in the Midwest, all are in the Green Belt. Dayton Ohio is #7.

Think on this, the median price of a home in Dayton Ohio is $90,000. That sounds like a good way to keep the creditors off your back, doesn’t it?

People who are looking for a home, a place to call home, a place to start a home, a place of their own, should consider Dayton, but only if you are able to exercise some basic self-sufficiency. Dayton is a declining city, so while we don’t have traffic jams and hours-long commutes, we do have land, we have space, we have a laid back pace to life that means you are more likely to get a wave from your neighbor than a one-finger salute. You won’t always be reminded of how many millions of people cram the earth, because in Dayton, you’ll have some elbow room.

Step outside your door and you have this stuff we like to call a “lawn”. It’s green, and it grows, and it grows because underneath the grass is this brown stuff we like to call “soil”. If you are moving from the Sand Belt or a Concrete Belt, you may be unfamiliar with soil, but it’s rich, and it’s fertile, and it will, with the most casual tending, produce real food.

Speaking of food, here in the luscious Green Belt, we stay close to the source of our food. We know that eggs don’t grow in styrofoam containers. Ham isn’t whipped-up at the corner deli, and that tomatoes are best when plucked off the vine and eaten, standing barefoot in the grass while you close your eyes and let the juice dribble down your chin. And your neighbor, if they can see you, which they might not because we have this thing we call acreage, your neighbor will understand and more than likely be doing the exact same thing.

Sound like crazy talk? Oh, it’s true, it’s all true. But wait, there’s more! We also have something that you might not find in the Sand Belt, or a Concrete Belt- we have a need for people. That’s “people” as in not-just-bodies-to-fill-up-endless-miles-of-tract-housing. We need people who are independent, and self-sufficient and are not afraid to pull up their sleeves and work. Sound intriguing?

I’ll not lie to you, it’s not all lollipops and rainbows here. No, it’s not perfect in Dayton Ohio in 2009. But if you want money in your pocket and not in a mortgage, are fearless and not too soft, fairly independent and like the feeling of grass on your bare feet in the summer sun, well then, I think you’ve come to the perfect place.