Andrew Walsh is the author of Lost Dayton, an academic librarian at Sinclair College, and the creator of the popular Dayton Vistas blog. With an encyclopedic knowledge of Dayton’s past and a promising vision for Dayton’s future, Andrew has a truly unique understanding of what our city once was — and all that it can be.
Be sure to check out Andrew’s book, Lost Dayton, and his blog, Dayton Vistas.
Evelyn Ritzi: Welcome to the Creating the Future podcast. I’m Evelyn Ritzi —
David Bowman: and I’m David Bowman.
Evelyn: And today we’re joined by author, academic librarian, and the creator of the popular Dayton Vistas, blog and social media platforms, Andrew Walsh.
Andrew Walsh: Hi, thanks so much for having me.
Evelyn: Thanks for being here. So let’s get into it. Andrew, tell us a little bit about you and your background and what inspired you to write Lost Dayton, your book.
Andrew: As you mentioned, I’m a librarian for my full-time job. So I’m not originally from the area. Actually, I grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, and then I moved around a little bit for school. I was in Iowa and Illinois for a little bit, so kind of touring the Midwest, I guess, yeah, exactly. And then eventually came here to Dayton in 2013 to work at Sinclair, so in the same library job I’m still in today. And then being a librarian that always gave me an interest in research. I’ve always enjoyed writing as well, but it really was coming here to Dayton that kind of activated this love of local history in me. I think a lot of that comes from the timing and circumstances. So I was mid 20s. It was 2013 so that kind of coincided with a lot of kind of that initial wave of revitalization going on downtown. So lots of people were opening up new restaurants and bars and shops and things like that. And working at Sinclair, I was working downtown, so I knew I wanted to live nearby. So I ended up living just outside the Oregon District, basically. And wanted to walk everywhere and check out, kind of these new things opening up. And that sort of led me specifically to be interested in the history of that neighborhood, which is, of course, kind of the oldest one that remains here in Dayton. So from there, I started digging into a little bit of the history, and started sketching out some ideas. And initially I was anticipating maybe writing a history of the Oregon district neighborhood, and then by then, I had already uncovered enough stories about the rest of the city. As someone who is seeing Dayton with outside eyes, if you will, not having grown up here, I think I obviously knew the Wright Brothers connection, but not so much of some of the rest of the history of industry, and just what a powerhouse Dayton really was in the past. So that led me to expand a bit, and then that eventually turned into Lost Dayton.
David: So in addition to your book, you continue to share a wealth of information about Dayton’s history and redevelopment through videos and articles on your website, Dayton Vistas, from your research, is there a place or a story from Dayton’s past that really resonates for you personally, sort of like a go to that you would tell people?
Andrew: Yeah, so one thing that I yeah, really has a strong personal connection that kind of picks up where the last question ends, ended off with my inspiration. So specifically where I was living. I was in the Dayton Towers apartments, yeah, so that’s just off of East Fifth Street and between Wayne Aven and Keowee. So when I lived there, I was up on the sixth floor, and I could see the Oregon district out my window. And then if you looked on the other side of my building, you could see St Anne’s Hill, which is another really cool historic neighborhood, relatively well preserved. But I started to get curious about what development past or decisions had led to the area in the middle being totally different. So I was in this modern high-rise. There was just a whole lot of dead empty space around me there were the busy streets. So I wondered, why would there be these two really cool historic neighborhoods and in between them, just something totally different that had clearly been kind of totally lost. So I started to research that the history of that site, and learned that it used to be this old neighborhood called the Haymarket, which was very small in size, just kind of fitting in between those two existing neighborhoods, but it had a whole lot of stuff packed into its narrow streets. So there were beautiful old homes, there were corner stores and kind of your everyday necessities and walking distance. There was industry too. So there was a candy factory and just all sorts of different things, all just on the same streets. And also had Dayton’s main red light district of the time. So this kind of just speaks to a different age, but one where there was just a mix of uses everywhere it was. You could get your everyday necessities just on foot. And I was very surprised to learn then that that whole neighborhood was totally bulldozed in the 1960s as a part of an urban renewal project. So I was kind of shocked that we would have done that in the past, and specifically looking at East Fifth Street and Oregon District and how that’s really the most popular spot in the region for dining and entertainment and cool little shops and things like that, and just to think that we basically had an area that was five times as big as that previously, and now are really just reduced to a couple of blocks. So that, I think was, was meaningful for me in that it took my research from just the history of individual places and tracing building history, but expanding it a little more into kind of the social forces that shaped the city as a whole, and things like those urban renewal projects, and that got me thinking in different lenses, like considering equity issues with history and how they intersect with social forces. So, you know, whose neighborhood got bulldozed, right? It was often minority immigrant populations, groups that had little political power to fight back. So I would dig into the history of the highway system and how that was devastating for so many communities. So it really, I think, expanded the scope of my research, and then I continued to write about those issues for my Dayton VISTAs website. A lot I’ve started to record more videos, too, so I’ve done a lot of presentations over the last few years when the book came out. And one of the actual inspirations for doing video content was when COVID hit, and I had some presentation scheduled that got canceled, so I just put up, sort of, I did a history presentation, put it on YouTube, and then kind of forgot about it for two years, and then started to see that people were viewing it a little more than I would have guessed. So I started thinking, with all the written content I do, turning some of those into presentations and visual content, and trying to do that. So I think looking forward, I’ll continue to explore those different formats and, yeah, covering those issues that, again, don’t I think they’re not just a date and specific thing right renewal and issues of equity and past efforts that were very destructive for cities, that plays a role In almost any American city. So I think I’m interested also in looking at how these things intersect nationally as well.
Evelyn: Yeah, it’s fascinating and something I appreciate in your book as well, you know, you’re not just using lost as a way to describe things that have gotten demolished, but in an optimistic note as well, how in today’s world, we’re kind of highlighting places that are maybe being reused, transformed, reimagined, and the creativity that goes into that, you know, think about the arcade and big, big projects. But are there any current redevelopment projects that are exciting you at the moment?
Andrew: Yeah, I think the biggest one that you just said is the arcade. So that is really just the most impressive redevelopment project in the region’s history. So to think of just a massive multi-building complex right in the center of downtown that has a mix of residential and commercial spaces, and then just that central rotunda in the middle that’s just so stunning. And used to be a market house. So that was kind of where people who lived downtown would do their daily shopping, you know, back in the day, yeah. And then that was a site that went through tons of ups and downs, so I chronicle that in the book. But then was was fully vacant since the early 1990s, and that was a spot that I walked by every single day on the way to and from work, walking from my apartment to Sinclair, so to just look at the beautiful architecture but just see it totally shuttered. And since it spans the whole block, you see it on Third Street, and you see it on Fourth Street, and it just has such a huge footprint downtown that it just was, I think, just such a symbolic structure for just the rise and fall of the city, so I got a chance to actually tour the inside of it, and I believe 2017 when it was still totally vacant. And that experience was pretty incredible, but it filled me with really conflicting emotions. So on the one hand, I could see the beauty that was still there and how amazing of a space it could be, but also just seeing the amount of work that would have to go into any redevelopment. After it’s been shuttered for close to three decades, and just yeah, just seeing the damage that had been done to many of the spaces. So I know that around, like around that time, probably a little bit before I took the tour, the city, had put together sort of an arcade task force to study its future. And I know from just hearing stories that some of the major stakeholders went into that, basically thinking that demolition was pretty much going to be the outcome, but somewhat miraculously, it was, was found to be in better shape than I think some people anticipated. And that’s when things started to shift into more excitement. And then, of course, University of Dayton kind of stepping. Up as an anchor tenant, and just the redevelopment team, just the different companies, have done amazing work there, and I know that just right up until the first phase kind of opened its doors, there were Daytonians who still were skeptical, because ever since it really was vacant, there had been proposals for redevelopment, and people had grand ideas for the arcade. And just due to the complicated scope and just the size of the complex, those never got off the ground. So I think going back to kind of the symbolism of the arcade as sort of the crown jewel of the Gem City, people refer to it that way, to see the whole south end of it now open, and then really progress being made on the north side, which is going to be the Arcade, little shopping hub, and then the hotel, yeah. And then currently, of course, there’s the office space for UD and for the hub tenants, the different small businesses and the Entrepreneurs Center, and then the coffee shops and small businesses that’ll be there too.
David: I was just there prior to this. So shout out to Shane and Dana Wiley, who’s got the gallery over there, Mike Elsas, who I saw in there, who has art hanging in there, the person I was having coffee with, just said, this is just the best, most spectacular place you could have a cup of coffee in 100 miles. Like it’s just awesome. And I agree it’s fantastic to go in there.
Andrew: So, I would say that’s kind of as far as the single site that makes me the most excited. But I also would say answering the question, thinking that it’s not just about the architectural gems that make a city what it is. So I’m equally as excited about the really smaller-scale redevelopments that are happening. So people who are rehabbing a vacant building, just in a neighborhood, creating a new business, even just fixing things up for housing as well. I think those are less maybe significant in the sense that the Arcade is with being architecturally notable and but I would say that it’s those more everyday historic buildings that really add to the vibrancy of the city, kind of make a neighborhood eclectic and cool and compared to living out in the suburbs, you know what makes Dayton as a city special and also unique? So to think of a couple examples there, I’m thinking in East Dayton specifically, kind of around Huffman neighborhood, fifth and Huffman, there’s those two little commercial buildings that had been vacant for a long time and recently had been rehabbed. And now one of them is the gift shop, Pink Moon Goods, and then the record store, Skeleton Dust Records just opened up the other one. So I think those kinds of things are so exciting because they add walkable amenities to the neighborhood. So everyone who lives in those neighborhoods now kind of has some cool stuff they can walk to. It’s small local businesses, so it keeps our dollars local when we shop there. It’s obviously so much more environmentally sustainable to reuse a building than to bulldoze it and maybe build something new or maybe it just sits empty. So I try to have my research and work also highlight some of these smaller-scale redevelopments that are happening as well.
David: So that really leads in, well, to the next question I had, which is, as you sort of look at the landscape of Dayton and think about the potential for like, Okay, well, what else, right? What’s on that at the top of the sort of, what? What else? What next list for you? What do you wish that you know would get that attention, that redevelopment and be brought to back to life, right?
Andrew: So yeah, there’s a lot of candidates, yeah, from your great offices here. We could probably look out the window and I could point to a few of them, but I would say the biggest one for me is the Center City Building downtown. So that’s the old kind of historic skyscraper that’s about 2021, stories, I want to say, at the corner of Fourth and Main Street, so right across from the Levitt Pavilion, yeah, right across Main Street from the arcade. That’s been totally vacant for at least a decade, and it has just such a cool history. And the Wright Brothers even had a small office there for a little period of time and it again. It’s one of those where there have been redevelopment proposals. It’s won millions in historic tax credits multiple times. But just the size and scope of that project, too is almost very daunting and overwhelming. So that’s another building I got a chance to go into and take a tour several years ago, and went all the way up to the top, where there’s a penthouse apartment, very top floor Hotel. So that, yeah, so I did see it, and it’s, yeah, I think it would be probably one of the coolest places to live, anywhere around Dayton. But that would be one that is definitely high on my list, and then another that’s in a very precarious state, the old Dayton Daily News building. Oh, yeah. So that is also at fourth and Ludlow. So, these are all just in in close proximity. So I do think that as the momentum of the Arcade and other projects kind of resonate out, I think that does help to make some of these more attractive as a redevelopment now that there’s just more happening nearby. But, it’s just the longer they sit empty and exposed to the elements, the risk of fire or other catastrophe just just grows. So I think, you know, it is urgent that people take action soon, but, but there’s certainly difficult projects. And then I would also take, take that question, similar to the previous one, about the most exciting redevelopments, and thinking in terms of those little neighborhood commercial districts, that is one thing that I think as a city, Dayton has lost so many of it used to be so ubiquitous in any part of town, you had your little row of charming little buildings that had shops and restaurants and just kind of daily necessities, and that’s, of course, totally changed now so to think of that area on Fifth Street and Huffman that I mentioned, you know, around 1900 that would have been a drugstore and it would have been a grocery store. So that’s not necessarily going to be, but it’s not. It’s probably not super viable today to have a business that’s just a general grocery store. So I think that’s where you’re seeing a lot of the creativity in some of the reuse efforts to kind of identify what actually would make sense as a business now. So like, if you take, for example, Tony and Pete’s downtown, like they have a little grocery store, but, you know, they have the great subs, and they do just a lot of different things, and they’re stocking, you know, more specialty items, rather than just trying to do everything. So I think with a lot of those commercial areas. And thinking like North Main Street, Third Street, even Salem Ave, and like Xenia Ave and places like that, there’s a lot of commercial buildings sitting vacant. And I think we have a lot of people who are doing things, and I think maybe there’s more of an attention for like the beautiful old mansions. And people always care about those, and those are the ones that are more striking and ornate, and we can see ourselves living in them. But I often try to bring attention to those little business districts and the commercial architecture that is in such high demand. So many people want to live in a walkable, vibrant area, and we’re not building any more of those areas. So I think it’s really important to kind of hold on to the buildings we do have. And again, it becomes just such a difficult proposition at times, because if they get too far gone and they’re hazards, and they can drag down property values, that’s not good for the neighborhood. So it’s not like we can just let them sit forever, hopes that something happens. But I think it’s a really crucial stretch of time. I know there was a lot of money coming from the Recovery Act that was used a lot for demolition, and probably of very unsafe structures that were never going to be rehabbed. But I know that the city has put some money into renovations as well. So I think that’s one just kind of building type that I’m really interested in.
Evelyn: I think, you know, that’s what’s so important. And you know, we think about Dayton as a community and people that want to get together and make a difference. It’s a through line through Dayton’s history really. You know, we’ve gone through our share of tough times, challenges, even in the last decade. When you think about Dayton as its historical identity, how do you think that’s impacted how we are today with our present sense of community spirit, when you think about resilience and “Dayton Strong?”
Andrew: Yeah, I think, I think there’s definitely a strong connection there. So I think Dayton kind of, as a historical identity, really is an area of innovation. So thinking of its past identity, Dayton, at one point, I think, in the early 20th century, was the US city with the most patents per capita. So kind of people liken us to early Silicon Valley type of place like of that era, we were called the city of 1000 factories at one point, just for all the businesses that sprang up. So, so that is like an incredible legacy. And then, of course, the city went through just devastating, tough times as deindustrialization hit, and many of those companies had to shed 1000s of jobs, obviously, NCR leaving and things like that. So I feel like on the one hand, you see some of the big job wins that have been announced just in the last few months or last couple of years, as an example of us sort of creatively seeing ways to reinvent, you know, what is Dayton’s identity? So that’s one good thing. I would also say that, going back to talking about some of the redevelopment projects, I think we really see that spirit of resilience and innovation in the creativity of how people are reusing some of our past buildings and kind of rethinking what businesses are going to be viable for the next generation. So going back to the Arcade, for example, just thinking of how complicated that was, not just from it being like nine different buildings and in various states of vacancy, but in terms of how complicated the financing was. So they were able to kind of pull together just this huge funding stack of everything from state and federal historic preservation tax credits to tax credits for affordable housing and for energy efficiency. So I know with some of these redevelopment projects, sometimes people think like, Oh, are we kind of just wasting money on these, these things that should just be knocked down. But it’s not like it’s coming out of our, you know, general fund. It’s. Bringing in just millions of dollars from programs that exist, you know, exactly for those types of purposes. But it takes incredible creativity and vision to kind of pull it off. So just thinking of just kind of what a task that must have been. So I think that’s a good example of where we see this, the same kind of spirit of innovation that may have, you know, created a manufacturing powerhouse in 1900 and then today, it’s finding a way to make the arcade viable. Yeah. And then yeah. And I think also going back to kind of the Dayton strong, and just thinking of Dayton as a city, I think really has always been kind of defined by tragedy, but also our response to it. So historically, that’s, of course, the great flood which hit in 1913 and was devastating to downtown and all the surrounding neighborhoods, but you saw that the response everything from just daring rescues that were made during the flood and then to the way that we rebuilt many of the damaged buildings, but then also came together to create the conservancy districts for flood flood protection, which is like an amazing accomplishment. So think Arthur Morgan, who did yeah, it’s yeah, so that would be a whole Yeah, really interesting. That’s one that I haven’t done a ton of research on. So that’s something I kind of have on my list of things to look more into, because I know there was a lot of opposition and controversy to kind of make, make that work at the time. So I think fast forwarding to the present day, we see, obviously, more tragedy from, you know, the tornadoes to the Oregon District shooting to COVID hitting. So you can see the way the community has come together to rebuild and kind of move forward, you know, past those, those devastating events. But I think that’s something that is still in progress. Obviously, COVID, for one, totally changed living and work patterns. So we’re still, I think, kind of figuring it out. But I think just from some of the projects we’ve already talked about, I think there’s exciting things happening, and I think Dayton is just never going to quit, and we’re always going to be there to kind of figure out what the next chapter is going to be.
David: It’s interesting to me too, and maybe this is born out of that tragedy, but Dayton always strikes me as a place where you rarely meet a stranger, right? It’s a place where there just is this innate sense of connectedness and community and kind of a we that’s just assumed, right? So even if you go into a random place and there’s no face that you recognize, you could strike up a conversation with someone and in two seconds figure out, oh, we both know this person. And here’s what I’m working on. And maybe that’s part of that innovative DNA is just that, you know, ability to kind of cross pollinate and talk to different people from different places. Do you see that kind of as a through line with our history?
Andrew: I think so. Yeah, I think it’s a good way to think about it, because for me, like personally, my experience coming to Dayton was one where I didn’t know many people here, and it was just so easy to make friends, and there was other people who were excited in the future of the city and excited about the redevelopments happening. So I think you’re right. And I think Dayton, just sort of the size and the way, just sort of the vibe of our city is one where you get, in some ways, sort of that small town feel, where you can just walk into a place and you might see a friend, or even if not, you make a new friend. And then just as far as getting involved in different causes, I think in a bigger city, that would be a lot tougher, because it’s maybe just the organizations are a little more off on their own, and it’s there’s so much going on that it’s hard to meet people, maybe. So I do think, yeah, there’s something, something special about Dayton, for that definitely.
Evelyn: Absolutely, speaking of community and people getting together. For those listening, obviously, they can read your book, they can follow you, and, you know, get involved in learning about history. But as far as taking action, what are some of the things that people could get involved with to help save and preserve some of these sites that are significant?
Andrew: Yeah, so definitely, I think, yeah, just the education piece is a great starting point. So just kind of learning more about the history and learning about some of the current issues and certain sites and things like that can certainly help. But there are ways to make a really tangible impact. So there’s an organization locally called Preservation Dayton that is a great one. So that would be the top way to make a real impact on saving some of these types of buildings. So they’re a group, and you can you can be a member. You can just follow them on social media, just to kind of see what they’re talking about. But they advocate for endangered buildings. They do research to help get things listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which can help open up funding opportunities. They actually have an endangered properties fund, or they will actually fundraise to basically stabilize buildings that, like we said, when they’re exposed to the elements and sitting there vacant for years that, you know, takes its toll. So they’re involved in kind of stabilization work and just advocacy for things that maybe plan to be demolished. So there was a great example of that fairly recently in the last couple of years, where there was a historic church right on Brown street. And there was a proposal, it’s down by UD, sort of by Stone Mill Road, I want to say. And it’s a beautiful historic church. And there was a plan to build a new medical center. And the initial version led was going to involve demolishing the church and creating, I think, just like, sort of a single story medical facility on the whole block. And Preservation Dayton kind of advocated for saving it, and the developers actually did and incorporated it into the new medical, so if you go down Brown Street now, you’ll see there’s this, like, beautiful church with a medical facility next to it, and it’s like, I believe it’s a UD premier health partnership, okay, but just examples like that, where telling the story of the history of that building, and I know that they make the points of economic or, yeah, both economic development, but also environmental sustainability. So they kind of know all the different tools that can that can help preserve some of these places. So that would be one organization I think that makes the most direct impact. But I also think just on a more individual level, a lot of the choices we make can, directly or indirectly help with these types of efforts. So just thinking where you spend your dollars, like, Are you supporting some of those local businesses? And I know it’s it can be a challenge just to work it into your schedule. So for example, it’s so easy to do all your shopping at Kroger, and, you know, do pick up or delivery, but you know, are you, if you really care about having these amenities in the neighborhoods, are you kind of making an effort to go patronize them with people, kind of taking the risk of their lives, opening up a new business and needing that support? It’s a very tough time, I think, for small businesses of all types, from the restaurants and bars to the small retail shops. So kind of just looking at just the allocation of your own dollars in spending, I think can make a big impact too. So that’s definitely one thing.
Evelyn: Yeah, that’s huge. That’s why, part of the reason why I love working downtown is just the ability to walk and patronize all these great, yeah, we’re gonna go for lunch. There’s a whole Downtown Dayton Partnership has a whole lunch–o-meter, yeah thing you can use to choose where you go to lunch.
David: It’s great, yeah.
Andrew: I think also yeah. So just related to that too, getting into the more kind of indirect connections, but things that I think play a huge role. This is less kind of like individual action, but just thinking in terms of kind of the urban planning types of decisions that really impact the viability of historic neighborhoods. So everything from parking zoning to housing, those things can really make a huge impact on the viability of, say, that neighborhood corner store that’s vacant. So just due to the fact that these historic neighborhoods were they date back to an era when people walked more places, and so our current development patterns that are very car-centric and are widening roads and making sure there’s this many parking spaces for anything that sometimes is at odds with some of the ways that these old neighborhoods do function. So I think anything that helps increase street safety or opening up ways to make it more walkable, or alternative transportation modes, I think those all help. So you don’t necessarily need to get in your car every time when it’s maybe a trip that’s only a mile or two away. So thinking in that lens, something like, say, the Link Bike Share going away, which was really devastating for me personally, because I used it all the time, but not just as a, you know, fun way to ride around, but as a kind of vital way. I didn’t connect people to those, like, couple-mile away trips. So say you live or work downtown and you want to go check out something that’s in St Anne’s Hill, or it’s in Wright Dunbar, being able to sort of hop on that e-bike was, was a great method for doing it, maybe a little farther than walking distance, but you don’t necessarily have to get in your car every time. So every time. So things like that, I think, make a big impact too.
David: So in addition to talking a lot about history, you also talk a lot about the future in terms of AI. I know you’ve written a lot about that, you present about it quite a bit. Can you tell me a little more about your research and experience using AI as a tool in your role as an academic librarian and also maybe share as a historian, what lessons can we learn that we could apply as we start to delve into this world of AI?
Andrew: Yeah, that’s, that’s, that’s a good question. So that’s me in, in a sense, kind of putting on my librarian hat, and with my Sinclair work, I have been involved a lot with AI. The last couple of years, the college put together a task force to kind of really just research AI and sort of figure out how does it fit in, specifically to the higher ed landscape, how we can use it in teaching ethical and social considerations and things like that. So I certainly learned a lot. I was on that task force, which involves had faculty from each division, had some of our online learning staff members, and then a library rep, which was me, of course, and yeah, definitely just learned a ton. Kind of alternated between being really excited at the possibility. And just kind of scared, horrified potential for it to be misused, or just for it to just radically change writing and just human creativity too. So I think where I am right now is definitely excited about some of the uses. I think you’re starting to see colleges, for example, talk more about what ethical use looks like a lot of different departments at Sinclair, they’re rethinking a lot of their assignments. So it’s maybe less just kind of the basic forms of essays that never were really that interesting, but just were kind of like that was just how you did it. And I think as a trend, you’re seeing things much more essentially personalized in a way. So having students start with, say, for example, their own core values and how they think of themselves and how they see that affecting their classes, and then, like, the topics they want to choose. So I think really being intentional about breaking things down into steps. So you’re not just going to have someone write something with AI and just have that be the only step. So kind of working in just multiple steps of the process with check-ins and things like that. I think are good. I’ve personally been just really amazed at the potential for different AI tools to really help with idea generation. Yeah, so brainstorming, so I can use that in my own research and writing potentially to, you know, think of new ways to think, think through some of these topics. And as a librarian, helping people search, it can be great for, like, what are some good keywords to search in the library database for this topic? So very practical uses, I think, too. And then I’m also thinking, yeah, some other things that sort of, I would say, excite me a little bit, specifically relating to some of the maybe more kind of nuts and bolts of AI or thinking of it, I know that its potential for misinformation has been a big talking point, and that’s really scary, but I’m also thinking it’s a really great tool for kind of exposing yourself to new viewpoints. So I think if we can intentionally work it, whether it’s a college assignment, whether it’s just ways to get everyday people to do it, just kind of thinking of, like the toxicity of online comment threads, and it’s like, I’m just thinking of, I don’t know exactly what it would look like, but ways where maybe things are a little more like, there is a way you’re kind of engaging with, sort of like AI agents, in a way, just to think through some of these issues and expose yourself to a new viewpoint in a way that’s not like you’re gaining internet points for, you know, shutting someone down. So, yeah, so I don’t, yeah, I don’t know exactly what that future is, but I’ve just found it as a really great tool for kind of entering even just your own thoughts and just, like, what am I missing in this? Yeah, like, what’s another way I could think through this? So I think if we utilize it in the right way, it could actually potentially even have some social positive results.
David: Yeah, I love that that use specifically. One of the things I’ve messed around with in recent times is creating GPTs with different personalities and different viewpoints or backgrounds, right? And that that are maybe things where I have blind spots or weaknesses to challenge my thinking or review something that I’ve created and said well, as this type of, you know, if your perspective is as a financial advisor or as a, you know, from this business profession, critique this. Tell me what could be stronger? What don’t you understand about what I’m saying? And it’s almost, how do you leverage that technology to make yourself more human, yeah, right, like, so that when I encounter the person who does have that background, I’m able to understand, I’m able to express myself differently, so that they can understand, right? And build that connection. Like, to me, that’s just such like an untapped gold mine.
Andrew: Definitely, yeah. And I think along with that one thing, one just kind of way of thinking about it that I’ve found really beneficial is to not, maybe even not, use the term of artificial intelligence. But I’ve heard people suggest using augmented intelligence so that just sort of signifies that it’s not just that this agent is going to take over and become human and do our whole job, but it’s going to be, how can it, yeah, like, expand our viewpoints, or, how can it do some of that wrote, you know, more tedious work, and leave the creative stuff up to up to us, yeah? So I think, yeah. So it can be exciting in that way.
David: And, like, almost in there’s a great book I love, called ‘How Minds Change.’ But a lot of, we get wrapped up when we’re talking any number of issues, neighborhood redevelopment, right or and so that ability to get feedback in a nonemotional way that can prepare you for when you’re talking with another human being and emotion is going to be in play. But how do you maybe buffer that so that just for that, like split second longer, you can stay curious, right? And not get defensive, and not, you know, doesn’t become adversarial. It becomes, help me understand, yeah, right, like there’s and maybe that’s not a reality we ever see, but it’s, there’s a potential for it, which I think is just fascinating, yeah.
Evelyn: Well, we’ve talked about history, we’ve talked about emerging technologies, and that brings us to our last question, which is kind of a big question, but I think you’re ready.
Andrew I hope so.
Evelyn: For you, Andrew, what’s the future you want to create in Dayton?
Andrew: Yeah, so I would say, for me, personally, I’d love to be part of creating a future where we really do kind of recognize and appreciate our history. So as the city of Dayton, kind of knowing where we’ve come from, but then also thinking in terms of that, that spirit of what are we going to become next? So not just history is kind of a static and just stuffy process, but the reimagining of Dayton as a city, but to the reimagining of individual places as what could they be in the future. So I think in my own work, I hope to continue to highlight Dayton history, not just the lost, but as you said, the things that have been transformed, things that the original uses maybe are not so well known. So I like to try to bring people up to speed and kind of find some of these remaining parts of Dayton that maybe they have never seen, or maybe just never thought twice about walking past a certain building or a certain neighborhood and starting to think about that, and then going to kind of the broader considerations of what would a good future be, just talking about AI and how it has the potential to make things worse or better, I think in terms of Dayton and just the sense of place, as hoping my research can help spotlight some of these areas, and then just hoping I can work in conjunction with the people who are actually fixing up these buildings and kind of doing the place making and creating more vibrant spaces. And I think from, say, downtown, where we are today to some of these cool neighborhoods, they were all built on the idea of being community spaces where people come together. And I think in today’s day and age, we’re often feeling very isolated and lonely. Paradoxically, we’re increasingly connected, but on digital devices, so we’re like we’re on social media all the time, and then also, just with the level of political polarization that’s happening these days, I see building strong neighborhoods and downtowns as a way to bring us all together in a way that we have something shared to be proud of, which is our city, and then we can share that with people who we maybe wouldn’t run into otherwise, but maybe we see them at the Levitt Pavilion If we go to a free concert there, for example, or maybe we see them at the Second Street Market, or any of these little walkable shopping areas. I think the more we can kind of create these strong community spaces for people of all walks of life to come together and to maybe learn that they have more in common with someone who they might not have gotten along with if they met him online political debate or something like that, but just kind of finding our our shared values and things that we all can care about, which is really just living a better life here, here in our place.
Evelyn: I love that. That’s a beautiful future, I love that. Thank you so much for joining us today, and great to have you on.
Andrew: Yeah. Thanks so much for having me. Really really enjoyed it.