Rusty Shackleford

When I was a kid and young adult - 1970s, through the late 80s - I rode almost exclusively on "surface" roads. Well, separate bike paths were not that common in the 1970s. Around Dayton only the Great Miami Bike Trail existed, and originally it only went as far south as Stewart Street and as far north as Siebenthaler Ave. (I think.) I had brass balls in terms of mixing with vehicular traffic. I would take rides, for example, from east Dayton where I lived in all four directions: east through Beavercreek to Yellow Springs, south down to Warren County (as far south as Ft. Ancient a few times), north to Troy and Covington, and southwest to Germantown and Franklin. I even remember riding places like from Belmont to the Huffman overlook near Fairborn - I considered that a minor, 2 hour ride. Two things happened in the late 80s: when I moved back to Dayton, there was a lot more bikeway path mileage around Dayton than I ever encountered in the 70s, including extensions to the Great Miami trail and, of course, the Little Miami trail had opened up. And, sprawl and increased traffic had pretty much destroyed the best aspects of riding east or south from in city Dayton (which were my two favorite cycling directions back in college.) Maybe it's age or maybe it's lack of recent experience, but riding on a normal street is outside the norm for me now, and it makes me quite nervous. For one big thing, I am quite aware how distracted drivers have gotten. And imbecilic Idiocracy standards have taken hold in our society - people are just plain stupider than ever - I am concerned about stupid chances that drivers would take now in passing me on a bike, etc. Lastly, everyone is in a hurry, and IMO a low level of road rage has become the norm in most drivers. In other words, I now have no use for a bike as a public road transportation alternative. For me it's all about the trails. I want to live with all my faculties intact and not have a horrible accident caused by some numbskull driver's impatience. Trails are really boring, though. They usually lack hills, and the scenery is homogenous - either a tunnel of trees, or corn fields. I actually think drivers, overall, have improved their attitude toward bicyclists over the years. In the 70s, stupid local briar drivers would yell or honk their horns at me because I had the temerity to ride a bike on a public road. Today, drivers appear to be somewhat more aware of the rights of bikes. That is much more than balanced out by much increased traffic densities, and much increased driver distraction and driver impatience. I've noticed the last few times I have been in Kettering that Forrer Blvd. has been reduced to 1 vehicular lane in each direction, plus a VERY wide bike lane, painted with accommodation for exiting vehicular traffic. That is only possible because Forrer was sized for the presence of the Delco plant, and since that has disappeared, the reduced traffic volume allowed a dedicated bike lane. I think for bicycling to become more a part of US culture as a day to day thing, we need many more dedicated bike lanes such as that on Forrer Blvd. It's not perfect, but most people are not gonzo enough about cycling to worry about squeezing into vehicular lanes. Yeah, you're technically legal, but most drivers don't want you there and resent you being there. IE - with reference to the Dayton area, in my dreams I would like to see dedicated bike lanes on all major N-S and E-W suburban arteries: Woodman, Wilmington, Far Hills, Whipp, 725, Spring Valley Pike, Social Row/Austin, etc. I believe resources like that would boost ridership substantially. Weaving a bike up and down wheelchair curb ramps onto sidewalks is dangerous. The only problem is, there is absolutely no public or private sector incentive to do this. I suspect that if we have substantial increases in oil prices (unlikely in the forseeable near term) - enough to become a substantial hardship to most drivers - you would see public demand for such an alternative. In conclusion: When I was young, I could see myself being a part time cycling activist/advocate. Now, for me, it's weekend recreation and exercise. And I used to ride my bike in town kind of to prove a point that I was there. I have no interest in that now. The right time (historically speaking) to have done more integration of bicycle traffic with the urban environment is long past - like perhaps in the 90s when public budgets were flush. There's little money or will now. And one last thing. The expansion of the paved bike trails throughout the Miami Valley is truly wonderful. The Xenia-Jamestown Connector is one of my favorite local trails. I think there is an unexploited potential to make trails like that one, and some of the others around the area, more of a regional overnight-stay recreational resource. The only problem with that is that almost all bike trail-specific businesses tend to die after a year or two unless they are in extremely highly trafficked areas. It would be SO cool if bicycles one day replaced the station wagon or minivan as a primary family or couples getaway vehicle of choice. I'm not holding my breath, though.

^ Unless the place were bulldozed and replaced with an office park or apartment, the new owners really have no choice. Anyone operating a water park on that land would have to honor the season passes, without question. Otherwise it would be a monumental PR fail. I read that there is some kind of bond that health club owners are required by law to post that is essentially an insurance policy that refunds long term membership fees if the club goes out of business. I'm kind of surprised that this isn't also required for amusement parks and other businesses that sell future memberships.

Who here really likes Hot Head? I've eaten there a few times (the one in Centerville.) Tasteless food and mushy nachos. I mean, great that it's Dayton based and all, but IMO it's a culinary fail...

I love that part of West Virginia. The setting plus the radio silence zone around the NRAO make the entire area feel like the a$$ end of the universe.

Are bridges of this age and condition implicitly closed to all traffic, ped or otherwise, or are they visibly posted no trespassing? They seem like just blatant examples of attractive nuisance.

The New Hope, Higginsport, and Brown covered bridges - all were bypassed or otherwise closed years or decades ago - they seem to be nonfunctional and safety hazards. (That New Hope bridge is sooo cool but looks really dangerous.) So the questions I'd pose are these: why were they never taken down? Do any of them have any use?

Fort Rain.

You really captured Thomas well. I really like that area. I am looking forward to your take of Davis. Thomas and Davis both have an abandoned, wild west vibe to them that is unusual to find in a close proximity to Ohio.

Lol. What's this about "Hippies Use Side Door?" Most of the businesses in Davis and Thomas wouldn't even exist without the hippies and their hiking and rock climbing smelliness. :laugh: Flying Pigs is a great breakfast place. But these two towns are a bit of a food desert, and almost everything shuts up tight by 9-10 PM.

Sounds very strategic. The drones can buzz the bikeway along Rt. 68 and practice on cyclists and runners. And there's the environment of John Bryant Park to test drone performance in a forest setting.

Saw this on City-Data: A Gap in College Graduates Leaves Some Cities Behind http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/31/us/as-college-graduates-cluster-some-cities-are-left-behind.html?hp&pagewanted=all Burn! for Dayton. :whip:

Yes, after that introduction, there is absolutely no way that anyone on this board could possible want to see those pictures. Geez. Please!

Dayton’s downtown postal facility to close in 2013 http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/daytons-downtown-postal-facility-to-close-in-2013-1377195.html Dayton doesn't rate its own central post office now? The USPS is undergoing a controlled implosion, IMO.

Nit-pickingly atmospheric. Great stuff with lots of little details. These bridges remind me of overnight bike tours I did into Butler and Preble county in the 1970s. This is a nice set.

Top story: Santa Barbara. Ten thousand acres of wooded residential land were scorched in an instant when a laser canon aboard the Strategic Defense Peace Platform misfired today during routine tests. It was a day of mourning for the families of people known dead at this hour. Among them, two former U.S. presidents who had retired in the Santa Barbara area. A day of mourning for a country. - Robocop Sorry for hijacking, mods. I absolutely could not resist. :-)

I guess when you photograph something massive enough, it starts to look more like an illustration. That's what I keep seeing in these photos. Dubai looks more like a CGI simulation than a real city.

The first image in this thread reminds me of Chesley Bonestell paintings (illustrator who specialized in outer space scenes in the 1950s.) The lens flare fits well, IMO.

I think I figured out why interesting period pictures are always so rare to find and why they are therefore such a treat when they show up, like here. It's the contempt of familiarity. People don't respect the familiar enough to preserve it. Especially when they're young. In 1977 I was in college in Dayton, I'd never lived anyplace else, and I had a snide attitude toward everything Dayton. In my short life nothing around me had ever changed that much, so I figured, why should I document any of this dreary, bland, Dayton crap? It will always be here. That was my reasoning. My overly rationalistic, posturing, scientific pea brain could not wrap itself around the fact that one day, everything I lived and grew up around would be history. Kids are so profoundly stupid, y'know? I envy these pictures and I can think of hundreds more I wish I'd taken when I was growing up there. At this point, I'd even like to have a decent picture of that stupid plastic Moler's Dairy cow that stood on S. Smithville Road. But nooo, when I was 18 I was TOO GOOD to lower myself to take that shot! :whip: Anyway, I digress. Steeber, this is quality work. Very evocative of a certain mood as already pointed out. And no sign of hipster-ironic Instagram manipulation, this is the real deal.

Wild animals' are usually darker in color, and grainier. This looks too smooth and regular.

Very nice work. Excellent vintage black and white.

Thanks, guys. I'll dig around. I literally have thousands of neglected old negatives from the 60s and 70s. Holy crap, the name of the mail order place where we ordered this recycled bulk movie film just occurred to me, and they are still in business: http://www.freestylephoto.biz/ It was bugging me. I wish I'd taken stuff like this on better quality film.

This appears to be a festival and parade held in downtown Dayton, Ohio. The date is implied by the movie title shown in the movie marquee (Lowe's Theater, long gone) - "Fool's Parade" starring George Kennedy and Jimmy Stewart, which the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com) says was released in August, 1971. Lowe's showed first-run movies so this nails the approximate time - late summer or early fall, 1971. I seem to recall a "Dayton's 175th Birthday" celebration, which would be correctly indicated by the date also (founding of Dayton 1796 - to 1971.) I have no idea what film, what camera, etc. I think my dad took these pictures. At the time we would buy some 50s or early 60s rangefinder like a vintage Ricoh with a winding lever on the bottom plate of the camera. For film, I was bulk loading 35mm cartridges with Tri-X that was actually surplus movie film that we bought from an el cheapo mail order house. So I suspect this is one of those cameras purchased through ads from some private party advertising in the "Trading Post" using a sub par, grainy, somewhat fogged B&W film, which I hand developed. Of note: - EVERYONE is skinny except the occasional older person (except me, this was immediately prior to my puberty growth spurt.) No ubiquitous fat unwholesome "people of Wal-mart" like today. - No skanky dirty ghetto-ness as we know it today. The worst dressed persons in these photos look like they are wearing what passes for nice clothing today. - Lowe's Theater. (Loew's? Duh, don't remember.) - Revco - Vintage dunk tank. - Downtown Elder-Beerman's flagship store next door to "The Shrimp Boat" restaurant. - The Rike-Kumler company (don't you know.) - The Oscar-Meyer Weinermobile! - Herle's (formal wear) - Virginia Cafeteria - Old-school Rex TV & Appliance sign. - Winter's Bank Tower (aka Kettering Tower) under construction. - Display window at Malone's Camera store on 2nd street. Overall, besides the obvious liveliness of downtown Dayton in those days, the most striking single fact to me is just how bad average people look today. People in public back then just seemed to hold themselves with more dignity and had a better appearance.

I have similar black and white photos taken around downtown Dayton from the mid and late 1970s. They always make me sad - the single striking fact is the sheer quantity of people on foot downtown back then. Downtown wasn't just a grade school student ghetto with loitering youths in the 1970s, it had some vitality. I know exactly why Dayton collapsed through the 80s, 90s and 00's, because I witnessed the changes in the region first hand when I would come back to visit. But it's still sad to be reminded of the "delta" between back then and now.

Boo, hiss: Dayton chooses Colorado firm to create new website Atlas Advertising beat out 15 bids, 5 local, to build site. http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/dayton-chooses-colorado-firm-to-create-new-website-1362876.html I just love that a pro-local business organization contracted with an out of state provider. It's almost Onion material. There are web dev companies and ad agencies with web development sides leaking out of every corner here. IMO they didn't scratch the surface hard enough, or their demands were ridiculous for what they wanted. I think it's probably a combination of arrogance and laziness at work, unless anyone here cares to set up a fake ID to post what really happened. :evil:

RTA can go to Austin Landing because it's still in Montgomery County and Miami Township and there is already RTA bus service in that jurisdiction (IE, there would appear to be no procedural reason why it needs to be approved by voters). I just wonder if it will be put into service.