Twenty-five years ago, David Giffels – then a columnist for the Akron Beacon Journal – wrote an article with 10 questions and predictions for the year 2025. The article was subsequently placed in a time capsule and opened this past summer as part of the city’s bicentennial celebration.
These days, Giffels is an award-winning author of 7 books and an assistant professor at the University of Akron.
Ideastream Public Media's Anna Huntsman spoke with him about those predictions and what he thinks the next 25 years hold.
There were a few things that you got pretty spot-on, including [that] you were wondering whether the Akron Beacon Journal would still exist. You wrote: ‘What are you using now [to read it?] Some kind of portable electronic tablet, something one can read in the bathroom, I hope.’ How did you know that?
I have no idea because I was even, at that point, I was really resistant to using a cell phone. So, to see my cyber intelligence was quite surprising to me.
You were also wondering about the Akron Aeros (Class AA affiliate of the then-Cleveland Indians) and if they would still exist, and if Canal Park [where they played] would still exist. They both do, but they have different names: Canal Park will become 7 17 Credit Union Park in 2026, and now the Aeros are known as the Akron RubberDucks, the Class AA affiliate of the Guardians.
I mean, at that time, in 2000, Canal Park was really important because it was the first cornerstone in the rebirth of Downtown Akron, which had been, you know, a really a desolate wasteland not long before that. So, I understand why Canal Park was one of the things I would choose to make a prediction on, and I'm glad to see how resilient it's been. And that, again, even though it is changing, it remains a really strong component of what the central city is.
I did want to talk about some of the predictions that sort of missed the mark. You thought the city would have some modest population growth. That hasn't happened.
No, I mean, the numbers I quoted in the column, [in] the decade I was born, the 1960s, Akron's population peaked at 290,000. And when I was writing that column, it had dropped to about 211,000. I predicted it would go up by about 7,000 and instead , [the city] has lost more than 20,000, so that one really stings because at that point we were really trying to turn a corner and didn't. So, it makes me think now, okay, this is a good time to take stock and what does that mean now, and how do we look at, if not growth, like stabilization or right-sizing, or whatever word you would use, to sort of think about what Akron should be focused on.
I have a new prediction, which is, I feel like climate change is going to drive population toward places like us, the Midwest and the Great Lakes region, where we have this massive resource of water, and we aren't on the coasts that are really being affected by weather. I will make a bold prediction that 25 years from now, Akron will be growing with people migrating from the coasts.
I was going to ask you if you had any predictions for the next 25 years, so that's one. Is there anything else that you are seeing in the crystal ball?
I predicted 25 years ago that the Goodyear blimps would no longer be based in Akron … and I'm going to reset, and I am going to predict 25 years from now, Akron will still be the home of the Goodyear blimp. I'm going to predict that people will still be going to Barberton for chicken that's fried in lard, and I'm going to predict that that Diamond Grille will still be serving steaks.
What's something else that '2000 David Giffels' would be shocked to find out? I was thinking maybe about the Cleveland Cavaliers finally winning a championship, of course with LeBron James, who was still in high school when you wrote that initial column.
Yeah, to think that LeBron was still in high school, and I wouldn't even have thought to make a prediction about the person who has become the most famous Akronite, probably ever, is kind of mind-blowing. I predict that 25 years from now, LeBron James will be some sort of a mega media mogul, you know, like a completely new version of his superhuman fame.
Editor's note: this conversation has been edited for clarity.
