Youngstown, Ohio

Youngstown is a city located in Mahoning and Trumbull counties in Ohio, on the Mahoning River, 67 miles southeast of Cleveland, Ohio.

Problems—yet hope

The cityscape of Youngstown itself is rather a marvel for its lack of new tall buildings. From some angles it looks frozen in time at about 1940. Except for the university, the downtown proper is fairly quiet with mainly government services and banks. There is not one new car dealer operating any longer within the city limits; for most shopping one must go to the suburbs of Boardman, Niles, Austintown, or Liberty.

Related Topics:
1940 - Car dealer - Boardman - Niles - Austintown - Liberty

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Many think, however, that the city has already reached rock bottom and is on the rebound. A new state office complex (the George Voinovich Government Center) has been completed, as have two new federal courthouses, one with an award-winning design by architect Robert Stern.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As of 2005, Federal Street (formerly Federal Plaza, a failed attempt to create a pedestrian-only shopping complex) in downtown has been reopened to through traffic. In addition, several new government and office buildings are being built downtown, and many city school buildings are either being rebuilt or revamped. The city has hopes of a downtown renaissance.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Construction began on 60-home upscale development called Bailey Center in 2004, and a grant from the U.S. Dept. of HUD allowed for the demolition of Westlake Terrace, a public housing project that was one of the most dilapidated and crime-ridden areas of the city (it is being replaced with a mixture of senior housing, rental townhouses and for-sale single-family homes). Low real estate prices and the fervent efforts of the Youngstown Central Area Improvement Corporation (CIC) have resulted in the purchase of several long-abandoned downtown buildings (many by out-of-town investors) and their restoration and conversion into specialty shops, restaurants, and eventually condominia, and a nonprofit organization called Wick Neighbors is planning a $250 million New Urbanist revitalization of Smoky Hollow, a neighborhood that borders both downtown and the YSU campus. The neighborhood will eventually comprise about 400 residential units, YSU student housing, retail space, and a central park, with construction slated to begin in 2006.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the late 1950s and early 1960s there were so many Mafia-related murders and other crimes in Youngstown that the city earned the nickname "Bomb City" and the phrase "Youngstown tuneup" became a popular nickname for a car bombing. Today, the city has successfully ferreted out the Mob influences that had plagued and corrupted its government for years; the climax of this effort was the arrest, trial, and 2002 conviction of former US Representative James A. Traficant Jr. on bribery and racketeering charges.

Related Topics:
Mafia - 2002 - Representative - James A. Traficant Jr.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Providing a glimmer of industrial hope is the Youngstown Business Incubator, a downtown nonprofit organization housed in a former department store building where fledgling technology-based companies can grow. The incubator currently has about 16 business tenants and will soon begin construction on a multi-million dollar downtown technology center where some of its largest firms will relocate. This effort is expected to retain hundreds of good-paying jobs and eventually create hundreds more.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Also under construction is the Youngstown Convocation Center, which was made possible by a $26 million federal grant. Located on former steel mill property in front of the downtown skyline, the new arena will seat about 5,500, and has as its anchor tenant a hockey team, the Steelhounds, who will compete in the Central Hockey League in 2005-06. An Af2 franchise in Youngstown has also been approved, but they will not be able to begin play until at least 2007. The City also plans to develop vacant land adjacent to the convocation center, either as a park, a riverwalk (the Mahoning River flows through the site), an amphitheater, or possibly a new athletic stadium for use by the city's public and private high schools.

Related Topics:
Youngstown Convocation Center - Hockey - Central Hockey League - Af2 - Mahoning River

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The City of Youngstown, in partnership with the University, has created an ambitious urban renewal plan called Youngstown 2010, which aims to create a "cleaner, greener, and better planned and organized Youngstown" by strengthening declining neighborhoods, creating new mixed-use zoning districts throughout the city, and converting large tracts of land into green space.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~