Neighborhoods

The neighborhood action plans address housing and property issues, such as a need for code enforcement, demolition, housing repairs, or debris cleanup; infrastructure issues, such as a need for street resurfacing, or the repair of non-functioning street lights; safety concerns, such as sites of recent criminal activity; and recommendations for encouraging economic development and community building.

In neighborhoods with a weaker housing market, YNDC and the City of Youngstown will focus on acquisition strategies for vacant, tax delinquent land near major assets to be acquired and assembled for economic development or preservation of open space. These areas may be located near major institutions, existing industrial complexes, or where development is not recommended. Land slated for economic development will be assembled to create sites ideal for development.

In weak market neighborhoods, YNDC plans to develop asset-based micro plans near key neighborhood assets to address key quality of life concerns, such as housing, property, and infrastructure issues, deteriorated sidewalks and crosswalks, missing street lights, and dumping sites.

In specific neighborhoods, demolition and stormwater management strategies will be part of large-scale, coordinated efforts using innovative partnerships to demolish abandoned houses and create sites for the use of green infrastructure projects to mitigate the damaging effects of combined-sewer-overflows during heavy rain events.

Neighborhood action plans, acquisition strategy plans, and asset-based micro plans will be available for download below as they are produced.

Many challenges and opportunities that face Youngstown’s neighborhoods must be examined at the city-wide level in order to develop an effective approach to addressing them.

YNDC has produced a number of plans that seek to examine city-wide obstacles to redevelopment in neighborhoods and that work to utilize limited resources to more effectively serve the needs of city residents.

Throughout the spring of 2014, YNDC and the City of Youngstown conducted 13 neighborhood planning meetings across the city. Residents who attended were asked to identify their top three challenges to be addressed in their community. Residents overwhelmingly identified housing and property issues as the number one challenge they would like to see addressed. These issues include litter, dumping, code violations, vacancies, and abandonment. The second most frequent response involved repairing and maintaining infrastructure, including streets, sidewalks, and street lights. The third most common response was related to reducing crime in the city’s neighborhoods, and the fourth most frequent response involved encouraging economic development, in the form of more businesses, more employment, and improving the condition of the city’s corridors. The Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Report outlines citywide strategies to address these 4 priorities. Each priority section contains a list of action steps, as well as best practices from other cities and organizations, funding opportunities, recommended policy changes, and improved process descriptions.

The Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Report is available for download below.

In 2014, an analysis of Youngstown’s housing market was completed based on a similar model developed by Alan Mallach, with the Center for Community Progress.

Each of the city’s census tracts were included in the analysis in order to measure the level of housing market stability across the city. The analysis took various factors into consideration, including vacancy rate; mortgage ratio (the ratio of home purchase mortgages to total home sales); sales ratio (the ratio of annual single family sales to the total single family inventory); median sales price; homeownership rate; change in homeownership rate; calls for service to the police department; poverty; population loss; and tax delinquency. These variables were compiled into a composite score for each neighborhood, which classifies its housing market into five categories: stable, functional, constrained, weak, and very weak. This market analysis is used as a tool in making policy decisions, as different neighborhood types require unique revitalization strategies.

A detailed description of the market analysis, as well as a map of the City’s neighborhoods by housing market type, is found in the executive summary of the neighborhood conditions report, available for download below.

Monday, January 6, 2014

The YNDC is proud to announce the publishing of its fourth quarterly performance report of 2013!

The performance report highlights the work of YNDC over the fourth quarter of 2013. An electronic copy can be downloaded below.

Monday, January 6, 2014

The YNDC is proud to announce the publishing of its 2013 annual report!

The annual report highlights the work of YNDC over the past twelve months. An electronic copy can be downloaded below and hard copies are available in the YNDC office. For more information please contact the YNDC via email at info@yndc.org or via phone at 330.480.0423.

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. is offering free healthy cooking and urban farming classes at Iron Roots Urban Farm on the city’s South Side.

Classes between January and March will be from 6 to 8 p.m. at the HMHP Foundation Demonstration Kitchen, 822 Billingsgate Avenue, at the rear of Iron Roots Urban Farm. The first class in the series is Tuesday on the topic of seasonal crop planning for urban farming.

The urban farming classes, on Tuesdays, are designed to help families and urban growers gain the skills needed to enhance their current or future micro-enterprise or grow food to feed their families. Topics will include cover crops, hydroponics, and aquaponics.

Cooking classes will be Fridays for beginner and experienced cooks. The classes are designed to work with families and community cooks to help foster a healthier and more sustainable community.

Those interested in registering for the classes, should contact Sophia Buggs at 330-480-0423 or sbuggs@yndc.org.

To read the full story at Vindy.com, click here.

Monday, January 13, 2014

YNDC has begun construction of a Community Workshop facility at its neighborhood revitalization campus on Canfield Road to conduct planning, training, agricultural and neighborhood project activities year-round and on a more frequent basis.

The workshop will be utilized for community projects that require dedicated workshop space including: cutting and painting boards to secure blighted houses, constructing raised beds and benches, processing salvaged materials from demolished homes, producing neighborhood public art, and other construction-related activities that must be performed in a safe, organized and controlled workshop space prior to taking action in neighborhoods. The workshop will be ready for use by early spring 2014.

Friday, January 17, 2014

On January 16th, Presley Gillespie, Executive Director, participated in Better Together: A Community Roundtable in Cleveland, Ohio.

The event was sponsored by the Ohio Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (GOFBCI) and convened nonprofit and congregational leaders from the region to discuss some of the best practices in collaborative efforts that are advancing and flourishing in our community.

The event showcased innovative new tools developed by the GOFBCI and included interactive discussions around critical local issues. Special Speakers included: Jay Hein, President, Sagamore Institute for Policy Research and Former Director, White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, representatives from the Greater University Circle Community Wealth Building Initiative, and a panel of local nonprofit leaders judged “highly effective” by Ohio grantmakers. YNDC is also featured on the organization's website: http://www.brightideasohio.org/youngstown-neighborhood-development-corp…

Monday, January 20, 2014

On Saturday, January 18th, residents, Tabernacle Evangelical Presbyterian Church Volunteers, YNDC staff, YSU students, and other community volunteers participated in a workday in the Idora neighborhood. 

Despite fridgid conditions, more than a dozen volunteers attended, cleaning out two vacant and abandoned homes. The first, 943 Sherwood, will receive exterior repairs funded through the City's recently established foreclosure bond initiative. The second, 862 West Indianola, will be demolished thanks to a generous donation of services from Wolford's Rolloff. The next Idora workday will be held on Saturday, February 15th. To volunteer and assist neighborhood revitalization please contact the YNDC via phone at 330.480.0423 or via email info@yndc.org!

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Executive Directors Presley Gillespie and Debora Flora met with Japanese officials from the Policy Research Institute of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) to discuss local policies and strategies to address vacant and abandoned properties.

MLIT is conducting an extensive study of several U.S cities to inform policy changes related Japan's urban infrastructure, so that Japanese cities can improve their resilience to population decline and natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis, while developing innovative solutions to address vacant properties. The study will focus on the establishment of new land use management and urban design. The Executive Directors provided insight on how the two organizations work together utilizing tax foreclosures, strategic demolition, rehabilitation of vacant parcels and structures, and community lending to return vacant properties to the market. MLIT representatives also met with the City of Youngstown Community Development Agency and the Cuyahoga County Land Bank.

Upon completion of the research, MLIT will draft a policy proposal to the Japanese government.