Neighborhoods

The city of Youngstown will be removing and replacing sections of several sidewalks leading up to two elementary schools.

As a part of the Safe Routes to School Project, the city is replacing 4-foot wide deteriorated sidewalks on four different streets. 

To see the full story from WKBN, click here. 

An art exhibit at the SOAP Gallery in downtown Youngstown is drawing awareness to dangerous sidewalks in the city.

In light of the exhibit, people in Youngstown neighborhoods discussed how they deal with the real-world problem that the photographs put on display.

Jo Tubwell loves nearly everything about her part of Youngstown.

“Except the sidewalks. I’ve fallen flat on my face sometimes trying to walk,” Tubwell said.

A section of sidewalk where she lives has been heaved up by a tree root and water over the years. As people age in the neighborhood, it is becoming a big problem for the residents.

Sidewalks are an issue in many of the city’s older neighborhoods, with uneven sections and portions of concrete missing.

Like many on her street, Tubwell said she can’t afford to pay someone to fix her sidewalk.

“If I had the strength, I could pull my own cement and fix it myself,” Tubwell said.

Cythia Williams from Youngstown said she worries that the broken areas are putting people in danger.

“More or less, walk in the street to avoid all the cracks because if you are elderly, it could trip you up and you could fall. The kids don’t do it, they mostly walk in the streets,” Williams.

Technically, it is the responsibility of property owners to repair their sidewalks.

Councilman Julius Oliver said the city knows many people just cannot afford to do it. Other properties have been abandoned and there’s no one left to take care of the walkways.

Oliver said there just is not enough money to fix them.

“We usually get with neighborhood organizations like YNDC and other groups, go out and try and clear the sidewalks or come up with a program to fix them,” said Oliver.

To see the full story from WKBN, click here. 

When it comes to improving the region, there is a sizable gulf between what issues Youngstown city government can effectively accomplish within its budget and what problems private industry can address while still generating a profit.

Within that gulf, problems are left either unaddressed or become the focus of community and nonprofit organizations.

Groups such as the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp., the Mahoning County Land Bank and Youngstown CityScape emerged to address some of those issues.

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

In a recent Nonprofit Quarterly article, Elizabeth Castillo wrote about the need to recognize resources other than money as important sources of working capital. One of the categories of capital she references is “relational.” This story is a great example of what she is talking about.

Writing in the Vindicator of Youngstown, Ohio, Graig Graziosi provides an excellent window into the “stone soup” approach to community change among the area’s nonprofit and public institutions, which often must address problems caused or left by government and business. (It’s the kind of work we’ll miss when the paper closes its doors at the end of the month.)

The article describes the living dynamic of this as a “lattice-like network of nonprofits and community action groups…constantly growing and contracting as funding shifts and new problems emerge.” Deb Flora, executive director of the Mahoning County Land Bank, remarks on the need for interdependence. Flora, whose public land bank has helped buttress area nonprofits, observes that, “If anyone is thinking of doing any kind of nonprofit work, then they have to understand that collaboration is key. You have to think about who you can work with; you have to have partners.”

As Graziosi notes, through collaboration, the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation(YNDC) “is spared from having to compete against private entities for property and doesn’t have to spend extra money dealing with liens.”

To read the full story from Nonprofit Quarterly, click here.

The Lincoln Knolls neighborhood celebrated Saturday over $100,000 in improvements to Lincoln Knolls Community Park that gives its residents, especially the younger ones, a safe place to play within safe walking distance of their homes.

Young men were playing pick-up basketball on a court sporting upgraded hoops, young children were playing on new playground equipment, and parents and grandparents were sitting around talking and watching the younger people enjoy themselves.

“There was a great need, especially for children 5 to 12,” said Marguerite Douglas, vice president and financial secretary of the Lincoln Knolls Community Watch, who wrote the grant application. 

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

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

On Monday, August 19, The Aimee and Lulu Seidel Foundation awarded a $5,000 grant to support Clean Up Glenwood Avenue, a program aimed at systematically cleaning up and transforming Glenwood Avenue and its adjacent neighborhoods into a safe, stable community with a vibrant corridor that provides a high quality of life and economic opportunity for residents.

All aspects of the program align with priorities set forth in resident-driven neighborhood plans and include the cleanup of  vacant properties, improvement of unmaintained vacant lots, installation of LED lighting at key locations and crossings to improve pedestrian safety, and replacement of broken sidewalks on the streets surrounding Glenwood Community Park, which serves thousands of youth each year. As part of a broader neighborhood revitalization strategy, these improvements have begun to reduce crime and tax delinquency while restoring homeownership, property values, and pedestrian safety. Many thanks to The Aimee and Lulu Seidel Foundation!

Thursday, August 20, 2019

On Thursday, July 11, 2019, the City of Youngstown awarded HOME and CDBG funds to YNDC for multiple housing and neighborhood improvement projects:

HOME45 Owner Occupied Rehabilitation - $150,000
HOME45 Strategic Acquisition and Rehabilitation - $296,192
CDBG45 Limited Repair-  $388,860
CDBG45 REVITALIZE - $35,000
Many thanks to the City of Youngstown, City Council, and Mayor Brown for the support!

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

On Tuesday, August 20, YNDC, the City of Youngstown, and PNC Bank kicked off the renovation of twenty owner occupied homes with an event at 3124 Miltonia Ave in the Sharon Line neighborhood of Youngstown.

Through a partnership with PNC Bank and a $750,000 grant award from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, YNDC will renovate twenty owner occupied homes in the first, second, and sixth wards of Youngstown. The homeowners served by the project will also be provided free access to multiple community services and resources. REVITALIZE.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

On Wednesday, August 21, YNDC replaced sidewalks on W. LaClede and Sherwood Avenues proximate to Glenwood Community Park and the Glenwood Avenue Corridor.

This work is part of Clean Up Glenwood Avenue, a program aimed at systematically cleaning up and transforming Glenwood Avenue and its adjacent neighborhoods into a safe, stable community with a vibrant corridor that provides a high quality of life and economic opportunity for residents.

Nearly two dozen homeowners in Youngstown are getting a hand with some much-needed remodeling and improvements. 

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation recently received a $750,000 grant through the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh.

To read the full story from WKBN, click here.