Neighborhoods

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

YNDC has acquired the former Bob's Barbershop at 3701 Glenwood Avenue.

The property will be improved in the coming months. YNDC is currently renovating 3711 Glenwood Avenue, a four unit apartment building adjacent to this property. 

Monday, September 19, 2022

On Monday, September 12, the Ruth Beecher Charitable Trust awarded a $15,000 grant to YNDC for the purchase of a dump truck.

The truck will replace YNDC's aging dump truck and enhance our clean up and neighborhood stabilization capacity. Thank you to the Ruth Beecher Charitable Trust for the support!

Monday, September 19, 2022

On Tuesday, September 13, The Youngstown Foundation approved a $100,000 grant for the revitalization of the Foster Theater.

The grant award will be used toward the replacement of the roof. Huge thank you to The Youngstown Foundation for the support!

City council plans Wednesday to approve $344,120 in American Rescue Plan-funded projects recommended by its members, but administration officials said the vagueness of some of the requests could lead to them to go nowhere.

Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said the language in some of these council requests to spend ARP money, as well as those approved Aug. 24, is not specific enough for the project funding to be allocated.

“It’s vague,” Brown said Monday at council’s finance committee meeting. “There has to be more specifics if BOC (board of control) is to approve it.”

If a council request is too vague, Brown said, “We can’t do anything with it.”

The board of control consists of Brown, Law Director Jeff Limbian and Finance Director Kyle Miasek.

Limbian mentioned Councilwoman Basia Adamczak’s request for $146,222 to hire a quality of life and property maintenance ambassador for her ward, the 7th, for two years through the Youngstown Neighborhood Develop-ment Corp.

“Frankly, I was stymied by this,” he said. “Unless the position is created, I don’t know how we hire someone.”

After further discussion, Adamczak asked that the legislation be changed for Wednesday’s meeting to have YNDC “provide” the ambassador rather than “hire.”

To see the full story from The Vindicator, click here.

At Wednesday's Youngstown City Council meeting, close to $400k in American Rescue Plan funds were approved to go to a variety of improvement projects for different wards in the city.

These funds will go towards implementing art projects downtown, sidewalk improvements along Glenwood Avenue, and providing a Quality of Life & Property Maintenance ambassador for Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation.

Councilwoman Basia Adamczak told 21 News quality of life concerns are on the rise in her 7th ward and there are currently only 4 code enforcement workers for the entire city.

To see the full story from WKBN, click here.

I was asked a question yesterday about The Sharonline neighborhood on Youngstown’s East side.

Until a few years ago, I was unaware of this neighborhood. I first learned of it when I wrote a post on sides of town and the different neighborhoods on each side of town. But I still didn’t know much about it, which is how I end up writing many of these articles.

So where is The Sharonline? The Sharonline Page demarcates the area as bounded on the north by Hubbard, on the south by McKelvey Lake, on the west by Lansdowne Boulevard and on the east by State Route 616. The Youngstown Neighborhood Development map below sets the west boundary further east following Early, McGuffey, and Jacobs Road.

So why is this neighborhood called “The Sharonline”? In the early twentieth century, there were street car connections between many cities.  The Youngstown-Sharon Railway and Light Co. operated a street car or trolley line between Youngstown and Sharon that ran along Jacobs Road. It was known as the Sharonline, and so was the neighborhood that was growing up around this street car line. Youngstown, Campbell, and Sharon were rapidly growing steel towns and The Sharonline was well-located between these industrial centers.

The earliest residents were Irish immigrants. Soon, though, the Italian community became and remained dominant for many years. Later the neighborhood became predominantly Black and Latino. City planners thought that this more rural area of Youngstown would develop with a growing population. Instead, the population moved to the suburbs, with decline accelerating after the closure of the steel mills.

To see the full story from Bob on Books, click here.

Monday. September 26, 2022

Margaret and her family have lived in their home for over 17 years.

Severe roof leaks were causing damage throughout her home. By replacing Margaret’s roof, YNDC eliminated the leaks and prevented further damage. “When it would rain real hard it would drip down the kitchen cupboard and it would leak in the bedroom so now that it is fixed we no longer have leaks and it is awesome. It’s just wonderful not having to put pots and pans down for leaks anymore. It’s wonderful that there is a program to help people out that need it,” Margaret said.

Monday, September 26, 2022

On Thursday, September 22, the Wells Fargo Foundation awarded YNDC with a $15,000 grant for Housing Counseling.

The Housing Counseling Program empowers low- to moderate-income residents to identify and overcome barriers to homeownership, including inadequate savings, income, credit history, and understanding of the home buying process, and prepare them for future homeownership; and to provide existing low- to moderate-income homeowners with resources to maximize their limited incomes and minimize repair costs so that they can avoid foreclosure and improve their living conditions. Thank you to the Wells Fargo Foundation for their support!

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

The City of Youngstown has awarded HOME and CDBG funds to YNDC for multiple housing and neighborhood improvement projects:

HOME48 Strategic Acquisition and Rehabilitation - $300,000
HOME48 New Construction - $300,000
CDBG48 Roof Replacement  - $346,319
CDBG48 Emergency Repair - $350,000
CDBG48 REVITALIZE - $40,000

Many thanks to the City of Youngstown, Community Planning and Economic Development, City Council, and Mayor Brown for the support and partnership!

Monday, October 3, 2022

YNDC has been selected as the CDC of the Year in the State of Ohio by the Ohio Community Development Corporation Association (OCDCA).

YNDC received the award at OCDCA's Annual Conference on September 30 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The award is given to the most impactful CDC for the previous one year period. This is the second time YNDC has received the award. 
The Ohio CDC Association is a statewide membership organization, composed of more than 300 members, that fosters vibrant neighborhoods and improves the quality of life in all communities through advocacy and capacity building of its member agencies.