Neighborhoods

Youngstown State University’s Center for Urban and Regional Studies unveiled a citywide economic development plan at the Covelli Centre on Tuesday.

The city and the university collaborated on the plan, which was the product of a $220,000 grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

The 495-page document sets goals for development, identifies opportunity sites, includes case studies comparing Youngstown to similar cities and outlines a marketing campaign for the city.

The plan is focused on encouraging entrepreneurial activity, training citizens for jobs available in the city, creating a consortium of anchor institutions, promoting growth, continuing growth of the city core, increasing economic development in neighborhoods and investing in corridor and infrastructure upgrades.

Ronald Chordas, executive director of the Center for Urban and Regional Studies, presented the plan. He acknowledged the difficulty of implementing plans and said it will require long-term commitments from stakeholders, the community holding itself accountable and continued coordination and collaboration.

“The difference I see between this and other plans that have been around awhile is groups like CityScape, YSUScape — these young people are engaged in this process,” Chordas said. “They aren’t content to just let it die.”

He said it is easy to get federal grants for planning, but it’s more difficult to obtain funding to implement those plans.

“I’d like to see the federal government change their focus a little bit,” Chordas said. “We have enough plans. Let’s work on implementing these plans.”

Mayor John McNally said previous planning efforts like Youngstown 2010 — which focused on the growth of 58 different neighborhoods — were too broadly focused.

“That’s too much for a city to take on,” McNally said. “They certainly didn’t have the resources to do everything in the plan.”

Despite that, the mayor said Youngstown 2010 still inspired positive things, like the establishment of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation.

“From larger plans, we’ve got smaller pieces of work being done,” McNally said.

He said the current plan’s identification of opportunity zones and corridors are good for both the city and neighborhood groups who want to contribute to economic development.

They went corridor by corridor, identifying 1,200 acres across 2,000 parcels in the center city, along corridors and off corridors. Some of the corridors targeted for development are South Avenue, Market Street, Belmont Avenue, Oak Street and Poland Avenue.

Nick Chretien, an intern with the Center for Urban Research and Studies, helped with this part of the research.

“That was my life for a few months. It was pretty fun though, just finding different locations for potential businesses — both commercial and industrial — throughout the city,” Chretien said.

Thomas Maraffa, a geography professor who helped with the research, compared Youngstown with benchmark cities like Scranton, Pennsylvania, Green Bay, Wisconsin, Toledo, Ohio and Flint, Michigan.

“You want them to be comparable, but also aspirational,” Maraffa said.

He found that our central business district is near the bottom of the benchmark cities in terms of employment, establishments and payroll. However, our payroll per employee is near the middle of the distribution. In Youngstown, about two percent of the city’s employment, establishments and payroll are concentrated in the central business district. In other cities, it’s between 15 and 20 percent.

Maraffa said you could take the glass half-empty view that we are lagging behind other cities, or the optimistic view that we have room to grow, and it’s possible to do more with what we have.

Dominic C. Marchionda, city-university planner for the Center for Urban Research and Studies, said central business districts traditionally have the capacity to house about 10 percent of residents in a metropolitan statistical area. That means Youngstown could support nearly 6,000 more housing units if more jobs and businesses were located downtown for those residents.

Mike Hripko, associate vice president for research at YSU, said he will be taking on more responsibilities on behalf of the university for implementation of the plan.

“Those high level goals we’re going to maintain,” Hripko said. “Our strategies and our plans may change, but if we keep these in front of us as our top seven goals we’ll be directionally correct going forward.”

Hripko said establishing the consortium of anchor institutions is a big part of that, and the university has signed a memorandum of understanding with Mercy Health.

Chordas said the Center for Urban and Regional Studies will be coordinating efforts to obtain grants and financing.

“We have the connections to make it happen, so we’re going to be a big part of raising money and going forward with everything,” Chordas said.

McNally said the university and city realize they are joined at the hip in development efforts and their decision to work together is reason to be optimistic.

“The plan is continuing to foster and improve on the relationship between the city and the university,” McNally said. “I think you’re going to continue to see a lot more positive interaction between the two entities.”

To view the full coverage, click here.

Monday, September 28, 2015

A new splash pad has been installed in John White Park, on the East Side, just off of McGuffey Rd.

Construction will soon begin on a second splash pad in Homestead Park, on the South Side. The splash pads include water features, such as jets, that shoot water, providing a place for kids to play during the hot summer months. The splash pads are ADA-accessible and can be used by children regardless of ability level. YNDC and the City of Youngstown worked together to submit a grant application to the Hine Fund, administered by the Youngstown Foundation, which was funded for $35,000.

Monday, September 28, 2015

The first Better Block event in Youngstown was held on Saturday, September 26th, on Mahoning Avenue on the West Side.

The street was completely transformed for the day with bike lanes, street trees, outdoor seating, live music, a farmer's market, a cafe, and two art galleries. The goal of the event was to show the potential of Mahoning Avenue, highlight local artists and businesses, and spur more permanent improvements in the future. Future Better Block events will be held on the North, South, and East Sides. The NOMA Better Block will take place on Friday, October 2 and Saturday, October 3. The Midlothian Better Block will take place on Sunday, October 25, and a Better Block will be planned for the East Side in the spring of 2016.

Monday, September 28, 2015

On Monday, September 28th, the Youngstown Foundation awarded YNDC $20,000 to purchase equipment for AmeriCorps REVITALIZE construction training.

The funds will be utilized to purchase sanding and insulation equipment for training AmeriCorps members with additional construction skills for future employment.

Monday, September 28, 2015

On Friday, September 25th, the Burton D. Morgan Foundation awarded YNDC $40,000 for the enhancement of small business development programming in 2016.

The funds will be used to provide additional microloans in 2015, provide for classes and educational opportunities, and fund credit counseling for both aspiring and operating business owners. Current small business activities at YNDC include Bright Idea to Business Plan classes, microloans, and financial counseling.

Monday, September 28, 2015

From September 2, 2014 through September 1, 2015, 10 AmeriCorps members, all Youngstown residents, committed a year of service to to YNDC to board up, clean-up, repair, and rehabilitate vacant properties in our city's neighborhoods.

Over the course of this year, these AmeriCorps REVITALIZE team members boarded up and cleaned up 482 vacant homes in over a dozen neighborhoods across the city and rehabilitated 13 vacant and previously abandoned housing units. Seven AmeriCorps members successfully completed their full year of service and earned a Segal Education Award, which can help to pay for tuition at college or trade school to further their careers. Six of these members have renewed their service commitment for a second year.

The success and impact of the program's first year led both the City of Youngstown and ServeOhio to increase support for the project for the 2015-2016 program year. The YNDC REVITALIZE AmeriCorps program now hosts 13 AmeriCorps members and has an expanded scope of service. New activities include cutting grass for the city's nearly 3,000 vacant and unmaintained vacant homes and additional rehabilitation work that helps to increase the construction skills of the members and expand YNDC's capacity to rehabilitate more houses.

A community development group works to rebuild neighborhoods in Youngstown.

The Better Block event on Youngstown's West side is an effort to show what Mahoning Avenue could become on a regular basis.

The sides of the street were filled with pop-up businesses such as vendors, farmers markets, outdoor cafes, a bike lane and more Saturday from 10 am to 8 pm.

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation hopes this will be the beginning of neighborhood re-investment.

“There is an art gallery inside Casa Rameriz that we set up last night. Further up is a little café that has a sculpture gallery. We were serving crepes earlier this morning. Right behind me I think there is a bus stop that we built and the trolley has been stopping there to go into Mill Creek Park,” said Tom Hetrick, YNDC Neighborhood Planner.

A Better Block event will take place October 2nd and 3rd on the city's North side between Madison and Park Avenue.

Better Block events are also planned for Youngstown's East and South sides.

To read the full coverage, click here.

The city is considering taking ownership of the parcels that once housed the McGuffey Plaza and Garland Plaza, which used to be among the main shopping centers on the East Side.

In recent years, the plazas fell into such disrepair that most of them have been demolished. Currently, Tiny’s News & Beverage, and K&P’s Family Sportswear are the only businesses open, both in McGuffey.

The properties, previously owned by Cafaro Co. subsidiaries, were purchased in auction by D&E Holdings LLC of Canfield for $150,000 in October 2013 with the purchase finalized two months later. Cafaro didn’t sell the Tiny’s location as it is allowing that business’ owner to buy it over time, said Joe Bell, Cafaro Co. spokesman.

David E. Bonamase, D&E’s statutory agent, has been serving a 21-month federal prison sentence, that started in September 2014, after he was convicted of willful failure to collect or pay tax related to another business he owned.

D&E did some demolition work there, but left behind much debris and has failed to keep the property in good shape, said Mayor John A. McNally.

The city’s street department cleaned debris this summer as well as mowed the grass and removed weeds – including those in the parking lots – with the city then hiring Billet Landscaping of Youngstown to do the work for $25 an hour, McNally said. The company has so far put in 128 hours, costing the city $3,200, he said.

City law department officials have had ongoing discussions with Andrew R. Zellers, D&E’s attorney, about “holding them responsible for the costs,” and maintaining the property, said Nicole Billec, an assistant law director. A lien is a possibility if D&E won’t pay, she said.

The city is doing a title search on the McGuffey and Garland properties to see who owns all of the land – which total about 25 to 30 acres – and if there are any tax liens, McNally said.

“We may decide to foreclose on the properties,” he said.

“The cleanup of the site has fallen into our lap. I have no idea what we’d do with the properties, but it might be in our best interest to own the site. It’s too early to think about that. My priority is to make it much cleaner."

If the city does take ownership of the parcels, McNally said his administration would meet with the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp., the city’s planners who have come up with a proposed plan for the location, and the Northeast Homeowners and Concerned Citizens Association Inc., a neighborhood organization that asked the city to get involved in making sure the location is in good shape.

“It’s been going down for years, and it looks like a mess,” said Artis Gillam Sr., president of the association and a former city councilman.

“I would love for the city to take it over. It would enable folks to lease the land so they could build something there. I’d like to see a pharmacy, a grocery store and a barber shop.”

Zellers couldn’t be reached Friday by The Vindicator to comment.

With input from neighbors, YNDC came up with a proposed site plan for the plazas that was finished in July.

The proposal is to relocate Tiny’s and K&P’s, and combine the two plazas with nearby vacant land owned by the school district and the Ohio Department of Transportation – a total of about 76 acres – to eventually use it for light industrial and/or commercial use.

“It’s one of the more viable areas in the city in the future for growth,” said Ian Beniston, YNDC executive director.

“It would take a couple of years to develop. But there aren’t many sites in the city with this kind of acreage of clean land. I strongly recommend the city buy the land.”

McGuffey was one of the first development properties of William M. Cafaro, founder of the Cafaro Co.

At one point the location was a thriving business location with department stores, restaurants, a bank, a pharmacy, a bowling alley and other businesses, Gillam said.

Mahoning County’s Department of Job and Family Services rented space at Garland from 1988 until its 2007 move to Oakhill Renaissance Place, the former Forum Health Southside Medical Center, owned by the county.

Prosecutors indicted McNally, when he was a county commissioner, and two others last year claiming they were part of a criminal enterprise that illegally, and unsuccessfully, tried to impede or stop the move.

He and the two others have pleaded not guilty to the 83 criminal counts.

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

Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. and other organizations are trying to bring life back to the city’s West Side with a new event, the first of a four-part series that began Saturday.

The first Mahoning Avenue Better Block took place from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Mahoning Avenue between Steel Street and Whitney Avenue. Pop-up businesses, outdoor cafes, art galleries, performances and exhibitions lined the busy street. Cones were used to redirect traffic passing through the event.

“They’ve done Better Blocks all across the country,” said Tom Hetrick, YNDC neighborhood planner and event organizer.

The Mahoning Avenue Better Block was made possible through support from YNDC, William Swanston Charitable Fund, Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley, Garden District Neighborhood Association, Mill Creek MetroParks, Friends of Fellows Riverside Gardens, Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, the city and Councilman Mike Ray, D-4th.

“My goal is to get some interest in the [city’s] corridors,” Hetrick said.

Among the exhibitors was Marcie Applegate of Boardman, a local artist and grower, selling homemade jam and produce in the afternoon.

“I think it’s a great thing to bring people together,” she said.

Scores of people steadily came throughout the day. Diane Herman and her daughter, Emily Herman, both from the West Side, bought some produce at the event.“I’m happy to see it’s brightening up the area,” Diane said.

And in front of the parking lot next to the Casa Ramirez Mexican Restaurant, Mike Kopsic of the West Side was playing some tunes on his guitar to bring attention to Sandra Sainto of Poland and her artwork.

“Youngstown is kind of in a dip,” he said.

He said the event brings a vibe normally seen in New York City and other larger cities with its own display of local artists and musicians.

“The coolest thing about this is that it’s only one of a few places where you can walk into and not think you’re in old Youngstown,” he said.

Hetrick said YNDC will have another better block on the city’s North Side at Elm Street, between Madison and Park avenues, Friday and Saturday.

For information about the better block project, visit www.betterblock.org.

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

It was a preview of what Mahoning Avenue in Youngstown could look like one day.

The Mahoning Avenue Better Block event between Steel Street and Milton Avenue on Saturday featured outdoor cafes, pop-up businesses, art galleries and performances.

Organizer say it’s also important to highlight the businesses already on Mahoning Avenue, but to look at how small changes can help transform the area.

Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation put on today’s Better Block event, that also included bicycle lanes on the street. “There’s a decent amount of traffic, especially in this area right here, it’s perfect for bike lanes so that’s why we wanted to have the two bike lanes on the side,” said Tom Hetrick with YNDC. “It being so close to the park it makes sense for people to be able to ride in and out of the park.”

There’s another event on October 25th on Midlothian Boulevard between Sheridan Road and Irma Avenue.

To view full coverage, click here.