Neighborhoods

Just a few hours after being recognized by Youngstown Mayor Tito Brown, workers with the AmeriCorps Service Program were back to work cleaning up the south side.

Despite the wind and rain, the young people collected trash and cleaned sidewalks along Mercer Avenue on Tuesday.

Mayor Brown honored the program and the work volunteers are doing. The men and women in AmeriCorps say it's taught them important lessons.

“I like my coworkers, and I really do enjoy the work. I enjoy going to the houses and getting my hands dirty,” Steven Bunetta, an AmeriCorps team member. To read the full story from WKBN, click here.

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

A citywide vacancy survey was completed in February 2018 that identified 2,686 vacant residential and commercial structures. This a 31 percent reduction in the number of vacant properties counted in 2016 and great news for the City of Youngstown!

The survey categorized vacant properties by condition.  A-rated properties are in good condition; C-rated properties are in fair condition; and F-rated properties are in poor condition and are in critical need of demolition.  The number of vacant properties is down significantly since 2016 when 3,910 structures were identified as vacant.  More than 1,000 properties were demolished by the City of Youngstown and the Mahoning County Land Bank and dozens of homes have seen significant repairs and investment in 2016 and 2017. A high resolution version of the results can be downloaded below.

The number of vacant properties in Youngstown is down. Ten years ago, there were 5,000. Right now, that number has been cut in half and that means big things for the city.

A survey of vacant properties in Youngstown has found a dramatic shift. There were 3,910 during the last survey two years ago, but in February, there were only 2,686.

"Certainly, we want the pace to be quicker, with estimates saying 30 percent in two years," said Ian Beniston, with the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation. "That's as good a rate as anywhere in the country."

Beniston identified the center of the south side as an area where activity could be more aggressive to reduce vacancies.

The numbers reflect demolition by the city and county land bank, code enforcement to have owners improve properties and even YNDC fixing up houses.

"The housing situation and having vacant housing that can't be repaired, that's a challenge that we've needed to overcome for some time and it appears we're finally getting somewhere," said Deb Flora, with the Mahoning County Land Bank.

The land bank has done its part with 578 demos. That statistic is countywide, but 70 percent have been in Youngstown.

It will do another 400 before exhausting over $14 million of reimbursements by June 2019.

YNDC is fixing 90-year-old apartments on Clearmont Drive right now as part of a neighborhood revitalization. It has rehabbed 100 houses in the last three years. To read the full story from WYTV, click here.

Downtown Youngstown is covered with tons of concrete. With miles of sidewalks, vast slabs on Federal Plaza and well-traversed roads, it’s a crucial element of the infrastructure.

But when it rains, all that concrete surface can cause problems. Water runs off the sidewalks and roads into storm drains, taking with it the trash, debris, automotive fluids and anything else that’s loose. When that debris can’t get to the drains, which is often, it piles up along curbs and in chuckholes as water pools and floods parking spaces.

At a spot in front of the former State Theatre, Youngstown CityScape associate director Phil Kidd points to a problem area. On a bump out – a portion of sidewalk that extends into the street, usually near a corner – is a space where a tree once stood. The space has since been covered with bricks and cigarette butts, sticks, leaves and loose papers piled deep along the curb. A grate sits in the middle of a handicap parking spot. To read the full story from The Business Journal, click here. 

Youngstown was given a spot on U-S News & World Report's list of Best Places to live.

The list looked at 125 cities -- Youngstown was ranked 108. 

The entry says Youngstown is in the midst of a cultural and economic renaissance.

It also touts the efforts of local businesses and the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation, for helping to attract people to the city.

Austin, Texas topped the list with Colorado Springs and Denver, Colorado in tow. 

Youngstown was followed in rank by Albuquerque, New Mexico and Miami, Florida. To read the full story from WKBN, click here. 

YOUNGSTOWN

Mahoning Valley Young Professionals, in partnership with Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. and Cardinal Mooney High School, will be cleaning up the South Side neighborhood by the high school, 2545 Erie St., from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. today. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here.

U.S. News and World Report, in its annual Best Places to Live report, ranked Youngstown No. 108 out of 125 metro areas in the United States.

U.S. News analyzed 125 metro areas to find the best places to live based on quality of life and the job market in each metro area, as well as the value of living there and people's desire to live there.

125 Best Places to Live

Writer Beth Ann Tabak, in her profile on Youngstown, says, "Located halfway between Pittsburgh and Cleveland, Youngstown is still reflective of the steel industry's collapse in the 1970s. But this Rust Belt city is in the midst of a cultural and economic renaissance that combines rich historical tradition with the zeal of a new generation. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here. 

Out of the top 125 metro areas to live in the United States, Youngstown ranks 108, according to U.S. News & World Report’s annual Best Places to Live rankings.

Youngstown ranked ahead of Miami, New Orleans, Albuquerque, N.M., Memphis, Tenn., and Fresno, Calif.

The magazine’s top five best cities to live, in order, are Austin, Texas,; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Denver; Des Moines, Iowa; and Fayetteville, Ark.

According to its website, the magazine analyzed 125 metro areas to find the best places to live. To make the top of the list, a place had to have good value, be a desirable place to live, have a strong job market and a high quality of life. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here.

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

On Saturday, April 14, more than 100 volunteers helped to beautify the area around Cardinal Mooney High School at the Southside Neighborhood Cleanup Workday.

Volunteers from Alpha Omicron Pi, Alpha Phi Delta, Alpha Theta Delta, Alpha Xi Delta, Boulevard Park Block Watch, Cardinal Mooney High School, Delta Zeta, Horizon Science Academy , Metro Assembly of God, Mahoning Valley Young Professionals, Omicron Xi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Chi, Sigma Tau Gamma, Team Rubicon, Theta Chi, YSU, YSU Honors College, and Zeta Tau Alpha participated in the workday. Over the course of four hours, volunteers removed 50 cubic yards of brush, 30 cubic yards of trash, and 26 tires from several lots adjacent to Cardinal Mooney High School. Volunteers also scraped 434 linear feet of sidewalks. Thank you to all the volunteers for their hard work! 

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

YNDC is getting the work done in 2018! Here are some
highlights of our work to date in 2018:

61 new clients were enrolled in HUD-approved housing
counseling

248 volunteers cleared 774 yards of debris and removed 110
tires at 5 workdays

126 students attended 20 Safe Routes to School events

9 vacant homes were rehabilitated