Neighborhoods

Ian Beniston won’t hesitate to tell you that he’s happy to have seen a red ribbon instead of red tape.

“We all need more housing, so for me, this represents the fulfillment of that goal,” said Beniston, the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp.’s executive director.

To read the full aticle from The Vindicator, click here.

“The east side has not been forgotten,” Mayor Derrick McDowell said on July 7 during a groundbreaking ceremony with the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation.

To read the full article from Mahoning Matters, click here.

Thursday, July 16, 2026

The Canfield Christian Church provided a $5,000 donation to YNDC in support of the Glenwood Fresh Market. The Glenwood Fresh Market provides year-round access to FREE fresh fruits, vegetables, and other healthy food items to residents of Mahoning County. The market also provides free health screenings, nutrition literacy courses, cooking demonstrations and other resources to members. 

Mahoning County residents can become members if they are a household living under 130 percent of Federal Poverty Guidelines or a SNAP recipient. 

Thank you to the Canfield Christian Church!

Thursday, July 16, 2026

YNDC and project partners broke ground for six new single-family homes coming to the City of Youngstown's west side. The groundbreaking took place at 605 S. Belle Vista in the Rocky Ridge Neighborhood.

Executive Director of YNDC Ian Beniston said YNDC has a long history of stabilization in the neighborhood. "Our work really started here over a decade ago working with the Rocky Ridge Neighborhood group, which remains one of the more active neighborhood groups in the city. Together with them and the city, we developed what we called the Rocky Ridge Neighborhood Action Plan. Within that, we had a lot of priority properties we needed to deal with to stabilize the neighborhood. Many of those, thankfully, the city and the land bank were able to eliminate, including the one where we are standing. Previous to today, we built back homes on several of those sites. Most recently, earlier this year we wrapped up houses right on Wilkinson."

There will be multiple models of new homes, each featuring at least three bedrooms, two bathrooms, an open-concept living, kitchen, and dining area, a first or second-floor laundry room, a front porch, and a two-car garage. The homes will be listed for sale upon completion and will include a 100 percent, fifteen-year property tax abatement on the new construction. At 605 S. Belle Vista, the model of home will feature four bedrooms, an option that was requested by multiple homebuyers.

Executive Director of the Mahoning County Land Bank Deb Flora said she hopes the number of ribbon cuttings and groundbreakings changes the attitude surrounding development in the region. "It is all signaling to the community that we are trying to increase what we are doing in the housing space, and that's because the partners understand how important this is in Youngstown, and beyond that, we have more housing options. Options at different price points. Options in the different styles and types of homes that buyers have desired. We were in this glut for a long time about housing unavailability, but hopefully with all of these announcements people are encouraged by housing availability."

The project is supported by American Rescue Plan funding from the City of Youngstown. The vacant lots were assembled by the City of Youngstown and Mahoning County Land Bank. This follows the completion of six new homes on the west side that have been sold to homeowners in addition to other neighborhood stabilization activities.  

This groundbreaking brings the total number of new single-family homes under construction by YNDC to 34.

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC) and the city broke ground Thursday on new homes on the West Side.

To read the full article from WKBN, click here.

Within several months, the city’s West Side will include six new single-family homes.

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp., the city, Mahoning County Land Bank and other partners and supporters led a ceremonial groundbreaking for the new homes Thursday.

To read the full article from The Business Journal, click here.

For about 15 years, Nick Serra and other Rocky Ridge Neighborhood Association members have implemented and led a variety of neighborhood-improvement projects, though he also is joyous that a few outside entities have come calling.

“We’re happy to see people spearheading new development in this neighborhood. The housing stock here is not great,” he said.

Serra, who has lived on South Hazelwood Avenue on the West Side for about 20 years, was referring to the start of a new home — courtesy of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp., the Mahoning County Land Bank and other partners — in the beginning stages of being built at nearby 605 S. Belle Vista Ave., which was the site of a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday afternoon.

To read the full article from The Vindicator, click here.

Executive Director of YNDC, Ian Beniston, joins WFMJ's Malaynia Spiva on Morning Ready to discuss several groundbreakings on the east, west, and southeast side of the City of Youngstown.

To watch the full segment from WFMJ, click here.

Over the past couple years, the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation has built new houses on every side of the city — something that, until recently, would have been unheard of. 

To read the full article from WKBN, click here.