Neighborhoods

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Tuesday, May 12, 2015

On Saturday, May 2nd, the Garden District Neighborhood Association, Mahoning Valley Young Professionals, YSUScape, and YNDC team members held a community workday in the Garden District on Youngstown's west side.

Volunteers cleaned up vacant properties on Halls Heights Ave., Glacier Ave., S. Lakeview Ave., and S. Maryland Ave.

The workday was made possible through support from Councilman Mike Ray, Green Youngstown, the Youngstown Street Department, Striker's Pizza Pub & Subs, Walgreens, Target, and Giant Eagle. The following accomplishments were made during Saturday's workday:

• 13 vacant structures cleaned up
• 88 yards of debris removed
• 2 vacant structures boarded
• 26 tires removed
• 15 bags of trash removed
• 50 feet of sidewalk reclaimed
• 18 yards mowed

Tuesday, May 15, 2015

On Tuesday, May 5th, Home Savings Charitable Foundation approved a $25,000 grant to support YNDC's Community Financial Literacy Initiative.

The funds will support YNDC's comprehesive homeownership development services, including HUD-Certified Housing Counseling and Education, as well as the organization's small business development programming.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

On Saturday, May 9th, the Brownlee Woods Neighborhood Association hosted a workday to clean up 13 planting beds along the Sheridan Road boulevard.

YNDC staff, AmeriCorps VISTA members, and the REVITALIZE team worked with Brownlee Woods residents to weed, edge, and spruce up the planting beds. Volunteers also removed debris that had collected at boulevard intersections. Support for the workday was provided by Green Youngstown, Marco's Pizza, and Classic Bakery.

Friday, May 15, 2015

On Thursday, May 14th, the Brownlee Woods Neighborhood Action Team met at Faith Community Covenant Church to discuss progress on bringing priority properties into compliance and to outline goals for 2015.

Three severely blighted houses will be demolished in the coming months and several properties have been deemed in compliance by code enforcement. Goals for 2015 include a Welcome to Youngstown sign on Sheridan Rd., 25 street trees planted in the tree lawn, the removal of dead trees, sprucing up the planting beds in the Sheridan Rd. boulevard, and addressing crime hotspots once the city's community policing unit begins operation. Action Team members also received a tour of two homes in the neighborhood recently rehabilitated by YNDC: 1669 Brownlee and 1629 Thalia, both of which are for sale to owner-occupants. The Brownlee Woods Neighborhood Association will begin their movies in the park series with the first film being shown in Lynn Park on June 27. Other planned activities include car shows, a Halloween event, and a holiday party. The Neighborhood Association is also working to develop marketing materials to engage new members and the group will be seeking funding from local agencies and foundations for neighborhood improvement projects.

Monday, May 18, 2015

On Saturday, May 16th, the Rocky Ridge Neighborhood Association and YNDC staff cleaned up two properties in the Rocky Ridge neighborhood.

The first was the former Palko's gas station on S. Schenley. Volunteers removed two dump truck loads of brush and debris from the site, secured the back wall, and painted existing boards a solid color. The neighborhood group has plans to install public art on the boards. Volunteers also secured and cleaned up a property on S. Hazelwood. Support for the workday was provided by Pizza Joe's and Councilman Mike Ray.

Monday, May 18, 2015

With less than three weeks as a full team of ten complete, the citywide grass cutting team continues to make progress and increase efficiency.

As of Friday, May 15th, the team has cut 1,471 vacant structures to date. Additional workers provided by the Mahoning Columbiana Training Association will begin in mid June to allow for a further increase in efficiency and effectiveness and the return of large scale home boarding activity.

Teams are cutting all vacant homes neighborhood by neighborhood and hope to complete the remainder of the city in the next three to four weeks. Owners of vacant homes that do not cut grass at their property will be charged $150 per cut by the City of Youngstown.

YNDC is using a data driven process to determine the location of properties, but will still need to rely on neighbors to identify new structures not being maintained. Residents should contact the City of Youngstown, Street Department at 330.744.3179 to report the location of vacant homes where the grass is not being cut. Please do not call YNDC. All complaints and reports must go through the City of Youngstown. STABILIZE TO REVITALIZE.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

On Saturday, May 16th, 17 volunteers from Tabernacle Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Victory Christian Center, and YNDC staff cleaned up a vacant property on Volney Road in the Idora Neighborhood.

Volunteers removed 20 yards of debris, scraped 50 feet of sidewalk, and removed 5 tires. The property was also boarded and secured. Snacks for the workday were provided by Tabernacle Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

On Friday, May 22nd, Ian Beniston, Jack Daugherty, and Tiffany Sokol completed the fourth and final week long class for Housing Development Finance Professional certification.

The classes were taught by the National Development Council and sponsored by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency and Ohio Community Development Corporation Association. The three will find out soon if they passed the comprehensive exam to become Housing Development Finance Professionals. The completion of this course is part of YNDC's ongoing effort to build its capacity to complete a broader scope of projects at a larger scale. REVITALIZE.

Thursday, May 28, 2015

YNDC Neighborhood Planner, Tom Hetrick, presented at two sessions during the annual Reclaiming Vacant Properties conference held in Detroit on May 19-21.

The first session was entitled Neighborhood Markets: Shaping Neighborhood Change Strategy. Tom presented an overview of Youngstown's Housing Market Analysis which was used to inform the city's neighborhood planning strategy. Co-presenters were Alan Mallach of the Center for Community Progress and Jeff Hebert of the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority. The second session was entitled Revitalization with Roots: Best Practices in Legacy City Historic Preservation. Tom discussed how the rehabilitation of houses in Youngstown fits into broader neighborhood stabilization and preservation strategies. Co-presenters included David Mann of the Lucas County Land Bank and Matt Cole of the Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago's' Historic Greystone Initiative.