Neighborhoods

A new partnership in the city of Youngstown focuses on rehabilitating vacant homes rather than tearing them down.

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation and The Mahoning County Land Bank are working together to acquire homes that have been empty and financially distressed.

The Land Bank seeks tax foreclosure on the property through the county court system to clean up the title and then sells the house to the YNDC for court costs. 

To view the full coverage, click here.

Tuesday, August 19, 2015

On Tuesday, August 19th, the Fibus Family Foundation made a $5000 contribution to support YNDC's revitalization efforts in the City of Youngstown.

YNDC thanks the Fibus Family for their generous support. 

Monday, August 24, 2015

Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation is pleased to present a program designed to help new and established entrepreneurs reach their business goals.

Any existing or aspiring entrepreneurs in the city are encouraged to set up a one-on-one meeting to discuss their business goals. This program has three components:

Bright Idea to Business Plan: This course is a FREE intensive business planning course geared to help those starting small businesses in the City of Youngstown. A new session of this course begins September 22—please contact Liberty Merrill at YNDC by September 14th to apply for this program.

Financial Counseling: Any existing or aspiring business owner living in the City of Youngstown is invited to enter financial counseling to help them resolve credit issues, reach financial goals, and prepare them to seek financing for their new business.

Small Business Microloans: YNDC is able to provide small loans at favorable terms to low-income individuals who have developed a viable business plan.

All interested entrepreneurs should contact Liberty Merrill at YNDC (330.480.0423) for more information and to set up an initial intake meeting.

Monday, August 24, 2015

YNDC is currently seeking qualified applicants for a Housing Development and Neighborhood Planning Intern position. 

Under the supervision of the Housing and Neighborhood Stabilization Directors, the Housing Development and Neighborhood Planning Intern will collaborate with a team of professional staff in the development and execution of Neighborhood Action Plans and housing development and repair processes in strategic neighborhoods throughout the City of Youngstown. A full job description and application instructions are available for download below. NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE.

Friday, August 28, 2015

On Thursday, August 27, YNDC presented the McGuffey Road Corridor Action Plan at a special meeting of the Northeast Homeowners and Concerned Citizens Association at the Price Memorial AME Zion Church.

More than 100 were in attendance to the review the Action Plan and provide feedback. The Action Plan, developed with resident input, detailed property surveys, and data analysis, seeks to improve housing and property conditions, improve infrastructure, reduce crime, and encourage economic development. The plan focuses on McGuffey Road itself, as well as neighborhoods around MLK Elementary School, John White Park, and East High School. A site plan for the future re-use of the former McGuffey Plaza was also discussed. Residents expressed concern about the appearance of the site, quality of life issues, and specific properties needing demolition. A copy the Action Plan can be found here.

They spent Saturday in the Wick Park Neighborhood cleaning up old- run down homes.

Students say it’s their responsibility to be actively involved in their community.

Their volunteer work is getting high marks from a neighbor and the mayor of Youngstown.

YSU students know the stories about how beautiful the Northside of Youngstown was.

“The neighborhood used to be great and we hope it’s great again. We have some of these problems in the neighborhood and we’re frustrated just watching them sit here so we decided to do something about it,” said Nick Chretien, YSUscape.

YSUscape cleaned up and boarded up houses in the Wick Park Neighborhood.

“We want to see the northside revitalized as well,” said Jordan Wolfe.

Close to 100 students gave up their Saturday morning to be a part of the work project.

It caught the eye of Sister Mary McCormick.

“I saw that they were cleaning up the house just two doors up and I was thrilled because the house has really been overrun for the last several years,” said Sister Mary McCormick who lives on the northside of Youngstown.

Youngstown Mayor John McNally lent a helping hand with the community project too.

“Really happy about the participation and these young kids bring a lot of energy,” said McNally.

Wick Park is just a few blocks away from YSU’s campus– it’s a neighborhood some want to live in.

“It’s a turning point neighborhood you could say a lot of people want to live here. There are students who want to walk to school, they don’t want to have to drive from the suburbs to go to YSU,” said Chretien.

“We believe that my securing this neighborhood we help improve Youngstown State University and we make this area a more walkable city,” said Wolfe.

For students it’s a way to give back to the community –and working as team.

To see the full story from WKBN, click here.

YSUscape recently cleaned up 10 houses in the Wick Park neighborhood, but that’s not enough for them.

Saturday, Youngstown State University students came together once again to work on properties in that area. The group of about 70 worked on 19 homes.

YSUscape was formed nearly two years ago and works to unite university and citywide organizations to revitalize and beautify Youngstown through various projects. Members are committed to the revitalization of not only the YSU campus, but the city of Youngstown.

YSUscape targets the worst-looking homes in the highly trafficked areas of the Wick Park neighborhood on the city’s North Side, said Nick Chretien, YSUscape president.

“So if people are going to pass by it a lot, we want to clean it up,” he said.

The goal is to make the neighborhood safer and welcoming to current and future YSU students and potential businesses, Chretien said.

By cleaning up the exterior of the homes and boarding them up, they’re preventing theft of copper piping and other items, he said.

Often, he added, a home might be empty but in livable condition. If the windows are broken and the copper piping stolen, though, it could cost more to fix than the house is worth.

“So, you’re saving homes in some instances by doing it, too,” he said.

The student organization received a $2,100 Neighborhood Success Grant from the Raymond John Wean Foundation for the project. This helped buy supplies such as rakes, shovels, gloves and garbage bags. The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. and YSU’s Center for Urban and Regional Studies partnered with the group for the project.

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

Monday, August 31, 2015

On Saturday, August 29th, more than 70 YSU students and volunteers cleaned up and secured 19 vacant properties in the Wick Park neighborhood adjacent to YSU's campus.

The clean up was organized by YSUscape in collaboration with YSU's Center for Urban and Regional Studies and YNDC. Many student groups participated in the event, as part of a day of service to begin the fall semester. The next Wick Park workday will be announced soon.

Thursday, September 3, 2015

On Wednesday, September 2, thirteen city residents began a one year term of service from September 2015 through August 2016 on YNDC’s AmeriCorps REVITALIZE team.

The AmeriCorps REVITALIZE team will spend the next year building existing skills, learning new skills, and serving full time to fight blight throughout Youngstown. The new team is composed of Andre Bankston, Cherise Benton, Michael Childs, Anttwon Dent, Keymonnie Harris, Michael Harvey, James Parker, Elena Rapone, Alvin Robinson, Derek Sanders, Deon Shuler, Delante Simms, and DeTwan Walker.

The 2014-2015 AmeriCorps REVITALIZE team was involved in the boarding and cleaning of more than 500 vacant homes, rehabilitation of 12 vacant homes, and the completion of 7,000 vacant home cuts among other achievements. The team also received lead RRP training and increased their individual work skills.

The AmeriCorps REVITALIZE Team is made possible through an operational grant provided by AmeriCorps and facilitated by ServeOhio. The City of Youngstown is also supporting the project by providing materials to complete the projects.

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

On Friday, September 4 over 400 volunteers descended on a three by four block impact area in the Cottage Grove neighborhood on Youngstown's south side.

Participants boarded up 80 homes, collected hundreds of tires, removed hundreds of cubic yards of trash and debris, and began the demolition of ten homes.

This is the third year the United Way, City of Youngstown, Green Youngstown, YNDC, and many other community partners have come together to battle blight in a big way on the United Way's annual Day of Caring. This year's event was the largest and the largest neighborhood clean up in recent years in Youngstown. Please consider joining us at a workday. Stand Up Fight Blight!