rising to the challenge

Word on the street is that the Full Monty at the Oakland is doing so well, they've added an extra show for the final weekend.

This "extended ending" will take place on midnight Saturday evening.

That's 12 in the am.

Cleveland, Pittburgh . . . show your regionalism and come down to the Yo.



tickets can be reserved at 330.746.0404, and specify which one you want, if not sold out:

Friday, May 16: 8 pm
Saturday, May 17: 8 pm AND 12 am midnight (technically Sunday)

Apx. running time of the musical: 2.5 hours (so this midnight show is for night owls)

UPDATE:The Vindicator's chief, Todd Franko, gives a review of the show in his blog today.

ribbon cutting & walking tour, downtown wednesday

two events downtown tomorrow, Wednesday, May 14th.

- - -

The first is a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Realty Building renovation at 11:30am. The event is open to everyone, and a reception will take place at 20 Federal Place (the strouss' or phar-mor building) afterwards.

The Frangos Groups will "officially" start construction to transform the building on our Central Square into 25 apartments. The building was purchased in 2000 for $540,000.


The building was built in 1924 for the Realty Guarantee and Trust Company by Youngstown architects Morris Schiebel and Edgar Stanley. It's unique for a downtown building in that it has windows on all four sides of the structure.

It's interesting, looking back at my archives, this post was written two years ago. Good thing those Ohio tax credits kicked in.

Best of luck to those working on the project.

- - -

The second is a free walking tour at 7:00pm of historical buildings in downtown to be led by Mark Peyko, publisher and editor of the Metro Monthly.

The tour will begin at The Man on the Monument, in the Central Square.

In celebration of National Preservation Month, the tour will cover the history and development of the central business district. In addition, the tour will focus on threatened historic landmarks in the area.

More details on the tour here.

- - -

The story of the Realty Tower is one of recognizing the true value of our city's historical structures, which can never replaced once demolished.

That's it, no more, destroyed forever.

Final.

The most recent historical building slated for demolition may be the Liberty/Paramount Theater on Federal Street.

Will this building turn into another surface parking lot downtown, or is there the possibility for saving some components of its character for future generations to enjoy and cherish?

pocket parks in "the pearl"

Sometimes a city has the opportunity to do something creative with large tracts of land, turning the space of vacated properties into a prime asset.

Youngstown is building a mixed-used residential/commercial neighborhood adjacent to the univeristy and downtown in Smoky Hollow, but many design elements and construction have yet to be accomplished. What places can they emulate as the project moves forward?

Atlanta created the uninspiring Atlantic Station on the grounds of an old steel mill, a tacky collection of disneyland-esque buildings, a destination adjacent to the interstate north of Midtown with an "in and out, but not staying" existence.

Portland's emerging Pearl District, anchored by many LEED certified buildings and free wi-fi throughout, is a nice mix of old and new, livable and walkable designs of which Youngstown may learn from.

The rest of this post shows photos from three separate smaller "pocket" parks in the Pearl, possible role models for downtown youngstown, wick park, and the smoky hollow. The Pearl's wikipedia article has a good aerial photo of what the railroad yards used to look like.

The Pearl's Tanner Springs Park is located between the light rail lines on 10th and 11th avenues. The space is fascinating, in that this small space (less than an acre) retains an almost rural quality although it is located right in the heart of the neighborhood. Here we have some decorative stone patterns, with a water element flowing from it:

Further down the path, the manicured portion of the park decends into marshy, unmowed wetlands. Large steps from the sides of the park provide a place for people to read books and relax.


The path set away from street level then flows into small pond, filled with orange fish.


The floating path also follows this wonderful serpentine metal wall on the east boundary of the park.


Check out this up-close photo of this textured element:

Further south, Jamison Park, provides a more family-friendly atmosphere, heavily used by children and people walking their dogs. The high sculptures around the perimeter help to anchor the streetcar power lines.


The wonderful central element of this park is a fountain that has the effect of a tidal pool, with its waterfalls filling in and draining a bricked-in area for children to play in.


As the water fills in and empty, people relax and the place has the feeling of a clean urban beach.


Finally, tucked in between three buildings are these concrete columns, left exposed after a previous demolition and wrapped with art. I love how the rebar is sticking out of the top:




Lots to consider and learn as Youngstown goes about planning its park spaces in the future.

Perhaps the next City Parks Commissioner, whenever that position is filled, can lead the charge on similar types of projects in city parks.

In the meantime, it's up to the public to brainstorm and help push the city and stakeholders along to this level of quality for future design.

portland's parking lot "food stands"

In Oregon all this week, stalking Hillary exploring the streets of Portland.

One of the many charming and fantastic components of this city is all the multi-ethnic eateries along the surface parking lots of Portland's downtown.


Many of the places even had some places to sit in the sun while munching.

Scanning down one street . . .



It's amazing to see how open some cities are to this as a form of ligitimate commerce. Los Angeles has been battling these types of trucks in recent months, with the anti-taco lobby firmly entrenched in city council.


click here to read more about the city where carne asada is not just a meal, but a crime.

I opted for the Thai food for lunch:


Ate some pad see ew with generous portions of broccoli, some chicken satay with peanut sauce, and a coke.

All added up: 7 bucks for a nice meal in the sun, from a stand adjacent to Portland State University.


Many of the trucks had murals painted on the side . . .


And here's a Czech place. (the woman serving spoke czech too)

crepes to go . . .


and a good scene for people watching as well. At least, when one is sitting at the curb eating el pastor.



So a question: is this the type of thing that can fly in downtown youngstown?

It might be interesting to hear the opinions of downtown restaurants, especially the ones that require eating inside.

Maybe the existing places downtown need more outside seating. Maybe we should study Portland's policies that encourage immigrant foods to locate downtown, and for possible health reasons, study how they regulate their kitchens.

or maybe I'm so desparate for a thai place in youngstown, i'll accept this form of cooking to a full-blown restaurant.

3rd accent

- Junior Achievement:
have you thought about volunteering at city schools?

- JumpStretch:
did you know Coach Hartzell moves are as good as his play-by-play?

- Rosetta Stone:
have you met their chef at open sauté night?

yes, it was magical

The Nouveau Rock Music and Art Festival took place on Saturday, and a diverse mix of people showed up to hear some of Youngstown's music scene.

A great buzz and good tunes filled the place.

And congrats to friends on Lora Avenue who got engaged at the event.

A nice review of the event can be found at Valley 24, with a music-laden photo gallery as well.

The event featured:
- Ten Cylinder Typewriter
- The Devotees
- The Deadbeat Poets
- The Zou
- Sewing Machine War
- Posture Coach
- Third Class
- The Realtime Digimob

The event was broadcast live to the world on the always streaming Rukus Radio.



also, the first "Plug n' Play" event took place this week. from Valley 24:

"At about 1 p.m., after being delayed an hour because of rain, The Zou plugged in their equipment on Central Square near the police memorial, and played a short-set, guerilla-style.

“This was like the best show I’ve ever played in Youngstown,” guitarist Rob Thorndike says. “This is a sweet town. I love playing music. This constantly needs to happen.”"

20 fridays of local music at noon this summer
at The Man on the Monument.

- - -

musicians reading this:

just come to downtown youngstown and do it.

this is your city.

time to mark your calendars

Youngstown enthusiasts and bloggers and residents:

3 upcoming regional events to participate in - all just getting underway.

please join us and get involved.

- - -

Great Lakes Urban Exchance (GLUE) Sticky Cities Meeting
Thursday May 8th, 2008 - 7pm to 8:30pm
Cleveland, Ohio - WKYC-TV Studios

Cle+Pitt+Yo Regional Planning Network
Friday, June 20th 2008 - 10am to 4pm
Youngstown, Ohio - June 20th, 2008

Rust Belt Blogging Summit
Saturday, July 12th, 2008
Erie, PA - the Brewerie

new city of youngstown webpage is unveiled

www.cityofyoungstownoh.org

nuff said.

"cookie table season" has officially opened

thank the lord spring has arrived.

for the cookie table season is officially upon us.

- - -

still in bewilderment of Youngstown's cookie tables?

watch this video from this wedding reception I attended over the weekend:



A truly serpentine cookie table with even a separate chocolate table as well!

Infinite kudos go to Jan as she spent 2 months plus baking all of the cookies for her daughter's wedding. Her christmas cookie business prepared her well for this big event.

An additional nice touch was the "truly cut out for each other" favors for each guest, with cookie cutter attached, and recipe inside.



what a wonderful idea.


long-time readers of this blog may have read cookie table stories on this site in the past, but here is a nice review as Pittsburgh went searching for the origin of one of Youngstown's most cherished traditions:

Cookies are not the only sustenance at weddings, though. A typical wedding menu in northeastern Ohio might include "rigs and meatballs" (rigatoni and meatballs), "drenched" salad (greens covered in dressing, usually Italian), green bean amandine, some kind of chicken, roast beef or pork tenderloin and white potatoes with parsley. And, of course, there's wedding cake, though it must compete with the cookie table for attention.

"I think the wedding cake is eaten less and less, and people choose cookies over the cake," Nohra says.

In the "Buckeye State," Buckeye cookies are the centerpiece of the table and always disappear first. Other must-haves are "clothespin" cookies (we call them ladylocks), iced Italian "wedding cookies," Peanut Butter Blossoms (the ones with Hershey's kisses), kolachi (rolled nut loaf), and pizzelles (the crispy flat cookie made in a special iron).

here's to the beginning of another great season . . .

jay in U.S. News, art in a bakery, and full frontal nudity

You wouldn't think these three things are related - and really they're not very interconnected - but they all involve to a slight degree exposing yourself for a good cause.

#1 - Mayor Williams is interviewed in U.S. News and World Report.

Youngstown's emerging brand is a city that is (1) protecting its heritage and (2) shrinking strategicially. Just a stockholders expect a company to responsibily manage itself during an economic transition, Youngstown is becoming a global leader in attempting to responsibly manage its affairs.

An exerpt:

"What's been the response to the initiative?
The community has been overwhelmingly supportive. There are critics to the Youngstown 2010 initiative; some are concerned about gentrification. And I've actually said that we could use a bit of managed gentrification. But we have to be sure that the people who are here aren't pushed out and put in conditions that would be not affordable. Overall, the Youngstown 2010 plan has been well embraced because it's about right-sizing the city and redefining the city economically and socially to where the world is today.

Have other communities inquired about the initiative?
Oh, absolutely. We've had the opportunity to visit and talk with communities across the country—and foreign entities—or have them come here. There have been foreign journalists and officials who have visited."

more here on the small city with a big brand.

#2 - Ward Bakery Artists' Open House

From the infrastructure our industrial past, artists have become intertwined with Ward Building and its many artists are opening the doors of their studios over the weekend. The picture explains all the details:


The Mahoning Commons is a funky mix of old churches, renovated warehouses, shotgun houses, community theaters and in-town city artists. Look for more artist space developments to be announced soon. If you are a Cleveburgh artist, this neighborhood might be place to investigate as a place to do your thing with no one bothering you. A good preview of the event can be found at the blog for The Stage.

#3 - The Full Monty begins at the Oakland this weekend, and will continue for the next three weeks.



the story: a couple of steel workers find creative ways to make ends meat. based on a true story in Struthers.

- - -

ps. Le Nouveau Rock Festival will take place in downtown youngstown this saturday.

insatiable love

found this while walking the other day:


- - -

is there anything in the city you have "insatiable love" for?

can the rust belt come back?

probably not.

Harvard's Ed Glaeser received a good amount of attention over the past few months because of this journal article: Can Buffalo Ever Come Back?

Glaeser's answer: Buffalo probably can't come back, and "government should stop bribing people to stay there."

He continues:

"The truth is, the federal government has already spent vast sums of taxpayer money over the past half-century to revitalize Buffalo, only to watch the city continue to decay. Future federal spending that tries to revive the city will likely prove equally futile. The federal government should instead pursue policies that help Buffalo’s citizens, not the city as a geographical place. State and local policymakers could take steps that might—might—help Buffalo stave off its demise, if they avoid the errors of the past. But make no mistake: Buffalo faces long odds."

These comments prompted passionate debates (of course) in communities across the nation, and so to continue the debate, Buffalo invited Glaeser to speak there. His reasoned presentation (with apology) is embedded below, and worth watching:



The essence of Glaeser's Buffalo speech is this:

Regions and communities are too focused on measures such as population growth, population decline, and dollars allocated for construction projects. A community's most important responsibility is to deliver skills to its people and to assist in the creation of a physical environment which allows them to thrive.

It means maintaining safe neighborhoods and educational opportunities for youth. It means judging infrastructure projects on their flexibility of use and cost-benefit. It means attracting smart people and then getting out of their way.

It means concentrating on the things which are sometimes very difficult to measure.

- - -

how might this thinking in this speech impact Youngstown?

Perhaps the conversation shifts, and the often repeated measures such as "number of jobs this project created" and "number of dollars spent on construction projects" become less important. Establishing programs such as tutoring city school kids and strengthening block watches become more preferred actions of the city's Department of Economic Development instead of financing incentive packages and tax abaitments. (the department might be looking for more things to do when the next city budget comes out anyway)

Perhaps the strategy shifts to intentionally cluster people with diverse skills, especially into denser pockets downtown where the technology companies exist, and into denser neighborhoods (like Smoky-Hollow, downtown and the Garden District). The importance of proximity and interactions that come with proximity should be pushed by civic leaders.

Perhaps the actions of individuals shift, in that every person reading this post should be a big brother or a big sister to a youth in the city. Enough of a shift that every young person has even three or four mentors outside of their family and neighborhood they can ask for advice when guidance is needed.

mccain was in youngstown on tuesday

from an article in the Business-Journal:
McCain Fields Questions About Economy at Forum

While he sympathized with those workers who have lost the types of manufacturing jobs held by their family for generation, McCain warned that the future of the U.S. economy lies in new technologies and not old industries.

“We are undergoing a transformation the likes of which the world has not seen since the Industrial revolution,” he said. Many thousands of people now are earning a living in new information technology jobs, he noted, with companies such as Google, Yahoo and Microsoft.

“What comfort is that to someone in Youngstown? What we’ve got to do is provide education and training programs that work,“ he said. “I can’t tell you those steel mills are coming back. I can tell you I’m going to do everything in my power to provide people the necessary education and training to have a better job and a better future than the one their parents had.”

Worker retraining “is a huge deal,” said Carly Fiorina, former chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard, who accompanied the Arizona senator on his trip to Youngstown. “There are a lot of communities like Youngstown where people are out of work and don’t have the skills to go after the new jobs,” she said.

from another article in today's Business-Journal:
Two Manufacturers Supply Backdrop for McCain Visit

Fab Art Inc. is an “old economy” company struggling to survive. Fireline Inc. is a cutting-edge manufacturer that’s so successful nearly every commercial jet airliner in service today uses parts made from the company’s products.

The tale of these two businesses, in this poster city for presidential campaigns, provided backdrops for U.S. Sen. John McCain’s visit Tuesday, as he juxtaposed one segment of the economy that is suffering, and another that is making use of education, training, new ideas, and innovation to grow.

Since October, Fireline has hired 21 and expects about a 30% increase in business this year, said Roger Jones, chairman. “We’ve cornered the market with our product,” he said. Fireline employs 103.

Fireline’s success is an example of what can be achieved with the proper business know-how and training among its work force, McCain stressed, and lauded the company’s partnership with YSU.

- - -

kudos goes to Dan O'Brien and George Nelson of the B "hyphen" J for two outstanding articles.

creative destruction on display by the republican nominee.

Schumpeter might be proud.

mccain in youngstown on tuesday

So, tomorrow there will be a meeting downtown (open to the public) with the 2008 republican presidential nominee, John McCain.

Word on the street:
economic development will the central theme of the discussion, including the progress of technology-based companies in the city of Youngstown.

Youngstown State University
Kilcawley Center, Chestnut Room
Tuesday, April 22nd
Doors Open at 11:15
Event from Noon – 1:00 PM

a question:
If you could ask John McCain any question on economic development issues, what would your question be?

report compares business costs in youngstown to U.S. and international regions

KPMG has released it bi-annual "Competitive Alternatives" report, comparing business costs in various industry sectors in 136 regions across the world.

Youngstown was chosen as the only region of Ohio to be included in the 2008 version.

- - -

The report looks at a collection of business costs: wages, land, transportation, utilities, federal/state/local taxes, etc.

And these costs change from sector to sector, from software development to biomedical R&D, for example - 17 sectors in all.

The website for the report has a nifty little tool, allowing one to compare via graphical form business costs in specific sectors for up to five regions in the world at a time.

- - -

As an experiment, I examined Youngstown, San Jose (Silion Valley), Seattle, Buffalo and Boise in software development. Of of the five, Youngstown was the second least expensive behind Boise. albeit by a marginal amount.


If fact, business costs in Silicon Valley for the software industry were 11% higher than Youngstown. Business costs in Seattle were 5.1% higher than Youngstown.

At a smaller scale, business costs in Buffalo were 1.3% larger than Youngstown, and costs in Boise were 1.0% cheaper than Youngstown.

All of these calculations do not include the various added incentives that the state or city many provide to software companies for moving into their jusrisdictions. So for example, locating within a business incubator, city development grants, etc.

The report also identifies distribution/logistics and information/communications technology as emerging sectors for the Youngstown regional economy, which they label as 590,000 people (prolly does not include lawrence country).

Looking at costs across sectors, Youngstown is in the exact middle of the pack when compared to other regions from the East of U.S./Canada, the mega-grouping in which Youngstown is placed. Looking at the entire U.S., for regions between 500,000 to 1.5 million residents, Youngstown is smack in the middle of the pack. Honolulu (the highest) has business costs 15% higher than Youngstown, Little Rock (the lowest) has business costs 6.8% lower than Youngstown.

Picking out other sectors, biomedical R&D, metal machining, and plastics companies in Youngstown have business costs lower than the U.S. average.

- - -

From a macro perspective, the declining value of the U.S. dollar makes direct foreign investment into the U.S. a much more advantageous move than even two years ago. Since 2006, the euro's exchange rate with the U.S. has shifted by 24%, with the british pound by 14%, and the japanese yen by 5%.

So the final question:
with this information spreading across the globe via the KPMG report, how does the Mahoning Valley take advantage of being included (admitted accidenitally - there will be another Ohio city in two more years) in the report?

For software development companies on West Coast, expanding operations into the Youngstown and its stregthening cluster of software companies in downtown may be a wise business decision.

The people are here, the capital (venture, angel, and seed) have been provided to other companies, and other software firms are located here as well - operating at a reasonable price to boot.

Innovation Accelerator at YBI starting 3pm today

Next 3rd Thursday at 3pm at the YBI is today.

speaking:
Dave Karpinski from NorTech

topic:
The "Innovation Accelerator", a program to help Mahoning Valley manufacturers become more competitive.

The Innovation Accelerator is designed to drive innovation in small and medium size manufacturing companies. There are three main elements to the program: workshops exploring difference innovation strategies, peer groups where manufacturers can share best practices and experiences and Innovation Guides who help manufacturers implement their plans.

location:
Youngstown Business Incubator
241 W. Federal Street
Downtown Youngstown

reserve a seat:
by calling 330-259-7644 or jmsmith (at) ybi (dot) org

the burden of leadership

I attended a very interesting roundtable in D.C. recently where a main item of discussion was the necessity of economic development organizations and their leadership to have working relationships with their members of Congress.

It was claimed many members of Congress either (1) do not fully understand the role of technology and innovation in the development of regional economies, or (2) even if they do "get it", don't have the time to sit down with economic development officials because of priorities to other people and causes.

And that's the challenge - having leaders in office who understand what is critical for the future of a local region in a global economy, and using their macro-perspective to gauge the situation and adapt as necessary - qualities needed by all who serve, from a councilperson to the governor.

That lack of macro-perspective and ability to anticipate and assist the future needs of a region is exactly why leadership matters.

The great tragedy of Youngstown's past Congressional leadership was its inability to prepare a region for the future. That's why we as a region are twenty years behind other regions in some matters.

Not that that awesome responsibility should lie in the hands of one person, but the burden of leadership is to take the hard steps to ensure the growth and prosperity of future generations - and not the growth and prosperity of your own wallet and ego. Very little of the personas on local talk radio seem to comprehend this fact.

- - -

It's difficult penning this particular post without sounding like a political endorsement, but I'm writing what is on my mind today.

David Brooks in the New York Times had a great op-ed today about the changing economy, the anxiety it produces, and the necessity for politicians to talk about some issues and not other critical ones.

After reading David's thoughts and the contemplating the conversations I hear from others across the nation about the lacking leadership in their localities, seeing these videos this morning brought a smile to my face:







no more editorial here, just a smile.

the queen's name was Brookback Mountains, and I met her at the Stage

Youngstown's next version of The Stage will for the first time, be broadcast live over the internet.

But performance art is not just an auditory sensation, so you should be there in person on Thursday, April 17, 8:00pm at the Oakland downtown.

It's yummy and brookalicious.


Check out this short video recently posted on YouTube:



The Stage is open to any type of performance art, from anyone who wants to participate.

This month's event will feature the 1st round of the Oakland's "next top drag queen" competition, with a $500 prize going to the eventual winner. Hosting this month's Stage will be the voluptious "Brookeback Mountains".

yikes.

scary . . . but delicious.

- - -

Location:
Oakland Center for the Arts
220 W. Boardman Street
Downtown Youngstown

Admission: $5.00

Performers please register in advance via
myspace.com/oaklandcenter.
Rehearsal/set up is from 7-8 pm in the theater.
If you're a performer and bring a group of 5 or more
people, your admission fee will be waived.

tune in to turning

Click here to see an ABC News video which features Turning Technologies, soon to grow into the newly constructed Technology Center adjacent to the Youngstown Business Incubator.

They have now received the coveted 4Star Quality Award from PC Magazine.

Inc. magazine ranked them the fastest growing software company in the country last year.

And they topped the most recent Weatherhead 100 list.

- - -

hometown ingenuity for global markets.
outta downtown youngstown.

that accent, where is she from?

The most recent version of "Accent on Youngstown" really got me fired up.

First off, the collection of extreme sports in the Ohio snow was just awesome. Good music, good editing, and good imagination - it just shows that people are having fun all over the place.

Second, the interview with Randall Craid Fleischer from the Youngstown Symphony was very insightful. There are "young people's concerts" with the symphony all this week which is a new direction for the YSO, and tomorrow night is a fusion concert as the YSO plays with Latin jazz/funk artist Poncho Sanchez.

check Poncho out:


Fleischer makes the good point Youngstown is lucky to be a market such that an professional orchestral musician can be employed here. There is enough of a demand and a market.

Some communities can't support their orchestras.

Miami Florida lost theirs. Columbus Ohio is on the brink of losing its orchestra.

For 82 years and counting, the region has supported the orchestra - which is fantastic. But the house that the Yo's Warner Brothers buiit, like Youngstown, is a big tent and there is room for more people from "Cleveburgh".

If you are reading this blog from Cleveland to Pittsburgh, come out to Youngstown this weekend and eat at Overture (the restaurant at the symphony) and enjoy the show.

Finally, more good news for downtown dining fans: George from Cafe Cimmento announced in the video that their expansion in downtown Youngstown is underway, and should be finished sometime in April.

watch the second Accent on Youngstown:


This video is great - it shows that people and their dreams are flourishing in Youngstown.