this city is percolating

two recent blogs at the valley24 site got me thinking the energy in this town is rising, and the subtle signs of "la fenice d'acciaio" is getting stronger:

Karen writes about the spontaneous tuesday concert and great turnout on her north side front porch concluding with the Chicago musician Lord of the Yum Yum. (video included)

"We had them start out in the living room to "contain" the noise as to not "disturb" the entire northside of Youngstown. The crowd gathered outside to mingle in the much roomier yardspace. Dozens of six packs arrived in the hands of old friends, curious neighbors and various Ytown band folk (of Posture Coach and Gil Mantera that I saw) all came to witness this wondrously strange combination of porch and performance."

Rob responds to an email from someone considering a move to the Valley"

"I like to think of this area as a blank slate. A frontier. Some amazing things are going on to revitalize the downtown area and I know many members of the LGBT community who are front and center. We could certainly use your help if you are up for it. It is a very exciting time."

"After college, most of my friends moved to New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles to join the thousands and thousands of big city performing artists competing for work. I made the choice to stay home and create my own opportunities...and I have never regretted that decision."

also, 360 people showed up for last night's outdoor free viewing of King Kong downtown.


free movies at 9pm every monday for several weeks.
more details at the ytownevents.info website.

let's break the 500 person mark next monday.

recap: 2nd wick park planning meeting + G2G info

Immediately after the celebration of Youngstown Tree Day, another event took place: the 2nd public planning meeting concerning the future of Wick Park.

Click here for a recap from the Youngstown Vindicator.

Between 50 to 60 people were at the meeting at Park Vista. (click here and here for a review of the first one and how this is the new standard)


The interim director of the city’s parks and recreation department discussed how even before the final design plan is determined, changes are taking place in the park bit by bit.

The water element/fountain in the park's southeast entrance will be repaired and functioning soon. And as pointed out in the newspaper story, the four corners of the park have been landscaped with flowers during the recent CityScape event.


A presentation by Jim McKnight, a landscape architect out of Cleveland, presented a quick walking tour highlighting possible design improvements including:

"making the front of the community center more defined for first-time visitors; spreading seating throughout; removing some unsightly barriers and guardrails; finding a more discreet location for trash bins; and redesigning a play area to make it easier for parents to supervise their youngsters." (vindy.com)

Two groups were then formed as the audience took turns drawing on maps and adding their suggestions.



Additionally, Wick Park will be the home to Youngstown's first ever "Grey to Green Festival" on September 13th, 2008.


Click on the next two images to read more information about the festival concept and sponsorship opportunities.

The goal of the Grey to Green Festival is to increase awareness of environmental issues in general, the grey-to-green concept in the Youngstown 2010 Plan, and the Wick Park revitalization effort that is currently underway.

The Grey to Green Festival organizing coalition includes The Green Team, Youngstown Litter Control, Defend Youngstown, CityScape, ReCreate, Treez Please, Grow Youngstown, First Book Mahoning Valley, the Oakland Center for the Arts, Green Energy TV, Art Youngstown, the Wick Park Revitalization Committee, The City of Youngstown’s Planning Department, Youngstown State University’s Environmental Studies Society, faculty and staff from YSU, as well as concerned citizens, block watches, and youth groups.

Throughout the park, there will be workshops, displays, demonstrations, musical entertainment, and food and “green” merchandise vendors.

recap: youngstown tree day

The first day of summer also brings the celebration of Youngstown Tree Day.

This year's event officially recognized Youngstown's status as a Tree City USA, and also served as an introduction to the city's new tree population monitoring program.

The display below includes the proclamation by Mayor Williams for June 21st to be Youngstown Tree Day.


Let's take a close-up look at that cake. Nice work!



(note: by edict, cupcakes were limited to one per guest)

Speaking to the crowd in Wick Park was the Chief City Planner.





To signify its designation, the official "Tree City USA" flag was raised - to be flown continually in the skies above the North Side.




Next is an image of the PDAs which will be used to inventory the city's trees this summer, block by block, through the i-Tree program.


The survey sampling will be performed by the City of Youngstown's Forester, along with a team of community volunteers.

The inventory will be used to assess the costs and strategies for urban tree management, and their impact on the environment and property value improvement.


Check out the flag off of Park Avenue as you are exploring Wick Park.

this is the new standard

Saturday morning, about 75 or so people arrived at Park Vista to discuss the future of Wick Park.

While other news stories and blogs have provided a recount of the day's events (see further below), this meeting was the beginning of a multistep process - a process to engage the public, united with other stakeholder organizations and the city of Youngstown, to make one pocket of the city a much better place.

The evolution of the project, to be chronicled on the website www.wickparkproject.com (purchased over the weekend, with content to come) will use information technology to further engage the public.


The Wick Park Revitalization Project is becoming another component in Youngstown's ongoing efforts with "open source community development".

Simply put, this is the new standard

No more evading the public for planning public spaces.
No more inept leaders of wayward departments.
No more closed door meetings.

This is the new standard of how future projects should progress.


By incorporating aspects of the polder model, Youngstown's methods of open source community development aim to bring more and more people into the discussion of what the civic space will become.


pictured above are the breakout sessions where individuals described what components they would like to see in the park in the future.

And looking around the room...





What will the final project look like?

Get involved, add your opinions to the mix, and find out.

Second public meeting to be announced in the weeks to come...

Defend Youngstown: 1st Meeting Complete

Valley24.com: Reinventing Wick Park

Vindicator: Wick Park workshop draws 80 participants

Tribune Chronicle: Wick Park Effort Begins

what do you want Wick Park to become?

This Saturday, March 15th at 11:00am, there will be a meeting.

It's purpose: for a community to come together and build a vision for what the Wick Park of the future will be.

(photo courtesy of the Wick Park wikipedia entry)

Founded in 1889, the Park is just north of the YSU campus, and the neighborhood surrounding it is home to many university students and faculty members.

Similar to several pockets of the northside, Wick Park now needs a little love and attention. Like anything worth keeping, a bit of planning and reinvestment now will go a long way towards sustaining a bright future.

Please join the Defend Youngstown movement and Youngstown CityScape with the professional services of The Urban Design Center of Northeast Ohio for the initial meeting for community-wide input.

The future timeline and structure of the project is archived here.

WHO: All interested individuals, businesses, institutions, neighborhood organizations, non profits
WHAT: Share sense of history of Wick Park, information about the current conditions, restrictions on its use; discuss community goals and intended outcome of the park planning process. Chance to sign up for projects in the park.
WHEN: Saturday, March 15, 2008, 11:00 am
WHERE: Park Vista (Community Room) 1216 Fifth Ave.

You can RSVP to youngstowncityscape (at) sbcglobal (dot) net or call 330-742-4040

this will be the first step in a multi-step process.


so to prepare for the meeting, I have been thinking about all the parks I have visited over my life and what made them special.

things like:

- often populated by the public during both night and day
- historic or artistic signage
- good views of surrounding architecture in neighborhood
- fenced-in dog park to let pooches run wild and meet other dog owners
- farmers' markets
- a lake with a trail around it
- pruned trees and landscaped flowerbeds
- fountains
- an outdoor stage for community events
- stone entryways


so Youngstown, what do you want Wick Park to become?

what aspects are important to you?

need a fish? here's seven of them . . .

and seven fishes makes a feast!

Subpopular is giving away a copy of the combination cookbook-comic book-graphic novel, "Feast of the Seven Fishes" on its website. All one has to do is register with Subpopulated, an online community of Youngstown artists, musicians, and everyday people from around the globe that is associated with the Subpopular online magazine.

Additionally, the author of "The Feast of the Seven Fishes" will be selling and signing the book at Little Jimmy's on Belmont Avenue on Monday December 10th. Earlier in the day, the tour will be at Corbo's Bakery in the Italian Village in Cleveland.

fact: I know Italians who live in the Italian Village in Cleveland who drive down to Youngstown to get Jimmy's cookies and canolis because they swear the taste is better. I was suprised they make the trip, but good food makes people go long distances. I think Corbo's is still pretty good, then again, Jimmy's IS worth driving 90 minutes for.

You can find more details about the signing in Youngstown here.

"we dedicate this park to the citizens of youngstown"

these words were recently broadcast to the crowd assembled for the dedication of Common Ground, a new park in the city presented by the non-profit group Treez Please.


The dedication was a community event - with food, walking tours, events for kids, and demonstrations by other local non-profits spread throughout the afternoon at the corner of Broadway and Henderson on the North Side.


First Book Mahoning Valley was there, distributing new books to children as the sounds of acoustic guitar filled the air. Click here to see the new blog for First Book Mahoning Valley.


Citizens present could also learn about the county's pilot program on leaf collection composting (bags provided).


Kids were making bird seed/peanut butter/pine cone bird feeders, halloween treats, decorated-t-shirts . . . lots of kids and lots of paint.


Here are some t-shirts hung up to dry in the devil's strip:


cake,


cookies, more food and more food.


Rusty Waters was there as well, selling some of their Yo/Cle/Pit merchandise.


- - -

So, when is the next project of Treez Please where you can get involved?

Saturday (17 Nov 2007) at noon on the south side of Youngstown, volunteers will be needed to plant trees along median strips on Euclid Boulevard (south of Midlothian). Here's a map to the site.

Please arrive by noon with gloves and a shovel, if possible. Planting, watering, spreading mulch are some of the involved activities.

They are planting 9 Celebration maple trees in the devil strip on the first block.
Large trees, large root balls, 2' caliper from Colonial Gardens.
Planting will be on the first block of Euclid off Midlothian, look for the yellow flags.

You can also go here to request more information.


Treez Please . . . Let's Grow Youngstown!

introducing: treez please

Yesterday morning, a new organization named "Treez Please" planted a red oak (Quercus rubra for you Linnean types) in Wick Park on Youngstown's historic North Side.


Local citizens heard from Arborist David Sturtz about the proper techniques of tree selection and planting. And in this effort, a truly grassroots organization took their first step forward in their quest to beautify the Mahoning Valley.

Their next project will be the creation of "pocket parks" in local neighborhoods that combine landscaped greenspace and eco-friendly sod furniture. They have aquired a few pieces of property on the North Side, and are beginning work on a parcel on Broadway between Elm Street and Wick Avenue. Check out this photo for an example:


Treez Please will have their next meeting [which open to the public, please attend] this Thursday, September 20th at 5:30pm at the First Unitarian Universalist Church on Elm Street. (go to their webpage if you need directions - it's on the east side of Wick Park).

All donations to Treez Please are tax-deductible.

Besides monetary donations, they are in need of topsoil and dirt to provide fertile ground for the greenspace to develop, as some of their sites have the remains of houses that have been demolished on them. They also could use your ideas, your energy, and your time as they progress with their vision.

For more information contact Debra Weaver at 330.744.1748 or
debraweaver2000 (at) hotmail (dot) com

Treez Please
P.O. Box 2292
Youngstown, Ohio 44504

the pillars of a community

The Defend Youngstown blog posted a great interview today with Anthony Kobak, Chief Planner of the City of Youngstown and one of the driving forces during the Youngstown 2010 planning process. You can find the interview here.

Defend Youngstown's work brings a human face to some of the pillars in the region. His interviews reinforce the notion that government is, well, just a bunch of people at the core, and not some abstract object.

- - -

Since my posting yesterday about the Toffler speech inside Stambaugh Auditorium, I have had a few requests about additional info on the building and its wonderful pillars.

The Indiana limestone, oak, and marble structure was inspired by the Pantheon in Paris, and was designed by Helmle and Corbett Architects from New York City. Its opening concert was held on December 6th, 1926 and featured the humorist Will Rodgers.

Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and recently Jerry Seinfeld have all performed in this historic building. Its rooms throughout the structure are available for rent, and is a great place for a wedding reception. In fact, here are a few photos of the place when I was one of the groomsmen for a good friend who had his wedding there: