for distinct projects [ specifically, the Mahoning River Corridor Initiative a.k.a. "Rollin on the River" AND the Mahoning / Youngstown Regional Information System (MYRIS) ] that may bring hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Mahoning Valley. all because of your vote.
how? go here and read about the projects, then vote.
"Why is it so important that the two Mahoning County projects win?
There is the money, of course, but more importantly, there is the Mahoning Valley’s reputation.
For too long this region has been viewed with a certain amount of disdain by the rest of the state not only because of local governments’ negative reputation brought on by corrupt officeholders, but because of the time it has taken us to recover economically from the collapse of the steel industry more than 30 years ago.
That should be the rallying cry for the residents of the Mahoning Valley. It would be a shame, indeed, if the two projects that have led the competition thus far lost in the end because of apathy."
So if you haven't yet, it takes like 60 seconds to vote.
any fan of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley can vote.
and vote for another inventive idea. The one in Oberlin looks good. Same with the one in Ashland. and there is a joint economic development planning one for parts of Summit county that's interesting too.
farmers markets and fresh vegetables are taking root in Youngstown.
For the second straight year, the weekly downtown farmers market is joining the weekly northside farmers market - providing two opportunities in the city for local folks to buy local produce and baked goods.
so here is the schedule:
EVERY TUESDAY - July 21th to Sept 22th 1:30pm to 5:00pm Downtown - Federal Plaza at Market St.
EVERY SATURDAY - July 18th to Sept 26th 9:00am to 1:00pm NorthSide - 1105 Elm Street, eastern side of Wick Park
from a story in last week's Business-Journal, one part highlighted making local produce accessible by all locals:
To help more residents take advantage what the market offers, vendors accept the Ohio Direction Card for payment.
The Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing our Neighborhoods organization helped to bring the Ohio Electronic Benefits Transfer Farmers' Market Demonstration Project to the Northside Farmers’ Market, one of 26 participating farmers’ markets in the state, said Action’s health and wellness committee chairwoman, Sheila Klasovsky.
Although the group couldn’t bring the system to the downtown market, “we have the ability to fill out a slip and do it later, so people can use it here,” Klasovsky said.
Work downtown? Take a coffee break and go buy some veggies...
Work elsewhere? Come down and support local entrepreneurs...
Just in case you missed one of the cooler events (out of many) that took place downtown, here are some additional photos and video of the 2009 Tour of the Valley event.
multiple races were held throughout the day, with one of the early morning ones below:
During the last stage of the race, the many many bikers on the Fallen Officers Run just about crossed paths with the cyclists' course. This is a great clip.
The awards for the Tour of the Valley. Very Youngstownesque.
in front of Turning Technologies:
zooming past the YBI:
beautiful video...beautiful setting. you've GOT to love those tree-lined medians.
the new trailer for September's Steel Valley movie makes one realize that in the hands of a very good artist or photo/videographer, downtown youngstown is a very stunning place.
We need to get some quality contemporary photographers to do some quality skyline shots that can be used over and over again in advertising materials.
I have set to see any downtown photos from the last three years that just really zings - with good lighting, good perspective, and good technique.
Because there are so many personal photos to go through and videos to upload, to see some great photos right away check out Tony Nicholas' blog at Downforce Imaging.
this weekend there will be an uber-abundance of activities going on: SlovenFest XVIII with its multi-stage polka blast in Lawrence County PA, GreekFest in downtown Youngstown with its pastries and dancing along Walnut Street, SummerFest of the Arts with its performances and ethnic food on the YSU campus, Forte on the Fifty with its music and fireworks at Stambaugh Stadium, the Smoky Hollow 5K with its perspiration and breakfast near the MVR...
but one new event in particular is tying together the region - both physically and cooperatively - in exciting ways.
The next four days will see the first ever "Tour of the Valley", a multi-day, four-stage bicycle race that is sanctioned by the U.S. Cycling Federation.
In its first year, the event is already the largest multi-stage bicycle race in the state of Ohio.
AND the event is being presented as the first certified “carbon neutral” bike race in the Midwest, reducing energy usage at this event by advising athletes to carpool, recycle, package materials with reusable materials, instituting a litter control program and tire recycling, etc.
with many different levels of competition (you can still sign up for some of the $12,500 in prize money), the race will be jumping all around Mahoning and Columbiana counties and there are multiple places to watch the various components of the race.
The stages/events include:
Thursday July 9th, 5-8pm: meet the racers dinner and wine tasting at Mastropietro Winery in Berlin.
Friday, July 10th, 8am-12pm: a 5.6 mile course over country roads in Berlin Township.
Friday, July 10th, 1pm-6pm: a repeated 1 mile course through Canfield for the timed criterium.
Saturday, July 11th, 8am-3pm: a 66 mile course starting and ending in downtown Columbiana.
Sunday, July 12th, 8am-2:30pm: a repeated 1 mile course through the historical architecture of downtown Youngstown, with restaurants open for breakfast and lunch to watch the cyclists zoom through the city streets at 30mph. Awards ceremonies to follow.
kudos to the folks at Carbon Racing, Energy Detectives, the Mahoning County Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the other sponsors for the effort it takes to bring together an event like this.
a recent post highlighted last week's regional sustainable energy conference held in Youngstown - and the need for the mega-region to skate where the puck is going - in terms of government support.
but what is the back story on how this conference came to be?
"Abraham credited YSU alumnus Jack Scott with being the driving force behind the conference.
Scott earned a degree in mechanical engineering and worked his way up to become president and chief operating officer of Parsons Corp., a California-based engineering and construction company that has $3.4 billion in annual revenues.
Scott said he has a passion for sustainable energy, but he wanted to hold the conference in Youngstown because of his love for the Mahoning Valley and its people.
“One of the greatest assets of this area is the work ethic,” he said. “We hire people from all over the world. You can always tell people who were hired from this area.”
Scott said the forum has to produce action to be a success. The goal is to link researchers with innovative ideas to people who can bring those ideas to market, he said."
And looking at the mega-region, those assets are already in place, to name a few:
- a national laboratory (NETL) National Energy Technology Laboratory in Pittsburgh - a centralized location of energy production - firming up university research strengths into formalized Centers of Excellence - connectivity to an educated workforce
but what's missing here?
you.
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as illustrated in the story of the Sustainable Energy Conference and other examples, people from Youngstown are helping their hometown out.
As a bonus, the first five minutes of the show will be dedicated to the airing of the new music video of The Zou for the song "When the Ink Dries" - filmed entirely in Youngstown.
then starts:
here is the rest of the schedule:
June 29th: IRON MAN July 6th: JAWS July 13th: INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF DOOM July 20th: SIXTEEN CANDLES July 27th: TYLER PERRY’S THE FAMILY THAT PREYS August 3rd: MADAGASCAR 2 August 10th: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD August 17th: DISTURBIA August 24th: ENCHANTED August 31st: THE INCREDIBLE HULK
And now, a new website is up - www.metrohomeplate.net - condensing all of their visits into one great one-stop shop.
For those of you googling "things to do in youngstown", consider these videos as a virtual cultural attaché to the Mahoning Valley.
For example, the tastes of New England come to the Valley via ZoupWerks, with locally raised pork and in-city bakeries contributing to their famous sandwiches:
Earlier this week, a post commented on "watching where the puck is going" in terms of technology-based economic development.
It's the same vision that's needed in terms of neighborhood development.
We can take a step back and see where the institutional investments are currently being made, see who is putting the sweat equity into housing, and see where the commercial infrastructure remains for future growth.
And going through this process, the Garden District on Youngstown's west side emerges as a place of choice.
People are choosing Youngstown and its Garden District, but the critical mass is not there quite yet.
We need to build that critical mass. Let's all move into the Garden District.
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But first, where is the Garden District?
It's the closest residential neighborhood on the west side to downtown, on the other side of the Frank Sinkwich bridge from the artist/light industrial area of the Mahoning Commons. The Garden District is nestled on three sides by well-manicured greenspace: Mill Creek Park to the south, Calvary Cemetery to the west, and Fellows Riverside Gardens (big flickr presence here) to the east. The commercial strip of Mahoning Avenue is its northern boundary.
It was the first neighborhood to go through the Youngstown 2010 individual neighborhood planning process, and you can access that plan here.
The Garden District Neighborhood Group meets regularly (meeting and contact info here), and just received a neighborhood success grant from the Wean Foundation for landscaping equipment (to be then shared with the community toolshed) and tree planting in the devil strips.
A comprehensive online photo album of the neighborhood is here.
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Second, what do people like about living in the Garden District?
well, I asked some of them:
from a twenty-something couple:
"When we moved to the Garden District, the reason [we thought] we loved it was because our family lived in Youngstown.
But now, our family is no longer in the area. Today, we know we love Youngstown, but for a different reason. We love our neighbors on our street and the families around us."
from a local architect who moved here from Canton:
"I chose this particular neighborhood because it's so close to the park. I can walk to Fellows Gardens and look out over Lake Glacier. After work, I just get off the bus early and go smell the roses, and walk around the rest of the gardens for a little while."
from a resident engaged in Youngstown's emerging technology cluster:
"I work in the Youngstown Business Incubator [ybi], and I often walk or bike the short commute to my job downtown. In my free time, I can go for a run in Mill Creek Park which I consider (literally) to be my backyard."
I guess my point is, if you are looking to move to Youngstown and like what these people have to say about the neighborhood, consider the Garden District.
This place can really become a hub of in-town living.
Let's review what makes this neighborhood great in the eyes of its residents:
- well-built and affordable housing stock from the 1930s - connectivity to an abundance of greenspace - immediacy to a grocery store, post office, two bakeries, restaurants - Fellows Riverside Gardens is expanding its beauty - proximity to downtown and YSU - "urban fabric" density still strong, house after house all there - all bus routes to the west side and austintown go through - freeway access in neighborhood to I-680 and all points east and west - adjacent to the events and classes at Fellows Riverside Gardens - commercial space available for future use
If you have an interest in living in the neighborhood, these people quoted above are willing to speak with you more in detail about housing prices, reputable contractors, neighborhood groups, etc.
And if you are willing to join the existing Hungarian, Mexican, Irish, and Croatian BBQ restaurants in walking distance of the Garden District, maybe there is some space for your next commercial venture as well.
Next week kicks off a three-day multi-state conference to be held in downtown Youngstown on the subject of sustainable energy and economic development.
The topic is a trendy one at the moment in technology-based economic development, but a good one, because if you anticipate where the puck is going - or where the Obama administration will be allocating billion of dollars in the near future - it's in the sustainable energy field.
Sunday, June 21 begins with the airing of the FUEL film on the YSU campus at 4pm (open to the public), followed by a Q&A with film's Director.
Monday, June 22 features introductions by the Mayor, Dr. McCloud, and the President and COO of the Parsons Corporation. In 2008, Parsons had 11,600 worldwide employees and over $3.4 billion USD in revenues.
the Keynote Address will be by Congressman Tim Ryan, Appropriations Committee, on the Energy & Water Subcommittee (jurisdiction on the Dept of Energy, Dept of Interior, etc)
a series of what looks like policy and planning discussions to follow during the rest of the day.
Tuesday, June 23 reviews regional research and advancement in the fields of biofuels, carbon management, energy conservation, renewable energy, hydrogen systems, and geologic sustainable energy.
Contributing partners include Parsons, Battelle, NETL (national laboratory), NorTech, the Mahoning/Shenango Advance Manufacturing Initiative, Global Green USA, and the U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development. From a 40,000 foot perspective, quite a lineup.
So when people are curious as to different approaches to economic development occurring in the Valley, here is a great example.
morning headlines from the mega-region's newspapers:
Pittburgh Post-Gazette "Pittsburgh is an economic champion, too" Add this to the Lombardi Trophy and Stanley Cup: The city ranks 18th on the Brookings Institution listing on the strength of local economies in the U.S. (story)
Cleveland Plain Dealer "Recession will last longest in Midwest, including Ohio, two reports show" Cleveland ranked 95th among the nation's largest 100 metropolitan areas in economic growth, with a 6.2 percent drop, the Brookings analysis of Moody's Economy.com data said. (story)
questions:
1 - how to explain the growing divergence between Cleveland and Pittsburgh?
2 - how does this divergence effect Youngstown, the place in the middle of the two?
side thought:
ok, in truth, way too much stock is put in these "snapshot" reports by the media and other civic boosters and gasp, even bloggers.
I say "snapshot" because looking at the analysis methods, their research for the most part is examining trends in one year of data. (they look at four items only: percent employment, percent unemployment, metro GDP, and some housing price index)
In a more robust world, at least three years to five years is a much better slice to observe. In addition, GDP growth is a very interesting statistic, but GDP per capita might be a better one to use, especially as some metros are shrinking in size and population.
The authors are looking at recovery from the recession, which may justify their shorter time frame. One might argue Brookings has done longer-range quality reports that show many of the same results.
As a whole (one person's opinion), analyses from the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings are generally pretty reputable, as opposed to the junk that comes from Forbes magazine.
