There's a gem on the West Side of Youngstown used once per week this time of year as part of Mill Creek Park's Summerfest Concert Series.
Tucked just off of McCollum Road in the Wick Recreation Area, the Judge Morley Pavilion is a great setting for outdoor concerts and various performances.
The space, adjacent to the very livable Rocky Ridge Neighborhood, will be used three times within the next week - all for free performances. Wednesday, July 21 7pm - Mifune, world indie music
Friday, July 23 7pm - WAR, national recording artist
Sunday, July 25 5pm - FX Project, blues Sunday, July 25 7pm - Rainbow Tribe, jam band
here are some videos from last Wednesday's concert of the Shaffer Brothers, a great irish music band:
Click here to see Mill Creek Park's Summerfest calendar for the wholes season - from June through September.
New cool finds are in abundance on the west side of the city of youngstown.
Steel Street - home to the Open Hearth and its art deco basement/party room, home to the Palm Cafe and its Croatian barbecue goodness, home to Roscoe's butcher shop and its great cuts & prices, and home to County Mayo and its Irish vibes - is now home to a new entity: Shanghai-based Cuisine at the Orthodox Church every Thursday.
St. Michael's Orthodox Church, right where Steel Street passes over I-680, opens its social hall as both a dine-in or take-out option for homemade (always non-fried, a nice change) chinese food.
Every week, this $5 meal will feature food like this:
Above is pork in a brown sauce (non-fried), with a cabbage dish and brown rice.
Below, shredded chicken with the same cabbage side and white rice.
All types of chinese teas for free, or free coffee.
Desserts for a buck or two extra.
This thursday:
a beef dish, with the classic (but seldom found in local chinese restaurants/take-out) tomatoe and egg mixture will be on the menu.
But why is there a Shanghai-style chef operating in St. Michael's Orthodox Church on Steel Street?
The stretch of Mahoning Avenue directly adjacent to downtown youngstown contains some of the city's best artistic/cultural institutions.
And now one more establishment - The Calvin Center Idea Incubator - will open its doors this weekend.
From the Mr. Peanut Bridge...
to the gateway into Mill Creek Park at Fellows Riverside Gardens...
. . . The first ever Mahoning Commons Fest on May 1st and 2nd will highlight a maturing corridor in the city of Youngstown.
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Let's look at what's going on up and down the block for both days.
Starting from the Mahoning River, the lifegiver of livegivers...
Rust Belt Brewery in the B&O Station noon to 8pm - brewery tours and beer tasting www.rustybrew.com
The Victorian Players Built in the 1890s, the renovated church is now the Little Theater of Spring Common and will be offering tours from noon to 5pm Saturday, and noon to 1pm on Sunday. Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2:00pm will be performances of their latest production, The Heiress. www.victorianplayers.org
The Calvin Center Idea Incubator The city's newest venue for theater, art and music will have its' Grand Opening celebration. The Artists of the Rust Belt will have a full market there, with an exhibition by Art Youngstown - local food and brews as well. Valet bike parking for all cyclists. Music throughout and bands from 8pm to midnight on Saturday.
Star Supply Now celebrating it's 40th year as Youngstown's #1 funky and good-valued supply store.
Rockview Church Hungarian Bacon Fry from noon to 5pm on Sunday
The Ward Bakery Building The Spring Open Studio and Art Sale of over 30 artists in a former bakery building. Fine furniture, photography, glass, sculpture, painting, jewelry, etc.
The Weller Gallery at Fellows Riverside Gardens Exhibition of colorful hand blown works of glass inspired by tropical and natural plant forms.
AND
A free shuttle taking you from location to location will be hosted by good people with The Purple Cat.
It's wonderful having Mill Creek Park located on the edge of your neighborhood.
A view from Fellow Riverside Gardens overlooking Lake Glacier:
Things are starting to pick up in the Garden District.
An expanded botanical gardens, surrounded by greenspace on three sides, a neighborhood plan, ethnic eats, reasonable commercial and residential space, and most important...GREAT neighbors.
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.
I ate lunch at The Palm Cafe on Steel Street this Saturday, my third time in four weekends.
You see, I needed to get one more photo of some slow-roasted ham for this week's post of one of Youngstown's best hidden restaurants.
And this morning, I found this absolutely wonderful video of a trip to The Palm Cafe and a conversation with the Dubic family:
nice work, Metro Monthy.
Such is the fast and furious lifestyle of Youngstown online storytelling and blogging.
Another case in point, just days after my recent story about the Japanese Youngstown 2010 references and ohio meaning "good morning" in Japanese, Sunday's edition of the Youngstown Vindicator featured a similar opinion piece with the exact same topic.
Amazing coincidence, that's all. Many of you emailed me complaining how the local paper stole the idea, but I doubt that is the case.
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anyway, here is the stock footage of my past few weekends at The Palm.
from the outside along Steel Street on the west side of the city:
the spread of vegetables and bread:
the chickens come out from the smoke house:
a video of cutting through the chickens:
then the lamb and hams come out:
slicing through the lamb like butter:
on one plate, chicken with genesee on draft.
on the other, lamb with labatt's blue on draft.
the whole Palm saturday experience is a wonderful ritual I member as a grade schooler from when I used to come here with my grandpa.
The place slowly fills with people in the morning, taking numbers, and then is packed at about 12:15pm when the first chickens come out. Chickens are sold by the bird or half a bird, and later the lamb and ham comes out - to be purchased by the pound.
