a new park in the core of the city, Harrison Common, will open on Saturday

Decades ago, the smell of freshly-baked bread filled the air in the Smoky Hollow neighborhood as residents baked their loafs in a handful of outdoor ovens.

Located just adjacent to the university downtown and its growing footprint, The Hollow's population has changed over the years, and outdoor bread baking disappeared from the landscape.

But now in 2011, that heavenly smell is back.

That's because this weekend, a new park in the core of the city of Youngstown opens and the center of the new "Harrison Common" will feature a community bread oven.


And around the base of the oven there is a variety of fresh herbs planted for use on pizzas or other dishes being cooked.


Let's take a look at some of the other aspects of the new park . . .

In the center of Harrison Common, we see a large decorative pergola.


The pergola was one of the components purchased with the $40,000 gift by the Rotary Club of Youngstown.


It's great to see people in the park late on a weekday evening, as this day a mix of men and women were playing rugby on the big field behind the pergola.


Another great feature of Harrison Park is the large granite map built into the base brick surface showing all of the structures in the Smoky Hollow circa 1920-1940.

All of those previously mentioned outdoor bread ovens are denoted on the stone map with a circle. How many do you count on the map?





If you can make it, the ribbon cutting for official opening of Harrison Common will be at 11:30am on Saturday July 9, which will be lead by Wick Neighbors, Inc.

Kicking off the usage of Harrison Common (besides the rugby players) will be the Youngstown Jazz Fest at 6pm. Held last year downtown, this year the Jazz Festival will be held in the Smoky Hollow. All free, but bring your lawn chairs.



Another great investment project into the core of downtown youngstown!

Kudos to all who participated in its planning and donated to its realization.

the Federal Building is fully rented - before the official opening - a true Youngstown success story

Well, the market is there folks.

All 12 apartments in the newly renovated Federal Building have been rented. This has occurred many weeks - even a month or two - before the official opening.

It shows what happens when a company with reputable leadership do their homework, set proper price points, and pay attention to historical details.

(for example: the sign was saved, fixed, and glows red neon at night)


Never been inside The Federal Building?

let's take a look ...


Designed by the world-famous architect and city planner Daniel Burnham (think Union Station in DC and the layout of Chicago) in 1899, the four-story structure is a significant one in Youngstown's history.

Stepping inside the lobby, we can see an art-deco inspired lobby added at a later date.


The renovated hallways have kept the original wooden doors, and the terrazzo floors shine throughout.



The attention to detail on the lighting and paint colors is a great touch.


The wooden designed railings have been kept, and repainted.


Now, let's step inside one of the units.

First thing you see is the amazing view - just look at the beautiful art deco Metropolitan Tower from the window...


The reddish building on the left is another Burnham building in Youngstown, this one 13 stories tall, but sadly the wonderfully ornate cornice was removed at some point.

However, we can still see the amazing details in the building - a building now over 100 years old itself (and rumored to be a boutique hotel downtown). What a view of the details from these apartments!





Now looking out some additional windows...



And inside the kitchen and living room...






Now going down to the ground floor, to the restaurant level...


Here's the view from the side private room along Phelps Street. Great window views!



The restaurant too has kept some unique details...check out the design.


Mixing the old and the new, here is the tile pattern that will be located in the kitchen and to the bathrooms:


While the Federal Building as a long-term business success still has to be determined, the project has a great start out of the gate.

The attention to detail and respect to the original architecture makes the entire building a gem to walk through.

Add the fact that all of the apartments are rented before the grand opening, the rollout of the renovation is a pretty impressive feat.

Final point: the demand is there, and when the price point and quality match, the tenants line up to live in downtown Youngstown.

Downtown Farmers Market now features local-sourced to-go meals

Every Tuesday downtown until October 11, the downtown farmers market is now open. And now, you can pick up some great multi-course pack lunches at the market to go!


here is last week's menu...

Pulled chicken, baby bok choy, shredded carrots and bean sprouts topped with thai peanut sauce wrapped in bright lights chard.

AND Roasted zucchini, sugar snap peas, radishes & brown rice with a garlic scape pesto for the salad.

WITH Sweet Potato Chips OR Kale and Broccoli Greens Chips.

Strawberry Lavender muffins OR
Forest Pie, made with raspberries, strawberries and mullberries.

after a night of fighting under the stars, SI names this song #12 in the greatest sports musical playlist ever

After a great night of boxing downtown under the stars...


here is a link to the Sports Illustrated top sports songs of all time.

from Warren Zevon's 1987 album, "Sentimental Hygiene"



props to Vinny.

is it time to stop widening exurban roads like Western Reserve?

"just say NO."

Nancy Reagan taught us well.

And this same mentality can be applied to the practice of local government spending local dollars on adding more and more lanes to existing roads.

More lanes mean more future money needed to maintain them.

More lanes mean exacerbating sprawl even with a shrinking population.

More lanes mean turning existing commercial areas into emptiness.

But are the points above the right perspective?



While one of the local newspapers reads: "[Western Reserve Road] which is 10 feet wide on each side, will be widened to 12 feet on each side and will have 4-foot paved shoulders," I've heard from others just how nice it would be if Western Reserve Road was additionally widened to four lanes.

Maybe now is the time to question the wisdom of expanding more and more streets in what used to be the exurbs. (now increasingly the suburbs)

some questions:

When money is taken from the general fund (which it is) to widen roads, does that result in existing roads in your neighborhood not being maintained?

When the labor and time of county employees is used to widen roads, does that mean your issues compete with road widening?

When a two-lane country road becomes a four-lane dragstrip, does that make the situation more of less safe?

When the government subsidizes sprawl in a region that is shrinking, do your personal property values go down?

When these roads are built and the grocery stores and shops move, are you going to have to drive further and further just take care of basic necessities?

- - -

what do you think?

Youngstown's 2011 Free Outdoor Movie Fest starts this Monday

At dusk on Monday June 20 begins the 2011 series of outdoor movies in downtown Youngstown.

This year's lineup begins with "Despicable Me" and as always, drinks and snacks and popcorn will be provided by The Purple Cat and the Touch the Moon Candy Saloon.





The rest of the summer movies in 2011 are:
* June 20th - Despicable Me (PG, 2010)
* June 27th - Iron Man 2 (PG-13, 2010)
* July 11th - Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (G, 1971)
* July 18th - Next Three Days (PG-13, 2010)
* July 25th - How to Train Your Dragon (PG, 2010)
* August 1st - The Social Network (PG-13, 2010)
* August 8th - Rango (PG, 2011)
* August 15th - Rebel Without a Cause (PG-13, 1955)
* August 22nd - Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (PG-13, 2010)
* August 29th - Toy Story 3 (G, 2010)

free movies
under the stars
in the grass
in downtown youngstown

youngstown's first pan-Slavic Fest to feature night disco, imports, other unique events

The first ever "Simply Slavic" fest kicks off this Saturday June 18 in downtown youngstown, celebrating the collective traditions of 12 countries across central and eastern europe.

A unique twist to cap off the day's festivities, there will be a EURO DISCO from 9pm to midnight with contemporary music from these countries, led by local DJ talent. Five types of imported slavic beers will be served throughout the festival.

Check out video 1, video 2, and video 3 for more information (good interviews and content).

Besides the disco, the Simply Slavic Festival will include starting at noon:
- ethnic foods from 12 churches of various nationalities
- baking contest, with winning entries to be raffled off
- Polka bands throughout, with folk dancing between sets
- a huge map of europe to mark your family origins
- discounts to the new OH WOW childrens science museum
- every person upon entry gets one ticket to the raffle of ethnic crafts
- a marketplace for ethnic crafts and sundries


a special flight of import beers will be available for $10, sampling beverages from 5 different countries...

- Pilsner Urquell (Czech Republic)
- Zlaty Bazant (Slovakia)
- Tyskie (Poland)
- Karlovacko (Croatia)
- Obolon (Ukraine)

and, they've got Slivovica, the magic elixir of life - in both Serbian and Croatian varieties


a few volunteers are still needed as of Friday because of last-minute needs to fence off the whole festival, resulting in having to reassign existing volunteers.

If you can help during the day (asking for one hour slots or more, from 12pm to 8pm) and want a free t-shirt, please respond in the comments section below as the organizers need some help!

the bus systems is free - all day Thursday - "dump the pump" day

Who remembers this commercial for WRTA?



Now, replay the video and sign along at the top of your lungs.

Seriously.

Do it.

It feels good.

- - -

Thursday June 16 is national "Dump the Pump" day, and the Western Reserve Transit Authority (WRTA) is pitching in, with the county-wide bus system available FOR FREE all day.

The coupon to ride free is in local newspapers and is available here as well.

All the coupons from people who "dump the pump" on Thursday will be put into a drawing. There will be five 15 ride passes awarded and three 31 day passes awarded.

Click here to see how close the bus comes to your house.

free summer concert series begins Wednesday at Morley Pavilion near Rocky Ridge

Westsiders will be walking over, others will be driving over to Morley Pavilion for the beginning of the summer concert series.

With all concerts starting at 7pm, the music type will shift from week to week.

For example, this Wednesday's concert kicks off with local music talent Sarah Turner (country)



Then the big concert of the season is this Saturday June 18, the Atlanta Rhythm Section:



The rest of the dates:
June 15 - Sarah Turner - Country
June 18 - ATLANTA RHYTHM SECTION - National Recording Artists
June 22 - Canfield Community Concert Band - Concert
June 29 - Del Sinchak & Jack Vasko - Polka
July 6 - Ryan Humbert Band - Americana/Pop/Rock
July 13 - Don Burns - Big Band
July 20 - Going for the One - YES tribute
July 27 - The HouseBand - Rock/Dance
July 31 - The Sensations - Sunday, 5pm to 8pm - Motown/R&B
August 3 - HeartBEAT Afrika - Street percussionAfrican drumming
August 10 - The Juke Hounds - Blues/Rock/Soul
August 17 - Easy Street - Standards/Show Tunes
August 24 - Hey Mavis - Modern Old-timey
August 31 - Michael Austin - Jazz

the city with a cowlick: new map shows Youngstown's boundary adjustments in 2010

On November 17, 1913 the area of land known as Youngstown Township ceased to effectively exist as the township was annexed into the City of Youngstown.

In the 97 years that followed, the western boundary of Youngstown was one straight shot along Meridian Road from Trumbull County down to Boardman and Canfield townships.

Similarly, almost all of the City of Youngstown is to the south of Gypsy Lane, with the exception of North Side Hospital, Stambaugh golf course, and additional industrial lands near the Crab Creek - north of Gypsy but actually in Trumbull County.

In 2010 however, the boundaries changed, albeit slightly, in the name of economic development.

Here is the new map, which now has a funky border in its northwest area, bound to slightly change the coloring of future maps online and in print:


and a zoomed in picture:


Why the slight changes?

In one case, now a bit of Youngstown for the first time rests to the west of Meridian Road. It's 6.4 acres of undeveloped land where Phantom Fireworks will be constructing a new store.

In the other case, about 190 acres of industrial space was transferred from Girard to Youngstown for part of the V&M Steel Tubing manufacturing facility, good direct foreign investment in the Mahoning Valley from a company headquartered in Paris France.

In both cases, successfully completing economic development projects where local jobs will be created was the impetus.

Bottom line, cooperation = economic development = future abilities for all of the Mahoning Valley to market itself.

incubator company Via680 partners with city for public input on future signage downtown

do you have opinions on the signage needed in downtown youngstown?

The YBI-portfolio company Via680 has partnered with the City of Youngstown's Office of Economic Development to develop media-rich tool to collect the opinions of the public.

Click here to watch the video and share your opinions.
The whole process took me 6 minutes.

Please provide advice and they'll listen.


Via680 (the artist formerly known as BIzVeo) produces software that allows the user to send emails maximized with video, embedded questions, and track answers.

what are the applications?

Let's say you're a hospital and you need to make sure your patient is ready for surgery. With Via680's product, you can craft instructions for the patient, ask them questions, receive their input and even post-surgery questions as they recover from home.

Let's say you're a local butcher and you are looking to engage your clients. With Via680s product, you can share cooking videos, recipes, and questions of the specials of the week.

Let's say you are managing a project for work, and need to make sure all of your employees not only listen to information, but also if they understand it. With Via680's product, you can track what employees have opened your email, and by the voting process inside the email, you can quiz what employees actually understand the information.

- - -

All three of the above examples are taking place right now.

The company, Via680, is headquartered in downtown youngstown (inside I-680), partnering with local hospitals and business (just off I-680), and is expanding their reach around the globe (way beyond I-680).

Now Via680's product is helping to advance the civic space.

Watch their video about signage options, and vote on the what you'd like to see downtown.

450+ volunteers planted, digged, and mulched thoughout the city Saturday

In addition to print-based stories in the local media (such as this good story from the Business-Journal), it's interesting to see the contributions from various other sources to provide context and deeper visual imagery.

Check out this video of re-imagining the "triangle lot" near the Golden Dawn on the north side near the intersection of Wick and Logan:



Here's a link to the new Defend Youngstown YouTube channel, where one can subscribe these grassroots four-minute videos as they are produced...



Here's a recap from the new blog from DownForce Imaging (link to new blog)

Photos from the Youngstown CityScape website...

le terroir of Youngstown ... city-produced and foraged foods to be highlighted Thursday

Exciting steps are being taken in the Mahoning Valley to further strengthen the relationships between local growers and local restaurants.

The Lake2River Food Cooperative is getting off the ground, to be established at Youngstown's food business incubator on the north side.

This Thursday, May 19th at 6pm, there will be a culinary feast at the First Unitarian Universalist Church near Wick Park, with proceeds going to the start-up funding needs of the food cooperative.

Along with some beer and wine, the $35 ticket will present a menu prepared by local chefs, with all dishes incorporating local seasonal grown and foraged foods. (includes gluten-free and raw vegan options)

CHECK OUT THIS MENU >>>>

With the exception of the olives, dates and chocolate in the menu below, ALL of the food at the event will be produced/raised/foraged from within the City of Youngstown and surrounding counties.

You can taste on Thursday night:
- kimchi dumplings
- grilled local May asparagus
- watercress soup shooters with crème fraiche
- fresh spring rolls with ohio carrots and radishes
- bruschetta with mushrooms (Morel mushrooms foraged in Youngstown's Idora neighborhood, Oyster and Shiitake mushrooms grown near pittsburgh, and ramps/wild garlic foraged in Columbiana county)
- charcuterie of 5 varied meats: including duck, salami, copa, lomo ... all cured in pittsburgh
- ohio apples, pennsylvania blue cheese and cheddar
- Lucky Penny goat cheese
- Fresh chèvre with medjool dates
- Miller's Farm grass-fed sirloin skewers
- Tofu skewers
- Lamppost Farm's chicken, in indian-spiced lettuce wraps
- strawberry rhubarb squares
- chocolate farmed and produced in Madagascar
- jasmine tea with ice cubes embedded with foraged violets

Welcome to the food culture of Youngstown!


tickets can be rsvp'ed from 2 sources:

Adam Lee
adamlee49 (at) gmail (dot) com

Pat Rosenthal
Common Wealth
phone 330.744.2667 ext 17

by the numbers: Youngstown City Population Stats by Ward, 1980-2010

Since the results of the 2010 Census have come out, stories in the press have centered on the City of Youngstown's shrinking population, now standing at 67,000 residents.

But what about the population figures per ward of the city?

With the recent release of population statistics per census block group and census tract, the populations in each of the city's seven wards in 2010 is available as well.

Here's the compiled data for each of Wards 1 to 7 in 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2010:


For each of those years, the geographic boundaries of the wards have not changed.

Here is a graph of the raw data, showing the population per ward over those thirty years:


Over that same time period, here is the change in the ratio of each ward's population compared to the entire City of Youngstown's population.



some interesting observations from the data:

- Youngstown's (city) population has declined 42% from 115,500 in 1980 to 67,000 in 2010.

- Losing the most population from 1980 to 2010 are the First Wards and the Sixth Wards, both having more than 50% losses.

- Losing the least population from 1980 to 2010 are the Fourth Wards and the Seventh Wards, both having less than 30% losses.

- The least populous ward in 1980 had more people than the most populous ward in 2000.

- Similarly, the least populous ward in 1990 had more people than the most populous ward in 2010.

- In 2010 the Sixth Ward contained 10.8% of the city's population. In 2010, the Fourth Ward contained 18.1% of the city's population. This is getting close to a 2:1 ratio of residents inside each ward when comparing the two jurisdictions.

The conclusion:

Each ward in the city is losing population, but the rate of change per ward has created substantial population inequalities between them.