Voices of Change in Steel City
Youngstown native Cynthia Beckes talks to
people with a stake in the city's future
CUDC Quarterly 4:1 - Fall, 2004

The Sounds of This City. . .

If you listen, you can hear it – on the steps of the public library, on the bocce court at the MVR, on the south side on Glenwood Avenue, west to Belle Vista and the east side along Jacobs Road. It’s subtle at first. You have to listen closely, but for the first time in a long time it is there.

This sound bubbles up in conversation in places of worship, between two friends having lunch downtown, and among music students on their way to rehearsal space at Powers Auditorium. It swirls softly though Wick Park and up along the north side, can be heard at the Community Health Center and, I’d venture a guess, even in the residence halls of Youngstown State University. Men in barbershops near Schenley discuss it. Soccer moms fit it into their daily schedules.

It causes people to approach others and talk hopefully about the future of the city. It causes groups who were formerly at odds to come together in common purpose. It uses the talent it has, as well as drafting talent from other places that have experienced a similar past. It even reaches across the ocean to places like Italy and Taiwan, offering its most precious natural resource – its students – and asking for students in return. It is sustained, positive, and for the first time in a long time, immutable.

It is the sound of hope.

Since the early 1970s when Youngstown’s industrial economy came to a grinding halt, the people of the Mahoning Valley have been struggling to find a new identity. No longer a "steel town," Youngstown needed to redefine itself and let people know that it was more than the "buckle on the rust belt." It has taken 30 years but it is finally happening.

As a Youngstown native who, like so many young people, moved away after the economy foundered, I moved back recently to take care of my aging parents and to attend grad school. When talking to friends and colleagues, I began hearing the first really positive signs of hopeful change in years. I decided to go out in the community and "hear" for myself. I spent a day randomly stopping to talk with people around town, who are actively engaged in this process.

 
My first stop was a place I had frequented as a student at YSU in the early 1980s. Then it was simply known as "Good Karma." The renamed Good Food Co-op is on Pyatt Street, just one mile east of downtown. As manager of one of the few "earth friendly" grocers in the area, Betsy Stark is an unabashedly positive person who believes passionately in the organization she serves. The Co-op has seen first hand the devitalization of downtown Youngstown, but it has survived and is now 600 members strong. Betsy sees positive changes in the neighborhood around the Co-op, which is now on a bus route that links it with the YSU campus. "One of our members is an English professor there, and he’s really excited about getting students to come and join. It’s easier for them to get here now to do their food shopping," she added.

As a resident of Youngstown’s west side, Betsy is encouraged by what she sees as a hopeful beginning. "New schools are being built. We have 500 new homes targeted for this area by 2010. Things are really starting to move." With the Co-op’s location on a main route into downtown, Betsy hopes that commuters from new businesses that will be established as part of the Youngstown 2010 and Convocation Center projects will stop on their way home to the various suburbs to buy whole food items such as organically grown fruits and vegetables, dairy products and groceries.

The Youngstown 2010 Plan has tapped a well of talent, initiative and caring that will work to renovate and support the neighborhoods and breathe new life into the corpse that was once a vital downtown. This group of concerned citizens and community leaders is working to redefine what it means to be from Youngstown, Ohio.

The results of all this talent coming together can be seen all over the city. Public works projects like the opening up of the Federal Plaza to traffic are dovetailing nicely with federal and state projects to establish a link from Interstate 80 to Division Street to a new industrial park area located on the site the former steel mills. Youngstown is becoming more accessible, more beautiful and again a source of pride for its citizens.

The number of local initiatives already underway in the city is evident as well. I stopped into The Needle’s Eye. As stated in it’s promotional materials, this Christian Counseling Center, ". . .is located in the heart of Youngtown’s south side where many are unemployed, unskilled and poorly educated, and the abuse of drugs and alcohol is a growing menace."

I spoke with Michael K. Write, Vice-President. Mr. Write is a big man with an even bigger smile. A certified prevention specialist in the state and local court systems, Mr. Write has now devoted his full-time employment to the Needle’s Eye. "There are great initiatives like ours all over the city," he stated, "The energy is so positive!"

The day I visited, a picnic was being held for children who attend the Needle’s Eye after-school programs. This "back to school" event provided school supplies for these young people who might not be able to afford them. "We have 35-50 neighborhood kids here on Saturdays and about 30 for after school initiatives. We provide tutoring, computer instruction, and counseling for these kids." The level of civility between staff and children struck me as a very positive sign of change. All adults were addressed as "Mr." or "Miss" and the children were well behaved. The center has rules of conduct posted on the wall—for children and adults!

One of the greatest things for students served by this center, according to Mike, is the "Early College" Program sponsored by YSU. Students from all over the city can receive college credit while still in high school. This serves as a big incentive to stay in school.

Mike is very excited about the changes going on in Youngstown. "The connectedness that is happening – the university, the schools, the religious institutions and community organizations, collectively are making a huge difference. I see people reaching beyond the ‘breaks’ of the past to create community."

The Needle’s Eye was established 26 years ago by Mrs. Irma Davis who took children and youth into her home to help them with issues of drug and alcohol abuse in their families and to prevent them from following the same path. The community and external funders support the center. Philanthropic agencies, like the Raymond John Wean Foundation, have helped establish a permanent facility at 74 Kenmore Avenue and expand its services to adults in the community as well. Adult programming includes classes to help transition teens into adulthood, teach parenting skills, and provide support groups for men and women. "I have nothing but high hopes for our neighborhood and our city." Mr. Write stated. He was recently elected to the Youngstown Board of Education and plans to bring his positive attitude and energy to that group during his tenure.

YSU is also doing its part to promote small businesses in the downtown area to serve the student population and overall campus community. As the largest employer in the city, the university has a vested interest in Youngstown’s prosperity. President David Sweet and his staff have worked tirelessly to increase enrollment at YSU, recruiting new students not only from the region, but also from around the globe.

 
David Simon  in his restaurant The Cedars. In the background, a local painter hangs his work. The photo above shows the approach to the Cedars (at upper left) from YSU. Implementation of the campus master plan should make it a lot easier to get from campus to businesses like Simon’s

I stopped in to talk with one local businessperson who has taken an active role in promoting downtown. David T. Simon owns The Cedars Restaurant and Bar, a typical college town eatery. A 1987 graduate of YSU, Simon is firmly committed to the revitalization efforts in Youngstown. The Cedars was established in the 1970s by David’s parents, Joseph F. and Sada Simon, as a place for young people to come for live music after shows at the now defunct Youngstown Agora.

He strongly believes that there should be at least a dozen establishments like The Cedars downtown. To achieve this, David met with state government officials to change the Ohio Revised Code. According to David, previously the code restricted "commercial entertainment districts" to cities with populations over 100,000. Such districts can legally support 15 new liquor licenses for establishments that provide 80 percent dining and 20 percent bar facilities. Simon lobbied to have the population restriction lowered to 20,000. This allows Youngstown to designate an "arts and entertainment district" with a critical mass of restaurants, galleries, museums etc.

"With the new convocation center being built, people need to have places to go before and after a performance or sporting event. And they need to feel safe. More businesses bring more people, it’s as simple as that," he stated.

David has approached FirstEnergy Corporation on behalf of local downtown merchants to see if better lighting between the university and downtown could be implemented. Not content with working on Youngstown, David will travel to Warren, Ohio in the coming weeks to share his ideas and expertise with the city council there.

When I left The Cedars, I headed across the Mahoning Avenue Bridge where I met small business owner, Tim Allen. I wondered out loud where I’d heard that name before, he smiles. "I get that a lot. It’s like the guy on Home Improvement." Tim is the owner of the Westside Bakery, which has been open for "about two and a half years," since he moved his bakery from nearby Sharon, Pa. Tim closed his bakery in Sharon when most of the businesses moved out of the downtown area there. "Nothing much is happening yet." he stated when asked about revitalization around his new location. "Our new 4th ward councilwoman , Carol Righetti, is a real go-getter, so I’m hopeful." Business in Youngstown is beginning to pick up for him. As he has become better known, he is getting contracts from some of the social clubs like the nearby Mannerchor. He believes enough in his business prospects in Youngstown that he drives an hour one way each evening at 11 p.m. from his home near Greenville, Pa. to begin baking for the next morning. If that is not an act of hope, I don’t know what is.

So the next time you are in Youngstown, do a little eavesdropping. Listen closely and you will be pleasantly surprised, as I was, to hear the sound of hope on every corner, permeating the city at every level. Take a few minutes to talk to people and then come back often and witness the change. With all of this talent pulling together, Youngstown is facing the future with hopeful determination and where there is hope, all things are possible.

Cynthia Beckes is a graduate of YSU and Kent State. Her writing has been featured in the Cleveland Plain Dealer and on NPR.