365 Things #7

Have you ever considered getting involved with community support agriculture? Now is the perfect time to look into a CSA in the Youngstown area. If you aren't in the know, a CSA (and its members) provides financial support to local agriculture and in exchange, you get some of the goods dropped at your door every week. Want some fresh swiss chard, strawberries, or peaches? Join one of the several CSA's in Youngstown. Grow Youngstown has all the details on this awesome and totally affordable program.

365 Things #6

Get rid of the Monday blues with some kolachi! Ghossain's Mid East Bakery on South Avenue has a wide variety of Lebanese and other Middle Eastern foods, including fresh baked pita and lavash, desserts and confections. Check out their website for a full list of options. Not in the Youngstown area? They will ship to you!

Ghossain's Mid East Bakery
3990 South Avenue
(330) 788-6003

365 Things #5

How about some ribs? Head over to Charlie Staples and try the best BBQ in Ohio. I recommend the combo platter, with ribs, chicken, slaw and fries. Find the white bread buried on your plate in order to soak up the delicious sauce.

Charlie Staples
327 West Rayen Avenue
(330) 743-7427

365 Things #4

Tulips, daffodils, and magnolias, oh my! It is peak time to see the blooms at Fellows Riverside Gardens in Mill Creek Park. Because of the early warm weather, many flowers popped up early and the next two weeks provide the best time to see the garden in full bloom! If you've got the day off, why not make the trip to the South Side and take it all in? Check out the Garden's website here.

123 McKinley Avenue

Youngstown, OH

365 Things #3

It's Friday Happy Hour! Why not head downtown and visit the Lemon Grove. Urbanspoon.com rates them as one of the best happy hour joints in the Mahoning Valley. They have over 30 beers on draft or in bottles as well as an extensive wine list. Stay for dinner and the musical stylings of Akron musicians 'Trouble Books'. Find their website here.

BTW: They have their own art blog!

122 W Federal Street
Youngstown, OH
330-744-7683

365 Things #2

Head to the Youngstown Playhouse and take in a show! The playhouse has risen like a phoenix as it rebuilds its theater and its image. Try Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, showing 4/16-4/25. For all the details, visit the Youngstown Playhouse website.

365 Things #1

What a better way to start this adventure than to head to the Golden Dawn and have a slice of pizza and a schooner of beer? Head there on a Saturday morning and have the most inexpensive breakfast in town. This institution is my favorite place to go in Youngstown, so I selfishly made it number 1. I swear, I will try and diversify for the remaining 364.

Find out what it's all about: Golden Dawn

1245 Logan Avenue

Youngstown, OH

330-746-0393

365 Things To Do In Youngstown

I was recently inspired by a Facebook group called "365 Things To Do In D.C." and thought, 'Why not Youngstown?' Starting tomorrow, I will post one daily tip, helping Youngstown residents connect with their city and find new things to talk about. If you have something you want me to feature, drop me an email or leave a comment. I am excited to take this journey through Youngstown, its places and events. Let's get going!

To see the all of the things to do in Youngstown, click here!

Time for a walk

I love walking tours and am fortunate to live in a town where they are the norm, not the exception. In fact, every year D.C. has weekends offering dozens of free walking tours. I most recently made my wife suffer through a tour of Fort Stevens which included several men and women in period costumes. Let's just say that it really isn't her bag.

Anyway, it isn't Fort Stevens, but a pretty cool walking tour of Y-town is coming up. Check out the details from the Vindicator:


Mahoning Valley Historical Society is kicking off its 2010 History to Go Program with a walking tour through downtown Youngstown.
The free event will highlight the history and architecture of area skyscrapers, retail facades and theaters.

The 60- to 90-minute tour is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. April 17.
Participants are asked to meet in the lobby of 20 Federal Plaza where the tour group will be formed.

Walkers are reminded to wear comfortable shoes.
For more information call (330) 743-2589 or visit www.mahoninghistory.org.

Youngstown closes up shop, cedes city to Girard

In a bold and unprecedented move, Mayor Jay Williams announced today that he would cede the entire city of Youngstown to Girard effective immediately. Williams made the move because of the fiscal constraints existing in the city and the realization that many of the planned 'Youngstown 2010' initiatives will be impossible to accomplish by the end of 2010. Williams feels that Girard can best handle the issues facing Youngstown citizens.

"Girard has a proven track record of taking care of its citizens and we feel that their system would benefit Youngstown better than anything we could do," said Williams at the press conference announcing the move.

At the press conference, Girard mayor Jim Melfi ordered all signs having the word 'Youngstown' in them to be changed to 'Girard'. Jim Cossler, chief evangelist of the newly re-named Girard Business Incubator on West Federal Street in south-central Girard, was seen on a ladder making the sign changes himself.

As an indicator about how fast the changes were taking place, the Golden Dawn on Logan Avenue had been renamed Pizza Parlor II within minutes of the announcement.

There was no reaction from residents of the former city of Youngstown as most of them were shopping in Boardman at the time and unaware the change had occurred.

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Editor's Note: This blog will be renamed Girard Pride as soon as time allows.

Playing catchup - three weeks of Youngstown Pride

It has been an interesting couple of weeks for Youngstown and the United States. I've been busier than usual and have missed several opportunities to post some thoughts and news, so let me get caught up with a couple of things.

• First, we have healthcare reform in America! After a year of interesting (and rather ugly) debate, the healthcare reform bill passed the Senate and House and then again the Senate and the House. This process showed all of the great things about America as well as some of the ugliness that divides us. The saying 'it's all politics' doesn't really apply here because it's about our livelihoods and it is indeed very personal. In the 17th congressional district, this new law will:
• Improve coverage for 355,000 residents with health insurance.
• Give tax credits and other assistance up to 180,000 families and 12,300 small businesses to help them afford coverage.
• Improve Medicare for 109,000 beneficiaries, including closing the donut hole.
• Extend coverage to 39,000 uninsured residents.
• Guarantee that 9,300 residents with pre-existing conditions can obtain coverage.
• Protect 1,700 families from bankruptcy due to unaffordable health care costs.
• Allow 53,000 young adults to obtain coverage on their parents' insurance plans.
• Provide millions of dollars in new funding for four community health centers.
• Reduce the cost of uncompensated care for hospitals and other health care providers by $11 million annually.
  
  This information is sourced from Rep. Tim Ryan, who obtained it from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, whose data comes from the U.S. Census Bureau, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services, the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Congressional Budget Office.
• Second on my hit parade is some news out of the Youngstown Business Incubator and Jim Cossler, who is leading Youngstown's technology revolution. YBI portfolio company Zethus Software has entered into a partnership with Bruker-AXS who will serve as a reseller of Zethus' cumulus::CyberLab, a product that allows for secure, resilient, collaborative, remote use of instrumentation and the associated data collected. Awesome! (Nextgen: Remote use of a pancake flipper from the couch? Get working, Zethus!)
• Who is Jim Cossler? This piece from December missed my monitor until just now. (link)
• Habitat for Humanity of Mahoning County is getting busy in the Lincoln Knolls neighborhood over on the East Side. This would be their fourth house Maranatha Drive and 33rd house in the County. Call (330) 743-7244 to find out about the next volunteer orientation and to help with future projects!
• Lastly, let me wish a fond farewell from the blogosphere to the guys at Blue Gray Sky. BGS is my second favorite blog! These guys captured the heart and essence of Notre Dame football for the better part of six years. The level of effort and research that they put into every one of their articles is incredible. For any Irish football fan who never ran across this site, I encourage you to browse the archives. Best of luck, fellas, and Go Irish!

Youngstown, meet Google. Google, this is Youngstown

I am a huge Google nerd. With little exception, I love the company and what they do. I use Gmail, Google calendar, reader, documents, etc. The only thing I haven't fully grappled with yet is Buzz. It is too much too soon. I was put off by their initial 'in-your-face' shove of Buzz into the world.

That said, I would be super excited if a plan by the YBI came to fruition. The redesigned Vindicator has the latest:

Will Youngstown and Google connect?

Friday, March 5, 2010

YOUNGSTOWN — Google is looking for cities where it can install an incredibly fast communications network, and Youngstown wants to be considered.

A local team will begin meeting next week to develop a proposal for how it would use the broadband, fiber-optic network, which Google said will be 100 times faster than current high-speed networks.

Jim Cossler, who assembled the team, is looking for practical ideas about how super-fast connections can help improve society. He is the director of the Youngstown Business Incubator.

For the complete story, see Saturday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com.

http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/mar/05/will-youngstown-and-google-connect/

How do you like

them apples? Third shift coming back to G.M. Lordstown.

http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/feb/23/gm-update-third-shift-coming-lordstown/

The vital stats:

• Will increase the Lordstown workforce from 3,300 to 4,500
• Expected to generate $47 million in additional payroll
• Expected to generate $470,000 in local income taxes
• Expected to generate $1.4 million in state income tax

Good stuff in the Valley.

America is in trouble

Two links I figured I would share with the populace, neither directly tied to Youngstown.

The first represents the cruelest thing I can even imagine. Old ladies all over Youngstown are shuddering. Bake sale profits are being donated. Poles all over the world are in mourning. Yes, the unthinkable has happened, as the Vindicator headline reads, "Police seek man who robbed Pa. church pierogi sale". What is this world coming to? In the words of Florida governor Rob Ritchie, "Crime, boy... I don't know."

The second article, emphasizing the return of the housing market across America, the 'home' to millions of American's from 1987 to 1995 is on the market. For $4.1 million (lowered to $3.9 mil), you can buy the San Francisco townhouse featured on 'Full House'. Uncle Jesse not included.

• http://www.722steiner.com/

Friday Night Lights

Check out Youngstown State take on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee LIVE on ESPNU (which is nationally televised) tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m.

ESPNU is Channel 303 on Time Warner Cable (Youngstown) and well, Dish and Direct TV aren't cooperating with me so find it yourself. Either way: YSU. National TV. Watch it.

Problems in the burbs

At the risk of alienating readers in the Youngstown burbs, I am often amazed how some (not all) who live in the Mahoning Valley feel that Youngstown's problems aren't their problems. I've seen it consistently in issues ranging from economic development zones to crime and water sharing. The truth of the matter is that crime or economic decay in Youngstown are just as likely to have an effect on Boardman as they are on Fifth Avenue. It may not be a direct, in-your-face effect, but the long term societal and economic factors will still weigh heavily on the suburbs.

Well, I paid the Brookings Institution a lot of money to tell me what I wanted to hear and it turns out that I'm right. In a new study released today, they found that poverty (a problem in Youngstown) is growing at an increased rate in the suburbs compared to their urban center. One lowlight from their report:

• Led by increasing poverty in auto manufacturing metro areas—like Grand Rapids and Youngstown—Midwestern city and suburban poverty rates climbed 3.0 and 2.2 percentage points, respectively.

Overall, the poverty level in the Youngstown metro area is 33.5 percent, a somewhat shocking number when you consider one in three residents of the Valley lives on $10,830 per year (in single person households; $22,250 for a family of four). Imagine now the rent or mortgage, car payment, food, utilities, and other demands of life in Northeast Ohio (snow shovels!).

From the report, two assumptions can be made. First, as populations shift, poorer people are moving out of the urban areas in the suburbs and second, long term residents of the suburbs are becoming poorer due to changing economies. (It would be false to assume that I first drew these conclusions. The report author made them in a Q&A posted here.)

The 24-page report paints an interesting picture of poverty level of suburbs in America and the changing shift of income levels, particularly looking at the 2007-2008 data at the start of the "Great Recession". If you have ten minutes, it may be worth a read.

• Brookings Institution summary: The Suburbanization of Poverty: Trends in Metropolitan America, 2000 to 2008
• The full report: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2010/0120_poverty_kneebone/0120_poverty_paper.pdf

Have land, will grow

Vegetables, that is. I stumbled upon a new blog, The Infrastructurist, which asks, 'What should we do with a semi-abandoned city?' The answer is gardening. The article speaks of Detroits loss of 70% of its population and infrastructure that can support three times as many people as currently live there. I've added this blog to my daily list of reads. You should too.

• http://www.infrastructurist.com/2010/01/13/what-should-we-do-with-a-semi-abandoned-us-city/
• Fortune article, referenced in story: http://money.cnn.com/2009/12/29/news/economy/farming_detroit.fortune/index.htm

Ohh, and an interesting blog post on Cleveland about pretty much the same thing: http://www.circletheusa.com/2009/04/cleveland.html

Not dropping dead so easily

'HUD to Mahoning Valley: Drop Dead.' Those were the words the Vindy used to describe Youngstown being rejected for a share of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds given by the Federal government to communities across America. Of $2 billion going out the door for housing and community projects (such as acquiring land and property, demolishing and/or rehabilitating abandoned properties, to offer down payments and closing costs to low- to middle-income homebuyers, and creating land banks), Youngstown gets zip, nada, nothing.

The Vindy isn't the only paper taking HUD to task. A scathing editorial appeared a few months ago in the Plain Dealer papers calling the agency and NSP a "a bureaucratic morass from which few emerge".

Congressman Tim Ryan was quick to send a letter to President Obama and HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, stating that this will be at the top of the agenda for next week's White House meeting between President Obama, Jay Williams, and him.

If I was the President, meeting with Youngstown's leaders next week, I would be quick about getting some answers.

The text of the letter:

January 14, 2010

President Barack Obama

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President,

It is with great disappointment that I write this letter. This morning, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the second round of Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds, and a proposal for my District, which had been praised by the Brookings Institution as a proposal that “represents an unprecedented level of multi-jurisdictional collaboration,” was not funded. This decision is particularly egregious due to the inadequate level of funding received by my District in the initial program funding round.

The cities of Youngstown, Warren, Niles, Girard, Struthers, Campbell, Lowellville, McDonald, and Newton Falls – the Mahoning River Cities Consortium – proposed an innovative redevelopment effort that would utilize $32 million to stabilize neighborhoods that are facing unprecedented population loss, widespread substandard housing, and vacancy rates substantially above the national average. Add to those neighborhood issues significant losses to local manufacturing and service industries, above-average subprime loan rates, and a foreclosure rate that exceeds 11 percent – and you have a region that should be at the forefront of this type of assistance.

This Administration has lauded the benefits of collaboration and importance of government efficiency, yet both were ignored in the denial of this application. The regional cooperation advocated by this application is a model that should have been awarded full funding and replicated by other communities in the Rust Belt and, indeed, across the nation. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has missed a prime opportunity to recognize the plight of those smaller, older industrial cities that have suffered a major decline and are presented with a weak recovery in this economy at best. Given the quality of the proposal and the need of residents of my District, it is hard for me to believe that of the $2 billion announced today, the Mahoning River Cities proposal was of no merit.

As the Congressman of the 17^th Congressional District, in which all nine of these cities are located, I plan to raise this issue when Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams and I meet at the White House next week. In addition, I am seeking an opportunity to meet with HUD Secretary Donovan as soon as possible. I will ask the Secretary that our proposal be reconsidered, or that some other form of assistance be forthcoming. The people of my District are looking to the Federal Government as an ally in this recovery effort, but the denial of this grant opportunity is a setback that we can ill afford.

Sincerely,

Tim Ryan
Member of Congress

Couldn't have said it better...

The New York Times editorial page spreads the word on what I've been saying (with many others) for a long time now:

• Youngstown Yawns

The article's lead doesn't necessarily reflect the topic of the rest of the op-ed, but it fits with the hearts of so many people I know.

"Anyone who’s spent time in Youngstown, Ohio, is entitled to nagging affection for the gritty old steeltown that has long struggled with lost jobs and serial political corruption."

The Morning Read

First, let me wish each of you a Happy New Year. 2009 was the return of Youngstown Pride and I hope for more good things for this blog in 2010.

Now, on to the morning reads:

• The New York Times has an interesting article on U.A.W. Local 1112, the Lordstown local which chronicles the G.M. plants past as a rebellious local, filing 15,000 grievances a year to one that works with management and sees the enemy as the foreign competition.
• The Business Journal is reporting that Ohio's small business and entrepreneurial climate ranks 11th nationwide. By reinventing their model for taxing corporations and with transportation infrastructure rivaling any other state, Ohio is well placed for those looking to start a small business. That is good new for Youngstown, which is seeing a lot of success from small businesses such as Turning Technologies and M7 Technologies.
• The Vindy has a mention of leadership classes being offered by the Regional Chamber of Commerce. The Mahoning Valley Local Government Leadership Academy classes start February 2.