Living downtown

[AllanY2525]

The Smoky Hollow plan also includes shops and retail space in a mixed residential
setting.  This should definitely help.

[Towntalk]

You're absolutely right Westsider.

What caused Boardman's growth spurt of businesses?  A population with money in it's pocket. As people fled Youngstown, the businesses followed.

High rises were build in and around the downtown area, but because they were for people on fixed income, they couldn't support trade in order to keep it viable.

Two new high rise living spaces that can bring more working people into the core area of the city with money to spend ... professionals and tradesmen etc. is what is needed. Disposable income is the key.

The Smokey Hollow plan is another key. If it lives up to expectations, this too will also raise interest in businesses coming back to town to service them.

In this forum we spend so much time discussing the arts and restaurants that we lose sight of the fact that in themselves, they won't draw retail stores. If that were the case we would already see new stores opening up.

Granted, quality of life is an important factor, but consider this, we already have five theaters in the downtown area, we have some fine restaurants, two great art galleries, a large public library, the University, a symphony orchestra, sports teams, yet none of these features have been able lure retail trade back downtown. Aside from a couple of movies Boardman has none of these things, yet whenever a new store opens up, where do they go? Boardman! Why? Because that's where the money is.

Mr. Frangos plan, plus the Smokey Hollow plan are key to bringing working folks downtown to live, but these homes and condo's must be state of the art in features that people have come to expect when they invest in a home.

Once these higher end homes become available they will spur growth.

[jay]

Councilman Paul Drennen is conducting a poll on his blog about living in downtown Youngstown.
www.councilmanpauldrennen.blogspot.com
So far the response has been very favorable.

[northside lurker]

I've read that planners in Cleveland expect that, ultimately, 2% of the area's population will want to live downtown.

I don't know what Youngstown's MSA is, but there are about 160,000 people living in Youngstown, Austintown, and Boardman alone.  Do the math.   Mr. Frangos will just barely scratch the surface of a potential market with the Wick and Realty building renovations. (and I think the proposed rent figures are too high)

With our talk of restaurant "saturation" in another thread, why can't we change our focus to bringing more residents downtown?