Are Some Neighborhoods Not Worth "Saving"

[AllanY2525]

There are quite a few left, and when projects such as Westlakes are demolished they are replaced with more.  Sure they are single family units now instead of barracks but the same people move right back in. 

I don't believe in the wholesale eviction of everyone in every housing project as a means to reduce crime,
because there are people living in projects who are not criminals and who do not work because they
are either too old, too young, or not able to work.

These projects serve a legitimate need for people who fit the categories mentioned above as well as
the working poor who are useful law-abiding, tax-paying contributors to society, struggling to
do for themselves and survive until they can get a better job.

In the case of Arlington Heights ( new dev. that replaced Westlake Terrace), didn't I read somewhere that
there are now some owner/occupants in the new homes there?  I would tend to exclude these homes
from the category of "projects".  Arlington heights is a mixed development in this regard, and these
owner/occupants have a genuine stake in their neighborhood. 

My suggestion would be to terminate eligibility to reside in those housing projects city-wide,  for those who
are caught and convicted of engaging in illegal activities.

Leave the buildings there for law abiding citizens who legitimately need them and stop enabling the
PEOPLE who are the root of the problem.

[Towntalk]

http://wkbn.com/2014/02/07/yndc-city-release-neighborhood-report/

[Rick Rowlands]

There are quite a few left, and when projects such as Westlakes are demolished they are replaced with more.  Sure they are single family units now instead of barracks but the same people move right back in. 

[Youngstownshrimp]

Solution swept under the rug:


                                Work Camps and Orphanages.

[AllanY2525]

Rick, how many public housing projects remain within the city?  I read that the last of the
Westlake Terrace homes were finally demolished.  What about the Kimmelbrook units? 
Victory apartments are on Stewart Ave on the East side, also - and known to be a drug
haven.  Then there are the apartments across McGuffey Road just a little west of Victory.

I wonder how many projects living units remain in the city, and how many people are
left in them?  Another thing to consider is that there are likely lots of crimals living in the
city  who do not live in "the projects". police need to hunker down and root out the
drugs and gns in the city, regardless of perpetrators' addresses.

There ARE people living in housing projects who are not involved in criminal activities. 
Work for welfare could put those who want to work, back to work.  Those who are of age
and able to work and refuse should be cut off.

As more jobs and tax revenues start to come in from the oil and gqa industry, the city
and county will have more money to fund their police and address the crime problems.

[Rick Rowlands]

I believe that the "anchor" for much of the criminal activity in Youngstown is the projects.  If the projects were closed and the residents evicted (give them a one way ticket to anywhere they want to go), crime would begin to decline and after a few years people may feel safer about coming back to the city.  These people contribute nothing to our tax base, do not participate in civic functions or do anything but sponge and harass productive citizens. 

Why do you think that suburbs are so popular?  The subsidized criminal class doesn't live there!  But as suburbs get older and the parasites move in, people have to move farther out to get away from them.  Nobody wants to talk about it because it is "racist" or "classist" and definately not "PC", but its the god's honest truth.

[Towntalk]

I see it every day my friend ... you know where I've lived for over 20 years. It's peaceful and quiet. The way I like it so that I can enjoy my huge music collection of almost 7000 songs, my old time radio library of over 5000 programs, or when I'm bored the television.

[AllanY2525]

Wick Park and northward is seeing improving conditions, people are buying and
moving back into the neighborhood.  It's East of Elm Street - North of Broadway -
going down to wick and logan that have emptied out a lot.

Elm Street west to Belmont ave is coming back to life and is one of the neighborhoods
worth saving because of location and quality of the remaining housing stock.

One of my dreams when I retire and come home to Youngstown is to see things
a point where the dead growth has been removed from the neighborhoods, and
some in-fill houses have been built in the neighborhoods that are healthy and
stable.

Town talk, you're right about the Madison fire station.  I see the stub ends of
Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania avenues being developed with more student
apartments several years down the road, because of the location between Wick
Park and the university and the large number  empty lots from the arson fires
there.

[Towntalk]

But it is also seeing new folks moving in on Elm Street. My new neighbor works at YSU. It's just condemned housing stock that is being torn down, and we all welcome that. As YSU continues to expand, this area is a prime target area. They are running out of space for new construction in the immediate area of the University, so there are plans to build new student housing where the current No.7 Fire Station is located, and unless I'm mistaken the city has already sold No 7 and is currently leasing it until the new station can be built, and it will go where the former grocery store was located.
The Wick Park area is seeing new development which is seeing one of the mansions being restored that is located on Broadway between Elm and Fifth Avenue.
A new bridge was built over Crandall Park on Elm Street.
There has been a lot of things going on here since you were last here.
If things were as gloomy as you seem to say, why is so much private and public money being spent in this area of Youngstown?

[AllanY2525]

I don't think there will be too many surprises if they compare the citywide survey done
during the Youngstown 2010 project' mostly continuation of the population shifts and
increasing vacancy rates in the same neighborhoods with large numbers of former home lots.

Lower to mid-Oakhill neighborhood on South side,  Elm Street to Wick Ave from Madison
Ave to Gypsy Lane has emptied out a lot, most of Briar Hill, etc. 

Neighborhoods that were once filled with entry level, cookie cutter mill housing will go
away.

Same with regard to getting a few remaining home owners in these mostly disappeared
neighborhoods to relocate.  Attrition is inevitably taking place, possibility of offering
some owners a comparable property elsewhere if they will deed their house over to the
city to finish emptying the neighborhoods that are gonna go away.

It's gotta happen - as discussed here many times in the past.

[Towntalk]

Wick Park Neighborhood Association

Wick Park Neighborhood Association
http://www.wickparkneighbors.org/
Now that Peggy is back with us we hopefully we will see more posts about our area's events.

[Towntalk]

Question: Is the North Side Citizens Coalition still in existence? Went to their web site and found very little?

North Side Citizens Coalition

http://cfweb.cc.ysu.edu/northsidecoalition/default.htm

[northside lurker]

I think this report is what the talk is about:
http://yndc.org/news-media/city-youngstown-and-youngstown-neighborhood-development-corporation-release-neighborhood-

[Towntalk]

Thanks for the list of neighborhoods, but I'm sure that not all of them are on the list you referred to ... Downtown? ...University? ... Fifth Avenue?
Just look at the area between South Avenue and Glenwood Avenue on the South Side, or any area of the East Side you want to mention from Wilson Avenue to Oak Street and beyond.
The big question would be ... where would the city relocate the people living in these areas? The West Side? The North Side?
Here are some doom and gloom recent articles about Youngstown that paint a very bleak picture of our future not withstanding all the positive articles and news reports that are optomi

http://cwcs.ysu.edu/about/news/renaissance

http://www.areavibes.com/youngstown-oh/neighborhoods/

[jay]

This is the list of designated Youngstown neighborhoods

Beachwood
Boulevard Park
Brier Hill
Brownlee Woods
Buckeye
Cornersburg
Crandall Park North
Downtown
Fifth Avenue
Garden District
Golf View Acres East
Golf View Acres West
Handel's
Idora
Indian Village
Kirkmere
Lansdowne
Lansingville
Lansingville Heights
Lincoln Knolls
Mahoning Commons
Newport
North Park
Oak Hill
Ohio Works
Performance Place
Pleasant Grove
Riverbend
Rocky Ridge
Salt Springs
Schenley
Sharon Line
Smoky Hollow
University