Youngstown, Ohio
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- For other places with this name, see Youngstown.
Youngstown is a city located in Mahoning county in Ohio, on the Mahoning River, 65 miles southeast of Cleveland, Ohio, and approximately 62 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 82,026. By 2004, the population was estimated to have declined to 77,713. Youngstown is located in--and heavily affected by the forces which produced--the Rust Belt region of the United States.
The Youngstown-Warren Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) contains roughly 600,000 people and includes the Ohio counties of Mahoning, Trumbull, and Columbiana in Ohio, and also Mercer County, PA. The Steel Valley Area as a whole (including Youngstown-Warren and Sharon-Farrell-New Castle, PA) comprises almost 720,000 residents. Youngstown is the county seat of Mahoning County[Geographic references#6GR6]. The city is just 10 miles west of the Pennsylvania state line, and is centrally located between New York and Chicago.
- 1 Geography
- 2 Demographics
- 3 Government
- 4 Schools
- 5 History
- 6 Industry and business
- 7 Attractions
- 8 Refurbishing a rugged little city
- 9 Neighborhoods
- 10 Transportation
- 11 Youngstown's nicknames
- 12 Youngstown's sister cities
- 13 Media
- 14 Famous Youngstowners and Steel Valley residents
- 15 References
- 16 External links
Geography
Youngstown is located at 41°5'47" North, 80°38'57" West (41.096258, -80.649299)[Geographic references#1GR1]. It borders or touches the following other townships and municipalities:
- Boardman Township, on the south;
- Canfield Township, on the southwest;
- Austintown Township, on the west;
- Weathersfield Township, Trumbull County, on the northwest (touches, but does not border);
- The city of Girard, on the north-northwest;
- Liberty Township, Trumbull County, on the north;
- Hubbard Township, Trumbull County, on the northeast;
- Coitsville Township, on the east;
- The city of Campbell, on the east-southeast;
- The city of Struthers, on the southeast
Youngstown is on the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau. At the end of the last Ice Age, the glaciers left behind a uniform plain, with valleys such as that caused by the Mahoning River traversing the plain.
Demographics
According to the 2000 Census numbers, Youngstown has 32,177 households, and 19,724 families in the city. The population density is 893/km² (2,316/mi²). There are 37,159 housing units at an average density of 423.2/km² (1,096.3/mi²).
The racial makeup of the city is roughly 51% White, 44% Black or African American, and 5% Hispanic or Latino of any race, though Puerto Ricans are the dominant Spanish-speaking group.
Records suggest that 27.2% of the households have children under the age of 18. Of these, 33.2% are married couples living together, 22.9% have a female householder with no husband present, and 38.7% are non-families. Meanwhile, 34.0% of all households are made up of individuals, and 14.7% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.39 and the average family size is 3.07.
In Youngstown, the population leans toward greater numbers of youth, as is often the case in U.S. inner-city areas with higher birthrates. Here, 25.8% under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 17.4% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 36 years. For every 100 females, there are 91.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 87.8 males.
The median household income is $24,201, and the median family income is $30,701; but the per capita income for the city is $13,293. Males have a median income of $29,900 versus $21,050 for females. Roughly twenty-five percent of the population is below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 37.3% of those under the age of 18 and 13.3% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Government
Youngstown is governed by a mayor, who is elected every 4 years, and may serve a maximum of 2 terms. The mayor is innaugurated around January 2nd. The current mayor is Jay Williams, who is the city's first African-American mayor and the first independent mayor since 1922. Youngstown has traditionally been led by Democratic mayors.
Also elected is an 8-member city council, comprised of members from 7 wards and a council president. The council, in turn, appoints a city clerk. The council meets every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month from the 3rd week of September through the 3rd week in June.
The city's board of control oversees all contracts for public projects in the city, and the police, fire, parks, civil service, community development, health, planning, and water departments all fall into the board.
The city's finance department oversees all finances within the city, and the departments of economic development and income tax operate as part of it.
Areas that are categorized under the city's department of public works include the departments of engineering, building inspection, building and grounds, signal and sign, demolition and housing, litter and recycling, street, and water waste treatment.
Fianlly, the city's law department represents the city on all legal issues, acting as counsel to all departments.
Schools
Public
The Youngstown City Schools oversee all public education within the city, and are currently in the process of expanding or building new schools to refigure the district. Current schools in the district include:Elementary Schools: Paul C. Bunn, Harding, Kirkmere, Mary Haddow, North, Taft, West, Williamson.
Middle Schools: Alpha (boys school), Athena (girls school), East, Hayes, P. Ross Berry, Southside, Volney Rogers Junior High, Westside
High Schools: Chaney, Rayen, Woodrow Wilson, Choffin Career and Technical School
It should be noted that this roster will in the next several years. Chaney will be expanded and Rayen and Wilson will close, in favor of a new East High School.
Youngstown Schools also participate in an Early College program alongside Youngstown State University, which allows high school students to earn college credit.
Private
The Diocese of Youngstown, who once operated several parochial schools within the city, now only operate four because of dwindling enrollment at many of their schools. They presently run two elementary schools: Byzantine Catholic Central and St. Christine's, although many more are still in existence in the rest of Mahoning and in Trumbull, Columbiana, and Portage, Stark, and Ashtabula counties. They also run two high schools: Ursuline and Cardinal Mooney, which share an intensely heated rivalry in athletics.
The city is also home to a small number of charter schools.
College
Youngstown State University is the main college in the Youngstown-Warren metropolitan area. A commuter school, YSU has a student body of about 13,000 on a campus situated just north of the city's downtown. YSU prides itself by having the lowest tuition of any public college in Ohio. The school's Dana School of Music has also been widely praised, being named an All-Steinway school, making it one of the finest non-conservatory schools of music in the United States.
History
Youngstown was named for John Young, who first surveyed the area in 1796 and settled there soon after. On April 9, 1800, Young purchased the entire township, 15,560 acres (63 km²), from the Western Reserve Land Company for $16,085.[History of Youngstown], by the Youngstown & Mahoning County Visitors Bureau He platted the town in that year, which was recorded on August 19, 1802 with the date and name of "Youngstown, 1797".
Among the first settlers were the families of Martin Tidd and his son-in-law James Hill who arrived in 1797. In the spring of 1802 they left Youngstown, bound for Kinsman to the north with two teams and wagons.
The area comprising present-day Youngstown was part of the Connecticut Western Reserve, meaning that the land there was reserved for settlers from Connecticut. Hence, most early European-American settlers hailed from that state. Within a year, Youngstown was settled by 10 families, who were concentrated near the point where Mill Creek meets the Mahoning River. (The name Mahoning is believed to have derived from a Native American word, Mahonik, which means "salt lick.")
As the Western Reserve became increasingly populated, the need arose to establish administrative districts. In 1800, territorial governor Arthur St. Clair established Trumbull County (named in honor of Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull), and designated the smaller settlement of Warren as the county seat. In 1813, Trumbull County was divided into townships, with Youngstown Township comprising much of what became Mahoning County. The village of Youngstown was incorporated in 1848; and in 1867, Youngstown was chartered as a city. The county seat was moved there from Canfield in 1876.
The discovery of coal in the community during the early 1800s paved the way for the Youngstown area's inclusion on the network of the famed Erie Canal. The Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal Company was organized in 1835, and the canal was completed in 1839. Local industrialist David Tod (later Ohio governor during the American Civil War) persuaded Lake Erie steamboat owners that coal mined in the Mahoning Valley could fuel their vessels if canal transportation were available between Youngstown and Cleveland. The railroad came to Youngstown in 1853.
With the opening of the city's steel mills, Youngstown proved to be a popular destination for immigrants from Eastern Europe, Italy, Germany, Greece, and Ireland. In the early 20th century, the community also saw an influx of immigrants from non-European countries including Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, and Syria. Such ethnic diversity continues to be reflected in many of the community's neighborhoods, where a Hungarian Orthodox church may share the same street corner with an Italian restaurant.
Endowed with generous deposits of coal and iron, Youngstown soon developed a thriving steel industry. The area's first blast furnace was established to the east of town in 1803. Between the 1920s and 1960s, the city served as a significant industrial hub, featuring the massive furnaces and foundries of such companies as Republic Steel and U.S. Steel. Youngstown also served as headquarters for the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company, one of the nation's most important steel producers.
Unfortunately, Youngstown never became as economically diversified as did larger industrial cities (such as Chicago, Pittsburgh, Akron, or Cleveland). Hence, when economic changes forced the closure of plants throughout the 1970s the city was left with few substantial economic alternatives. The September 1977 closure of the Youngstown Sheet & Tube plant is widely regarded as the swan song of the old area steel industry, and the community has yet to fully recover from the loss of these jobs.
Today, the city serves as venue to some steel and metalworking, but nothing on the scale seen during the glory days of the "Steel Valley." The largest employer in the city is currently Youngstown State University (YSU), an urban public campus that serves about 13,000 students. The largest industrial employers in the metropolitan area are General Motors' Lordstown auto assembly plant (onetime home to the popular Chevrolet Cavalier, and current home to that car's successor, the Chevrolet Cobalt), Delphi, Packard Electric Systems, and the WCI Steel plant, both located in the Warren area. The largest industrial employers within the Youngstown city limits are V&M Star Steel Company (formerly North Star Steel), in the Brier Hill district, and Exal Corporation, located on Poland Avenue. The latter has recently expanded its operations.
Another successful business in downtown that is garnering attention is the Youngstown Business Incubator, which houses several start-up technology companies by offering office space, furnishings, and utilities. Many of the companies have won numerous awards, and as a result some are beginning to outgrow their current space. In an effort to keep these companies downtown, the incubator has been given approval to demolish a set of vacant buildings next to it to build a new, larger building.
Several banks, including JP Morgan Chase, First National Bank, and Sky Bank have offices in the city, and Youngstown institution Home Savings and Loan has its headquarters there.
Over the years, Youngstown has produced a number of entrepreneurs whose enterprises became national household names. In 1964, for instance, the area served as birthplace of the fast-food chain, Arby's, when the first of its restaurants opened in nearby Boardman. Youngstown was also the birthplace of the celebrated Good Humor brand of ice cream novelties, as well as the popular franchise, Handel's Homemade Ice Cream & Yogurt. In the 1950s, the suburb of Boardman became the site of one of the country's first modern shopping plazas, established by Youngstown-area developer Edward J. DeBartolo. More recently, the community served as corporate headquarters for Phar-Mor, the now-defunct pharmacy chain whose local assets were purchased by the supermarket chain Giant Eagle.
For a large segment of the American public, however, Youngstown is associated with the economic malaise that befell much of the industrial northeast following the collapse of its manufacturing sector. The decline of Youngstown's steel industry and its devastating impact on local workers were famously treated in Bruce Springsteen's ballad, "Youngstown," featured on his The Ghost of Tom Joad album. Springsteen included Youngstown as a stop on his subsequent Ghost of Tom Joad Tour.
Despite the impact of regional economic decline, Youngstown offers an array of cultural and recreational resources. Moreover, the community's range of attractions has increased in recent years.
A "jewel" of elite local culture is Powers Auditorium (formerly the Warner Brothers theater), the city's primary music hall and home of the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra. In addition, Youngstown features four other auditoriums: Ford Recital Hall, which was built in 2006 as an addition to Powers. Stambaugh Auditorium, on the city's north side, holds concerts, hosts the Stambaugh Youth Concert Band, and is often rented for private events. The Oakland Center for the Arts hosts a variety of locally produced plays. Lastly, the Youngstown Playhouse on the city's South Side is the primary community theater in the Mahoning Valley, and has been able to continue for over 80 years in spite of recent financial difficulties.
In April 2006, an Illinois-based investment group purchased the site of the long-defunct Liberty-Paramount Theater, which is located in the heart of the downtown area and was one of the area's 5 movie palaces (the other four included the Strand, State, Palace, and Warner) The group plans to restore the early-20th century structure and transform it into a venue for a variety of events, namely a movie theater and a stage for other theater events.
Located within walking distance of the Youngstown State University campus and the downtown area is the Butler Institute of American Art, the nation's premiere museum of American art, in addition to being the first museum in America to showcase exclusively American art. Across the street from the Butler is the McDonough Museum of Art, built in 1991 and operated by Youngstown State University. McDonough showcases contemporary art, and hosts several programs for art students both at YSU and throughout the area.
Also on the YSU campus is the Carence R. Smith Mineral Museum, which is operated by the geology department and is located inside one of the campus buildings.
In addition, the Arms Family Museum is within walking distance from the preceeding three museums, and is hosted in a former mansion on Wick Avenue. It is operated by the Mahoning Valley Historical Society and showcases artifacts of local history.
The final museum in the city's downtown is the Museum of Industry and Labor, which is farther away from the museums mentioned above, and is more in downtown proper. This museum is owned by the Ohio Historical Society, and primarily focuses on the valley's history in steelworking. This museum has faced numerous difficulties since it opened, including low attendance and financial shortcomings (although in the case of the former, one could argue patronage is low because it is not open enough to be accessible by the public), but the OHS has increased its support of it, and local interest in the museum revives every now and then.
The only other museum in the city is in Mill Creek Park; a small museum showcasing the history of the park and Volney Rogers, the Youngstown attorney who set aside the land which it lies on, and is located on a floor of the Davis Education and Recreation Center.
Another park within the city is Wick Park, located on the north side off of 5th Avenue, itself something of an attraction because of its early 20th century mansions, and across the street from Stambaugh Auditorium. There are also several cemetaries and small recreational spaces scattered throughout the city.
One of the city's most recent attractions is the Chevrolet Centre, formerly the Youngstown Convocation Center, which was funded primarily through a $26 million federal grant. The impressive, high-tech facility, which opened in October 2005, is located on the site of a former steel mill. The Centre's main tenants are the Youngstown Steelhounds hockey team, who play in the CHL, and the Mahoning Valley Thunder, an af2 Arena football team which will play its first season in 2007. The city also plans to develop vacant land adjacent to the convocation center, either as a park, a riverwalk (the Mahoning River flows through the site), an amphitheater, or a new athletic stadium for use by the city's public and private high schools.
The Youngstown State University Penguins are also a big draw to the area. The football team, which competes in the Gateway Football Conference, is rich in tradition and one of the most storied and successful teams in 1-AA football, play in Stambaugh Stadium and have one of the most supportive fanbases in their division.
The basketball teams, which like every other sport competes in the Horizon League, play in the Beeghly Center, and crowds have remained supportive, having one of the highest attendance averages in the league, despite both the mens and womens teams running on a dry spell the last few years.
The baseball and softball teams have been very successful as of late, with the former reaching the NCAA super-regionals in 2005 and the latter in 2006, respectively, although neither play in the city. Baseball utilizes Eastwood Field in Niles while softball plays in Canfield.
Although they play outside the city, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers are a vital part of the sports landscape. Playing their home games in Niles' Eastwood Field, they're a single-A short season affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, competing in the New York-Penn League, and since their first season in 1999 have become a highly successful franchise in minor league baseball.
Also gone by is the retail and entertainment once offered in downtown. From the early 20th century through the mid-1970s, Youngstown was the retail center of the Mahoning Valley, where three department stores (Strouss, McKelvey's, and Higbee's) and many other specialty shops were all on one street, although the advent of two suburban malls, the Southern Park Mall in Boardman and the Eastwood Mall in Niles led many downtown businesses to leave or suffer lost customers before closing. The closing of the steel mills only worsened the situation, as much of downtown became very desolate throughout much of the 1980s and 90s, and diffrent attempts at reviving different locations failed.
The cityscape of Youngstown is remarkable for its relative dearth of newer buildings, and from certain angles, the downtown area may appear to have changed little since the 1960s. Moreover, the forces of suburbanization that undermined the downtown area's once thriving retail sector have taken their toll on the city's periphery as well. Pessimistic observers note the absence of a single new car dealership operating within the city limits, and also observe that city residents are often forced to do their shopping in the surrounding suburbs of Boardman, Niles, Austintown, or Liberty.
Yet, downtown Youngstown has seen modest (and steadily increasing) levels of new construction in recent years. New additions include a state office complex (the George Voinovich Government Center) and two federal courthouses, one of which (the Frank J. Battisti and Nathaniel R. Jones Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse) features an award-winning design by the architectural firm, Robert AM Stern.
In 2005, Federal Street, a major downtown thoroughfare that had been closed off to create a pedestrian-oriented plaza, was reopened to through traffic. The downtown area has also seen the razing of structurally unsound buildings, as well as the expansion and/or restoration of many others.
In 2004, construction began on a 60-home upscale development called Arlington Heights, and a grant from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development allowed for the demolition of Westlake Terrace, a sprawling and dilapitated public housing project. The site currently features a blend of senior housing, rental townhouses and for-sale single-family homes. Low real-estate prices and the efforts of the Youngstown Central Area Improvement Corporation (CIC) have contributed to the purchase of several long-abandoned downtown buildings (many by out-of-town investors) as well as their restoration and conversion into specialty shops, restaurants, and eventually condominia. Further, a nonprofit organization called Wick Neighbors is planning a $250 million New Urbanist revitalization of Smoky Hollow, a former ethnic neighborhood that borders the downtown and university campus. The neighborhood will eventually comprise about 400 residential units, university student housing, retail space, and a central park, with construction slated to begin in 2006.
One of the area's more successful business ventures in recent years has been the Youngstown Business Incubator. This nonprofit organization, based in a former downtown department store building, fosters the growth of fledgling technology-based companies. The incubator, which currently boasts more than a dozen business tenants, will soon begin construction on a multi-million dollar downtown technology center, where some of its largest firms will relocate.
Meanwhile, the city has attempted to come to terms with its troubling reputation for corruption. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Youngstown became identified in the public mind with Mafia-related murders (committed chiefly via car bombings). Consequently, the metropolis gained the nickname "Bomb City," and the phrase "Youngstown tune-up" became a slang term for car-bomb assassination. Today, however, the city has accelerated measures to limit the influence of organized crime upon all sectors of municipal life. For some observers, the climax of this ongoing effort was the arrest, trial, and 2002 conviction of former US Representative James A. Traficant Jr. on bribery and racketeering charges.
More recently, the city of Youngstown, in partnership with the university, organized an ambitious urban renewal plan titled Youngstown 2010. The goals of Youngstown 2010 include the creation of a "cleaner, greener, and better planned and organized Youngstown." In January 2005, the organization unveiled its "master plan," which took shape in the course of several public meetings that featured input from citizens. Given that the communities to the south and west of the city continue to enjoy a measure of economic success, supporters of such projects hold out hope for the revitalization of Youngstown.
The Youngstown area is serviced by the Western Reserve Transit Authority (WRTA) bus system, which is supported through income taxes. Their main terminal is in downtown, and provide service throughout the city, as well as to locations throughout Mahoning and Trumbull counties. The terminal also serves as Youngstown's Greyhound terminal.
Close by the WRTA terminal is a B&O Line station. The former terminal for the line has been converted into a restaurant, but the station did offer Amtrak service beginning in 1995, only to be discontinued in 2005. The railroads only serve cargo trains at the moment.
The only airport in the city limits is the Landsdowne Airport, on the east side, which is utilized for general aviation. The main airport in the valley is the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in nearby Vienna. The only commercial route available at the moment is a flight to Orlando, although future routes may be announced soon. Most valley residents choose to fly out of the airports in Cleveland, Akron, or Pittsburgh.
Some of the city's nicknames include: The Steel City; Steeltown, USA; The Struggle City; Rust City; Little Chicago; Crimetown, USA; Murdertown, USA; The Hoboken of Ohio; Yompton; The Yo; The Y.O.; Yo-town, Youngstown-America, and Y-Town.[[Citing sources citation needed]]. Residents of Youngstown are sometimes referred to as "Youngstown-Americans".
The Greater Youngstown Metropolitan Area is usually referred to as "The Valley" or "The Steel Valley." It is also known as the Mahoning Valley.
The Youngstown-Warren regional area is served by ten television stations (the last three being low-power repeaters of TV stations in other cities), unusual for a city of this size that is so close to large cities Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Youngstown's stations are:
The Youngstown area's primary daily newspaper is The Vindicator, the only newspaper that covers Mahoning, Trumbull, and Columbiana counties, as well as Western Pennsylvania. It has competitors, such as the Warren-based Tribune Chronicle, and the Lisbon -based Morning Journal, but they only cover their respective counties. Other newspapers that print in Youngstown include The Business Jorunal (daily), The Metro Monthly (monthly), and YSU's student newspaper The Jambar (Monday-Friday; when YSU is in session).
The vast majority of radio stations in the Youngstown-Warren market are split between two conglomerates: Clear Channel and Cumulus Media. The stations in the market include:
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.Industry and business
Attractions
Theater
Museums
Parks
Youngstown's most beloved resource is perhaps [Mill Creek Park], a five-mile-long stretch of landscaped woodland reminiscent of Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. Mill Creek is the second largest park in the country that lies within a munincipality, behind only New York City's Central Park. The park's highlights include the restored 19th-century Lanterman's Mill, the dramatic rock formations of Bear's Den, scores of nature trails, the Fellows Riverside Gardens and Nature Center, and the "Cinderella" iron link bridge. The Nature Center's popular lookout point provides visitors with contrasting views of the area. From the south side, the canopied woodlands overlooking Lake Glacier are visible; from the north side, viewers are presented with a scenic view of downtown Youngstown. The park also features two golf courses: an 18-hole short holes course, and a 36-hole professional course. The park also provides numerous recreational spaces. In 2005, the park was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. A monument commemorating this lies near a statue of Volney Rogers, a Youngstown attorney who in the late 19th century set aside the land that later became the park. Sports
Club
Sport
Founded
League
Venue
Logo
Mahoning Valley Scrappers
Baseball
1999
New York-Penn League
Eastwood Field
Youngstown Steelhounds
Hockey
2005
Central Hockey League
Chevrolet Centre
Mahoning Valley Thunder
Arena Football
2007
Af2
Chevrolet Centre
Youngstown St. Penguins
College football, College basketball
1908 (University's founding)
NCAA: Horizon League
Stambaugh Stadium, Beeghly Center
Former Attractions
Several of the city's treasured recreational resources, however, failed to survive the economic hardships that arrived in the late 1970s. The most notable of these was Idora Park, an amusement park that served as a pleasant alternative to Youngstown residents who preferred not to travel to some of the larger parks located in Northern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania. (These included Geauga Lake in Aurora, Ohio, Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, and Kennywood in Pittsburgh.) Beyond its sentimental value, the park, which closed in 1984, enjoyed a small degree of historical significance. Former Youngstown resident Jack Warner noted in his autobiography that the famed Warner brothers got their start showing distributed films at Idora Park.Refurbishing a rugged little city
Neighborhoods
Transportation
Youngstown's nicknames
Youngstown's sister cities
Media
Television
Print
Radio
Famous Youngstowners and Steel Valley residents
Arts and entertainment
Sports
Politics
References
External links
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