Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Rebuilding Youngstown, Block by Block

Last week, I talked with Kevin DeOliviera about his new film, Steel Valley: Meltdown.  If you saw the film on Friday night, you know that it focused on how young professionals and new leaders are trying to create a new Youngstown built primarily around high-tech and green energy jobs.  Much as I support the efforts of those who are trying to bring new businesses to the area, I was troubled that the film ignored the very real, concrete problems in the community.  It alluded to but did not fully explore the efforts of a number of local organizations who are doing the hard work of organizing – bringing people together around key issues – to create change here. 

At the heart of these organizing efforts is the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative.  MVOC uses old-fashioned strategies of canvassing, building neighborhood coalitions, and seeking financial support for concrete projects that will improve the quality of life for the majority of the citizens of Youngstown.  Their efforts remind us that building a better Youngstown involves not just creating jobs for highly educated young professionals but also empowering long-time poor and working-class residents to work together to rebuild their crumbling neighborhoods.    They remind us that Youngstown is not a white, middle-class city that just needs a few green technology jobs to make everything ok. 

We are a community scarred by old wounds of racism and economic struggle.  Our history gave us a strong work ethic, the determination to survive, and a commitment to this place, but it also left us with strong divisions between city and suburbs, white and black, middle-class and working-class and with persistent poverty, low rates of education, and underemployment.  If we want to rebuild Youngstown, we have to bring people together across those divides, and we have to address our most persistent problems.

Perhaps the most concrete scar left by deindustrialization is vacant property.  Ian Beniston, my guest on Lincoln Avenue this week, is spearheading MVOC’s efforts to address the problem.  Working with dozens of local volunteers, MVOC assessed every plot of land in the city, identifying where we have empty lots and abandoned buildings.  Armed with a map that shows a dramatic pattern of vacant properties on the east and south sides, Ian and his partners, including the residents of some of the most affected neighborhoods, are campaigning for state and federal funds, supporting efforts to create new urban green spaces and farms, and working with Congress to develop new policies to help cities like ours. 

What I appreciate most about the efforts of Ian and his colleagues is that they are focusing on the concrete, day-to-day realities of Youngstown’s poor and working-class residents as well as their middle-class neighbors, and they are approaching the problem from the streets, not just the offices. 

2 comments:

Brian said...

Thank you for connecting some dots for us, especially the need to engage and empower low income persons to be artisans of their own community. Practical hands on knowledge, like vacant properties, can help local community leaders to work together to solve common problems
peace
brian

Unknown said...

I agree with you fully. I think that jobs are needed but without brining people into Youngstown to LIVE AND WORK, I don't think that the revitalization will ever get completed. I think more focus needs to be put on revitalization of the entire city, not just downtown and there should be a bigger push to integrate the outer parts of the city with downtown. I think a lot could be done with vacant properties, but the early steps in brining in tenants needs to be taken first.

On another note: That's why I was rather confused about the apartment building that went in downtown. I was figuring that when I graduate (one year left! :D ) I would be able to get an apartment close to where I would work only to learn that they are $1,500 upscale apartments?!? A city where the goal is to bring in more middle-class citizens and the first major living space built in Youngstown in a while is upper-class? I heard only 2 tenants have even moved in (or plan to move in). I just don't see the market reasoning or market for that. I figured they would try to bring in graduates and middle-class into the downtown area first.