Homeowners Prefer to Stay in Areas Marked for Change

CNN has this story about homeowners in Youngstown who prefer to stay in their blighted neighborhoods rather than accept the city's buyout offer. The city is offering up to $50,000 dollars in enticements for residents to move from their houses. The Youngstown 2010 plan calls for these areas to be transformed into greenspaces by demolishing the houses and tearing up the streets.

While it may be frustrating for everyone who worked on the Youngstown 2010 plan to see obstructions stand in their way, it is good to see that city planners see the relocations as voluntary at this point and do see the need to invoke eminent domain. Such action would immediately stop negotiations with homeowners and lead to lawsuits that could take years to resolve.

Additional enticements and discussion could lead to some residents understanding what the city is trying to accomplish by planning its shrinkage. There is no future growth planned for these areas so homeowners do not have to worry they are getting a fair shake from the city.

There has always been a resistance to change in the Mahoning Valley so no one should be surprised that where some see dilapitated houses some see the place they have always called home. City officials should do everything possible to help these last holdouts leave voluntarily so that the progress of the 2010 plan isn't tainted with hard feelings. However, those residents who are holding out should ask themselves if staying in their homes is worth blocking the progress of a plan that is vitally important to the city. Youngstown deserves every chance to succeed and needs the help of everyone who can lend a hand.

The Vindicator Looks at Youngstown 2010

The Vindicator has taken a good, hard look at the Youngstown 2010 plan this week in a special series. Overall, it is an objective series that asks important questions about the implementation of the plan. High profile objectives such as building demolition are given visibility while neighborhood planning, which has fallen behind, is questioned. It's well worth the read.

32

That is the number of people murdered in the city of Youngstown in 2006.

32 people. The youngest was only a year old and the oldest was 62. These people were shot, stabbed and beaten to death for a variety of reasons although none were good enough to take someone's life. The responses to this number have been many; the more optimistic cite a drop in the rate of 8% (35 in 2005 compared to 32 in 2006), the more cynical express thankfulness for having a trauma center in the city to treat serious injuries but overall people are angry.

I hear them calling the Ron Verb and Robert Mangino talk radio shows on WKBN. I read their comments on various area blogs and discussion groups. I saw them protest downtown after the shooting at the pee wee football game. People want action. They want more cops on the street, they want the jail open to full capacity and they even want federal troops in the city. These folks aren't stupid. They know how much money is being spent in Iraq and then look around in disgust at their own city. They know businesses are moving because of crime and they know their taxes are too high.

The frustration is understandable. Youngstown has an award winning plan to revitalize itself. It has a new convocation center that is a success, it has an independent mayor and thanks to the elections in November it has statewide recognition with the election of Marc Dann to the Attorney General's office and Ted Strickland to the Governor's seat. Overshadowing all of this is the Morgan Quitno ranking of Youngstown as the ninth most dangerous city in the United States and a murder rate that is 8 times the national average of 5.6 per 100,000 people.

Reducing that murder rate isn't as easy as it seems though. The majority of people killed are being killed because they are involved in the drug trade and they are involved in the drug trade for a variety of reasons. It is those reasons that need to be attacked if the murder rate and crime overall is to be reduced.

A number of things need to happen if Youngstown is to see any headway in the fight against violent crime:

• First, Mayor Jay Williams needs to make an emphatic statement about where his administration stands on crime. The deafening silence emanating from city hall on this issue only increases the frustration felt by the residents of the city.
• Second, a plan needs to be drafted. This plan needs to have original ideas and unique solutions. Doing the same old thing will not engender more favorable solutions.
• Third, the population of the Mahoning Valley must be open to new ideas and supportive of those implementing them. It is simply not acceptable to complain about the problem and then criticize someone for trying something new.

Over the next few weeks I will air my suggestions on what can be done to prevent crime, what should be done with those arrested and how the entire Mahoning Valley can help. The problem of crime isn't limited to the city. If allowed to run unchecked it will spread to every community in the surrounding region. This is no longer a "those people in the city" problem. Crime affects us all and we can all play a part in the solution. I look forward to your feedback.