| first | Jon |
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| last | Baker |
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| title | In Valley's History, Evans Was an Early Scrapper |
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| work | The Valley Voice |
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date =July 1 2005}} major league pitcher Dave Dravecky,| work | The Youngstown Vindicator |
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| page | D-2 |
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| date | August 15, 1982 | }} NFL quarterback Bernie Kosar, IBF cruiserweight champion Jeff Lampkin, WBA lightweight champion Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini, major league manager Jimmy McAleer,| work | The Youngstown Daily Vindicator |
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| page | 1 |
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| date | April 29, 1931 | }} current WBC and WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik,| last | Scalzo |
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| title | Pavlik credits Valley support for victory |
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| work | The Vindicator |
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| page | 1 |
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| date | September 30, 2007 | }} legendary baseball trainer "Bonesetter" Reese,[{{cite news] | title = Bonesetter Reese Is Dead At Age Of 76 – Career Ends For Man Who Devoted Life To Ministering To Sufferers| work | The Youngstown Telegram |
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| date | November 30, 1931 |
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}} major league outfielder George Shuba,[{{cite news] | first = John| last | Kovach |
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| title | 'Shotgun' George Shuba recounts his baseball life |
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| work | The Vindicator |
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| page | C-3 |
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| date | August 12 2007 |
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| accessdate | 2007-08-12 |
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}} and Heisman Trophy recipient Frank Sinkwich. Former attractions :
Several of the city's recreational resources disappeared amid the economic hardships that began in the late 1970s. Among these was Idora Park, an amusement park that served as a convenient alternative for residents who preferred not to travel to larger parks in Northern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania.[Knepper (1989), p. 432.] (These included Conneaut Lake Park in Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania, Geauga Lake in Aurora, Ohio, Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, and Kennywood in Pittsburgh.) The park, which closed in 1984, held sentimental value for many local residents and enjoyed a degree of historical significance. Former Youngstown resident Jack Warner noted in his autobiography that the Warner brothers took their first step into the movie business when they screened a used copy of The Great Train Robbery at Idora Park and other local venues.[Warner (1964), pp. 49–54.] From the early 1900s to the mid-1970s, Youngstown was the retail center of the Mahoning Valley. There were two flagship department stores in the downtown area, including Strouss Hirshberg's (later absorbed by Kaufmann's, now part of Macy's) and McKelvey's (later Higbee's, now part of Dillard's). Specialty shops lined the main artery of West Federal Street, and the district had four upscale movie theaters, including the Palace Theater, the Warner Brothers' Theater, the State Theater, and the Paramount Theater. These businesses were the first to close as a result of declining attendance in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. In the early 1970s, the appearance of two suburban malls (the Southern Park Mall, in Boardman, and the Eastwood Mall, in Niles) hastened the closure or relocation of many businesses that remained. The collapse of the community's steel industry at the end of the decade created additional challenges for downtown business owners; and throughout the 1980s and 1990s, efforts to revive the former retail hub were unsuccessful.[Linkon and Russo (2002), pp. 42–46.] Redevelopment :Youngstown's cityscape includes relatively few contemporary buildings, and from certain angles, the downtown area appears to have changed little since the 1960s. Yet, downtown Youngstown has seen modest levels of new construction. Recent additions include the George Voinovich Government Center and two federal courthouses: the Seventh District Court of Appeals and the Nathaniel R. Jones Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse. The latter features an award-winning design by the architectural firm, Robert A. M. Stern Architects.[{{cite web] | url = http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?programId=11433&channelId=-16863&ooid=18005&contentId=17873&pageTypeId=8195&contentType=GSA_BASIC&programPage=%2Fep%2Fprogram%2FgsaBasic.jsp&P=PL | title = Frank J. Battisti and Nathaniel R. Jones Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse | publisher = U.S. General Services Administration | accessdate = 2007-02-18
}} In 2005, Federal Street, a major downtown thoroughfare that was closed off to create a pedestrian-oriented plaza, was reopened to through traffic. The downtown area has seen the razing of structurally unsound buildings and the expansion or restoration of others.[{{cite news] | title = City unveils its new logo| work | The Vindicator |
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| date | September 21, 2006 |
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| accessdate | 2007-03-14 |
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}} Construction and business development :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 dilapidated public housing project. Today, the site 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) and their restoration and conversion into specialty shops, restaurants, and eventually condominiums. 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.[{{cite news] | first = David| last | Skolnick |
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| title | City is looking up expert says |
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| work | The Vindicator |
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| date | May 4, 2006 |
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| accessdate | 2007-02-14 |
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}} Construction for the project began in 2006. New construction has dovetailed with efforts to cultivate business growth. 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 boasts more than a dozen business tenants, has begun construction on a multi-million dollar downtown technology center, where some of its largest firms will relocate. Crime control :
Meanwhile, the city has attempted to come to terms with its troubling reputation for crime and corruption. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Youngstown was nationally identified with gangland slayings that were often committed with car bombs.[{{cite news] | first = Bill| last | Heltzel |
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| title | Mob Rule in Youngstown |
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| work | The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |
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| page | C-1 |
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| date | December 7, 1997 |
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}} Hence, the town gained the nicknames "Murder City" and "Bombstown", and the phrase "Youngstown tune-up" became a regionally popular slang term for car-bomb assassination.[{{cite news] | first = David| last | Grann |
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| title | Crimetown USA - The city that fell in love with the mob. |
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| work | The New Republic |
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| page | 23 |
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| date | July 10, 2000 |
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| accessdate | 2007-02-15 |
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}} This dubious image has been reinforced by the widely reported fact that five prisons operate within the metropolitan area.[{{cite news] | first = Francis X.| last | Clines |
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| title | Imprisoned fathers tell their children: don't follow in our footsteps. |
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| work | The New York Times |
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| pages | 910 |
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| date | July 2, 2000 |
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| accessdate | 2007-02-15 |
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}} The city, however, 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 U.S. Representative James A. Traficant, Jr., on bribery, tax fraud, and racketeering charges.[{{cite news] | first = Francis X.| last | Clines |
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| title | Ohio Congressman guilty in bribery and kickbacks |
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| work | The New York Times |
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| date | April 12, 2002 |
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| accessdate | 2007-02-14 |
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}} Meanwhile, the municipal government has responded to a rise in gang- and drug-related violence by increasing the presence of police in urban neighborhoods. In the course of enforcing traffic laws and issuing warrants, police and state troopers have apprehended serious criminal offenders.[{{cite news] | title = Zero tolerance means numerous changes| work | The Vindicator |
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| date | February 16, 2007 |
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| accessdate | 2007-02-14 |
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}}Renewal plan :
In line with these efforts to change the community's image, the city government, in partnership with the university, has organized an ambitious urban renewal plan titled Youngstown 2010. The stated 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. The plan, which received national attention, is consistent with efforts in other metropolitan areas to address the phenomenon of urban depopulation. Given that the communities to the south and west of the city continue to enjoy a measure of economic prosperity, supporters of such projects hold out hope for the revitalization of Youngstown. Neighborhoods :
- Beachwood
- Boulevard Park
- Brier Hill
- Brownlee Woods
- Buckeye
- Cornersburg
- Downtown
- Fifth Avenue
- Fosterville
- Garden District
- Handel's
- Idora
- Indian Village
- Kirkmere
- Lansdowne
| - Lansingville
- Lincoln Knolls
- Mahoning Commons
- Newport
- North Heights
- Oak Hill
- Ohio Works
- Performance Place
- Pleasant Grove
- Riverbend
- Salt Springs
- Schenley
- Sharon Line
- Smoky Hollow
- University
| Transportation :
The Youngstown area is served by the Western Reserve Transit Authority (WRTA) bus system, which is supported through income tax. WRTA, whose main terminal is located in the downtown area, provides service throughout the city and into surrounding Mahoning and Trumbull counties. The downtown terminal serves as the Youngstown area's Greyhound terminal.[WRTA Youngstown. Western Reserve Transit Authority. Retrieved on 2007-03-07] Located in the vicinity of the WRTA terminal is a former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad station. The historic terminal building, which has been converted into a banquet hall, served as a train station from 1995 to 2005.[Rental information. The B & O Station Banquet Hall. Retrieved on 2007-03-07] The local railroads now serve cargo trains exclusively. The only airport within the city limits is the Lansdowne Airport, located on the city's east side. This facility is used for general aviation. The metropolitan area's main airport is the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport (YNG), located in nearby Vienna, Ohio. The only commercial route available at this airport is a flight to Orlando, Florida through Allegiant Air.[Homepage. Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport Homepage (2006). Retrieved on 2007-03-07] Most valley residents take advantage of larger airports such as Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Akron-Canton Regional Airport, and Pittsburgh International Airport.Media :
Youngstown features diverse media, including television, print and radio. An important regional source of news is the daily newspaper, The Vindicator, a broadsheet published by The Vindicator Publishing Company. The Vindicator is the only regional 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, however they primarily cover their respective counties, with limited coverage of Mahoning County and Youngstown. Other newspapers that print in Youngstown include bi-monthly The Business Journal, The Metro Monthly, and the bi-weekly The Jambar, published by the students of Youngstown State University on Tuesdays and Thursdays while classes are in session. Youngstown is served by ten television stations, three of which are low-power repeaters of TV stations in other cities.[Youngstown OH, RadioStationWorld. Retrieved on 2007-11-20.] This is unusual for a mid-sized city located near large metro areas such as Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Interestingly, nearby Akron, with a larger population than Youngstown and Warren combined, has no local television stations and relies on Cleveland for its local news. The 273,480 television households make the Youngstown market #106 largest in the United States by Nielsen Media Research. The market is served by stations affiliated with major American networks including: WFMJ-TV (channel 21, NBC), WYTV (channel 33, ABC), WYFX-LP (channel 17/62, Fox), WKBN-TV (channel 27, CBS), MY-YTV (channel 33.2, MNTV), and WBCB (channel 20.2, The CW). WNEO (channel 45) and WEAO (channel 49) are members of PBS. Youngstown is served by 37 different radio stations in the metropolitan area which makes it the 119th largest radio market in the United States. Stations include 17 on the AM band and 20 on the FM band.[Youngstown OH, RadioStationWorld. Retrieved on 2007-11-20.] The majority of the most powerful and popular radio stations in the Youngstown-Warren market are divided between two conglomerates: Clear Channel and Cumulus Media. Youngstown's sister cities :
Famous Youngstowners and former Steel Valley residents :
Notes :
References :
- Aley, Howard C. (1975). A Heritage to Share: The Bicentennial History of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley. Youngstown, OH: The Bicentennial Commission of Youngstown and Mahoning County, Ohio.
- Blue, Frederick J.; Jenkins, William D.; Lawson, William H.; Reedy, Joan M. (1995). Mahoning Memories: A History of Youngstown and Mahoning County. Virginia Beach, VA: The Donning Company. ISBN 0898659442.
- Brody, David (1960). Steelworkers in America. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
- Bruno, Robert (1999). Steelworker Alley: How Class Works in Youngstown. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0801434394.
- Fuechtmann, Thomas G. (1989). Steeples and Stacks: Religion and Steel Crisis in Youngstown. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521334810.
- Jenkins, William D. (1990). Steel Valley Klan: The Ku KLux Klan in Ohio's Mahoning Valley. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press. ISBN 0873384156.
- Knepper, George W. (1989). Ohio and Its People. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press. ISBN 087338377X.
- Lemann, Nicholas (1991). The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 0679733477.
- Linkon, Sherry Lee; Russo, John (2002). Steeltown U.S.A.: Work & Memory in Youngstown. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 0700611614.
- Warner, Jack L. (1964). My First Hundred Years in Hollywood. New York: Random House.
External links :
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