Youngstown For A Day (Boardman, Riverside: homes, landscaping, neighborhoods)

[CLEJoe]

Evening!

I'm a born and raised Northeast Ohioan and have never explored the Youngstown area. I've heard the sad tales and the Bruce Springsteen song, but folks have been preaching to me about the rebirth of Youngstown and how some young professionals have been reclaiming the blight and turning it into something special.

Tomorrow (or soon), I'm heading out there to explore. I'm hoping someone far more familiar with the area can tell me what to do.

Cheers!
Joe

[JR_C]

For "rebirth," and "reclaiming the blight," check out downtown, of course. That's where most of the progress has been made. I also hear lots of buzz about the Idora Neighborhood, (see map below) so you might want to check that out, too, although I haven't been there myself. And finally, check out the Mahoning Commons area, as there are a number of arts venues along Mahoning Ave, and the area has a bit of quirky flare.

Other than that, I'd recommend exploring Mill Creek Park. Have lunch at the Golden Dawn. (the triangular lot across the street is an example of a small landscaping project using recycled concrete that has recently been completed) Drive around Wick Park, Crandall Park, and along Fifth Ave. to check out the residential architecture, if you're interested in that sort of thing.

[Traveler87]

Butler Institute of Art! Youngstown has so many great cultural offerings for a city and area of its size. Millcreek Park is awesome! According to that map, isn't Lake Glacier the one with the awesome views?

[JR_C]

Originally Posted by Traveler87

Butler Institute of Art! Youngstown has so many great cultural offerings for a city and area of its size. Millcreek Park is awesome! According to that map, isn't Lake Glacier the one with the awesome views?

Yes, the Butler! That might be a good thing to recommend to a visitor!

Actually, Wick Ave. from Madison Ave. south to downtown, is pretty nice, overall. You pass through YSU's campus, you also pass the Butler, the Main Library, (a Carnegie Carnegie library - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) a number of nice churches, the YCSD board office building, (the original Rayen School, Youngstown's first high school, built in the 1860's) the Arms Family museum, etc.

Yes, Lake Glacier is the one that everyone photographs from South Terrace, at Fellows Riverside Gardens.

[000000]

Originally Posted by CLEJoe

folks have been preaching to me about the rebirth of Youngstown and how some young professionals have been reclaiming the blight and turning it into something special.

be aware that you probably have been listening to inter-booster discussions. the gentrification project still has a long, long way to go to change anything on the ground.

[CLEJoe]

Thank you all for the recommendations. Youngstown visit was successful, although I didn't get to do everything listed above. Submitted my piece to my editor and will share once it goes live.

Cheers!
Joe

[JR_C]

Glad your visit went well. Looking forward to read what you have to say.

[Eastern,MASweatheart]

Thinking about moving to Youngstown from MA but have a choice of York,PA is really all that bad? I have kids is the schools BAD?Is it really have a lot of gangs and killings? I need a little honesty.....__

[TheYO]

It's not that bad. I wouldn't send my kids to Youngstown city schools though.

There's no real reason to live IN the city, unless you want one of the huge historic homes on the northside. It's not a big city at all, and it's a very easy drive from the suburbs.

Look to the suburbs just south of the city like Boardman, Canfield and Poland. They are all very safe with excellent public schools. All offer easy access to Youngstown as well.

[000000]

Originally Posted by Eastern,MASweatheart

Thinking about moving to Youngstown from MA but have a choice of York,PA is really all that bad? I have kids is the schools BAD?Is it really have a lot of gangs and killings? I need a little honesty.....__

take york. there is more happening on the ground, rather than in the dreams of message boarders and bloggers, than in rust belt youngstown. if you are a massachusetts native, york is also closer for when you would need to visit your family. it depends on what you mean by bad. there are gangs and killings in the city, and those gangs and killings are higher per capita than they should be. the suburbs are safe, but cookie-cutter. do keep in mind that city data forums generally attracts activists. they like to point to things like adult kickball and large pumpkins as signs of "progress" in a 30 some year rebuilding project that has not gone very far beyond their keyboards.