Youngstown Ohio- most blighted city in the United States? (Cleveland: how much, houses)

[Kieran Keating]

This has got me thinking. I was watching a documentary about the decline of Youngstown Ohio, which is frequently noted as one of the "worst cities in the USA", and I've learned that there are certain neighborhoods in the city where over 80% of all homes are vacant. To prove this, I Google StreetViewed many blocks throughout various neighborhoods in Youngstown, and pretty much all of those blocks have more abandoned houses and business than occupied ones. So, is Youngstown the most blighted city in the United States? Is there even an empirical way to measure blight? From what I've understood, Youngstown, as a whole, is more vacated than Detroit, Flint, Gary, and Camden.

[JR_C]

Not to split hairs, but from what I've seen, Youngstown is not the most blighted city. I've seen far worse in Detroit, Gary, East St. Louis, even East Cleveland. (not personally, some people almost brag about the blight in these--and other--cities, and are happy to share) Here's where the splitting hairs comes in: Youngstown could rank up there when it comes to urban prairie. For some people, urban prairie might count as blight.


But, like you, I'm not sure this can be quantified, so an actual ranking would be very difficult, if not impossible. I think the closest way, is to look at population loss. That's probably going to correlate to how much of the city is vacant. Detroit is about 36% of its peak population. Youngstown is about 38%.

[pekemom]

I was born in Youngstown and lived there until we moved to California in 1959 when I was 12.. We lived in an old area off Market st....my mother lived in the house next door when she was a child. All the homes were taken care of, yards as well. My relatives moved further out later on, to Poland and Austintown...in 1969 we visited with some neighbors who later moved too. In 1973 we were told it wasn't a safe area....haven't been to Ohio since but I did google my old address, seems the house burned down. I checked the map and most of the houses are gone, a few left and in bad condition, it's amazing how many houses burned. Sorry to see an empty lot where I used to live....I know this is not any different than some old areas in other cities and I'm not saying Youngstown is the worst it's just that it's sad.

[JR_C]

Originally Posted by pekemom

I was born in Youngstown and lived there until we moved to California in 1959 when I was 12.. We lived in an old area off Market st....my mother lived in the house next door when she was a child. All the homes were taken care of, yards as well. My relatives moved further out later on, to Poland and Austintown...in 1969 we visited with some neighbors who later moved too. In 1973 we were told it wasn't a safe area....haven't been to Ohio since but I did google my old address, seems the house burned down. I checked the map and most of the houses are gone, a few left and in bad condition, it's amazing how many houses burned. Sorry to see an empty lot where I used to live....I know this is not any different than some old areas in other cities and I'm not saying Youngstown is the worst it's just that it's sad.

In 1973, "not safe" was probably code for "too many non-white people." I believe this, because I've witnessed it first-hand, in the early 2000s.



Before I get into the next part of my post, let me preface by saying that it's not exactly directed at you. Especially since your parents moved you away 60 years ago. Please don't take it personally.



On Facebook, I'm a member of a group called "Good old days in Youngstown Ohio". It's a pet peeve of mine that so many people in the group are Ytown expats who lament that so many things they remember from Youngstown are in disrepair or are gone. The underlying tone of their posts is, often, that they feel the people who stayed should be ashamed of themselves for letting the city decline. The reality is that the city declined because people left, not because the people who stayed allowed it to happen.

[ZnGuy]

I grew in central and NE Ohio and been through the Y-town area, my guess is that NAFTA hurt the manufacturing in the 70s as it did to other Midwest towns like where I was born (Mansfield). With the presence of the mafia back in the day I'm sure corruption with politicians and possible democratic leadership has been responsible for the city's decline. What company would want to move to area with those kind of issues.

[ram2]

Originally Posted by ZnGuy

I grew in central and NE Ohio and been through the Y-town area, my guess is that NAFTA hurt the manufacturing in the 70s as it did to other Midwest towns like where I was born (Mansfield). With the presence of the mafia back in the day I'm sure corruption with politicians and possible democratic leadership has been responsible for the city's decline. What company would want to move to area with those kind of issues.

NAFTA did not go into effect until the early 1990s.

[Kamms]

Originally Posted by ZnGuy

I grew in central and NE Ohio and been through the Y-town area, my guess is that NAFTA hurt the manufacturing in the 70s as it did to other Midwest towns like where I was born (Mansfield). With the presence of the mafia back in the day I'm sure corruption with politicians and possible democratic leadership has been responsible for the city's decline. What company would want to move to area with those kind of issues.

NAFTA came into existence in 1994 so U.S. manufacturing was in decline way before NAFTA as were cities like Youngstown. The mafia was around in Y-town's boom years so to say it caused decline is misplaced and would move your ''possible'' status on democratic leadership to a ''definitely''.

[Dblcut3]

There's no way Youngstown is the most blighted. Cities like Camden, Gary, and even Detroit are much worse. Plus Youngstown's only area where you can see almost full abandoned blocks would be the South Side between Glenwood and Market and parts of the East Side.

[springfieldcollegealum]

Agreed for sure. Youngstown not even close.

[ram2]

Originally Posted by Dblcut3

There's no way Youngstown is the most blighted. Cities like Camden, Gary, and even Detroit are much worse. Plus Youngstown's only area where you can see almost full abandoned blocks would be the South Side between Glenwood and Market and parts of the East Side.

Include Benton Harbor, Michigan to the most blighted list.