Census figures show need to rethink region's future

If it weren't for the area's prisons -- all constructed within the last decade -- regional population figures would be even lower than they appear.
As it is, the continued decline in the population of the Mahoning Valley's largest cities demands that the leaders of Mahoning, Trumbull and Colum biana counties explore the future of a region that looks increasingly like a doughnut -- lots of dough on the outskirts with a big hole in the middle.
And the suburban residents with the dough have shown little inclination to engage in the kind of tax-base sharing or regional governance that might revitalize the area's inner-cities. What's more, the smaller the voting base of the urban center, the greater the likelihood that suburban interests will dominate county politics -- especially how tax dollars will be spent, how resources will be allocated and which programs will be supported.
City leaders who disdain their suburban neighbors cannot then expect them to care about urban problems and urban needs.
Worse than it looks: Yet as disappointing as the census numbers may seem -- Youngstown's population dropped 14.3 percent from 95,732 in 1990 to 82,026 in 2000 -- the city's productive population is even lower. The census data includes the number of prisoners housed at Ohio's Supermax Prison, 636, and at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center, 1,304. Neither facility was open at the time of the 1990 census.
Without the inmates, Youngstown's population would have been reduced by 16.3 percent. Still, Youngstown's population declined more than any of the large Ohio cities. Only Columbus showed an increase.
Similarly, Trumbull County's population is inflated by the 1,399 inmates who were incarcerated at the Trumbull Correctional Institution last year. Without the prisoners, the county's population would have dropped by 1.8 percent rather than 1.2 percent.
And in Columbiana County, which boasts an official increase of 3.5 percent (growing from 108,276 to 112,075), those 3,799 new residents include 2,289 inmates at the federal correctional institution in Elkton, for a net productive population increase of only 1.4 percent.
While the prison population is included for purposes of state and federal fiscal allocations, that population is essentially non-productive. It does not produce goods and services, does not generate income taxes -- except for prison employees -- nor does it own property on which school and county taxes are paid.
Tough choices: When a region's population is in decline, it is no wonder that cities -- and counties -- must ask for more revenue to provide the same services that were affordable when the costs were spread over more taxpayers. Citizens who ask government to "live within its means" must recognize that they too must live within their community's means, and be prepared either to give up services or to pay more for them. There is no other way.
The changes in the regions demographics have other, more subtle effects. With a smaller population base, it should be no surprise that Youngstown State University's enrollment is declining. Churches and synagogues can no longer serve their congregations as they once did, as older members die and younger congregants leave the area. Volunteer organizations have fewer members to provide the kind of services that bring quality to a community. And, of course, having fewer people also means having less clout in Columbus and in Washington.
Life in the Mahoning Valley cannot be what it was, but with civic creativity, political initiative and the people's willingness to change, it could be better -- different, to be sure -- but better nonetheless.