Planning begins for city's renewal
One committee member calls the Youngstown 2010 process 'a powerful thing.'
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Dan Rossi has been part of many downtown organizations the past 20 years.
The president of First Educators Investment Corp., whose office sits at West Federal and Hazel streets, has long looked forward to a master plan for the entire downtown.
With Youngstown 2010, that day has arrived.
Volunteers recently started working on the 2010 plan, of which downtown will be just one part. The final Youngstown 2010 document will serve as the comprehensive plan for the entire city.
Citizens serving on three of 2010's four main committees gathered for the first time over the past two weeks. The New Neighborhoods, New Economy and New Image committees each have 15 to 20 members. The fourth main committee, Clean and Green, is expected to gather soon.
The committees, which will include subcommittees, ultimately will collaborate to write the 2010 plan.
A different plan
Rossi, a member of the New Economy committee, has waited a long time for the chance.
Many smaller plans have come and gone since he moved his operation downtown from Boardman in 1982, he said. None have considered all the elements of downtown, nor how the central business district fits into the rest of the city, he said.
Youngstown 2010 is different because of its scope, he said.
Rossi is impressed with how many people at the grassroots level are contributing to the process. That gives him confidence that the downtown portion of 2010 will result in a solid plan that most people can agree on.
Youngstown 2010 is the first major planning effort by the city that Greg Sherlock has seen. Sherlock, vice president of marketing, media and communications at the Regional Chamber, is a member of the New Image committee.
Youngstown 2010 grabbed his attention when more than 1,000 people came to Stambaugh Auditorium in December to talk about the initiative.
"Youngstown needs that," he said.
The city needs an image campaign conducted within and outside of the area to show residents and others that things are changing, Sherlock said. Residents and businesses can't embrace what they aren't familiar with, he said.
"You really need to tell people that 'Hey, we're serious about this,'" Sherlock said.
That's the kind of enthusiasm Youngstown 2010 needs, said Bill D'Avignon, city deputy director of planning.
"The number one priority right now is public involvement to keep the momentum," he said. "If people see things are happening, that there are results, we might be able to keep them involved."
Slow start
That won't be easy. The committees won't be terribly visible through this summer, said Anthony Kobak, the city's chief planner. They mostly will be brainstorming for ideas to turn the 2010 vision outlined in December into reality.
"Hopefully, people will be comfortable with that and patient," Kobak said.
Planners hoped the committees would be deeper into their work by now, but the city got behind in organizing them. Nonetheless, the original timeline isn't affected, they say.
The process is on target for public forums later this year and a start to writing the 2010 plan the first of next year. At the forums, citizens can voice their views on what they do and don't want to see happen, helping 2010 organizers decide which priorities to emphasize in the final plan.
rgsmith@vindy.com