YOUNGSTOWN 2010 Talk turns to Akron's recovery

A live discussion will be at 8 p.m. Wednesday on PBS channels 45 and 49.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- If Jay Williams didn't know the city at issue was Akron, he would have thought the talk was about Youngstown.
In April, Leadership Mahoning Valley organized a discussion on Akron's recovery. Akron officials talked about needing to change from a one-industry town. They talked about needing to persuade residents that rebirth was possible. They talked about needing a vision and a plan.
"I was very struck at the similarities when it came to the challenges," said Williams, director of the city Community Development Agency.
That discussion panel is the genesis of a live PBS television broadcast that will air Wednesday concerning the Youngstown 2010 project.
PBS 45 & amp;49 will broadcast a live discussion at 8 p.m. about the parallels between Youngstown and Akron's recovery. The broadcast is part of quarterly shows the local PBS station is producing called "2010 Moving Ahead: A Forum for Reporting Progress." The show also is to update residents on the status of the 2010 project.
Youngstown 2010 is the process for creating a comprehensive plan for the city's future.
Joining Williams will be Jeffrey Wilhite, Akron's deputy director of planning, and Hunter Morrison, director of the Center for Urban and Regional Studies at Youngstown State University.
Differences and similarities
Williams acknowledges Akron has assets that Youngstown doesn't. Akron has more than twice as many people. That city's rebound had a healthier local economy to work with than Youngstown.
The common threads between the two, however, are stronger, he said.
Maybe the most important thing Youngstown can take away from Akron's experience, Williams said, is how that city developed and relentlessly pursued its priorities.
Eventually, residents saw progress and defeatist attitudes changed, he said.
Youngstown also can benefit by avoiding mistakes that Akron made, he said.
Williams was gratified to hear Akron officials -- who weren't aware of Youngstown 2010 -- emphasize the need for a vision and a plan. That is the definition of the 2010 project.
"That validates that we're on the right track," Williams said.
Same approaches
Youngstown now is using approaches that Akron took in the late 1970s and early 1980s, said Morrison, Cleveland's longtime planning director who watched Akron's recovery from afar.
He pointed to the city's close involvement with YSU, recognition that arts and sports are important to redevelopment, and that the river should be a focus.
Wilhite has said that research and development at the University of Akron is attracting and keeping young people in town.
rgsmith@vindy.com