REVITALIZATION Warren leaders get a pep talk

A plan requires community consensus and the will to see it through, the director said.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- To plan for success, the city needs to identify its assets and structure planning around them, says the director of Youngstown State University's Center of Urban and Regional Studies.
Hunter Morrison spoke Monday to members of city council and others interested in downtown revitalization.
"Downtown is the heart of your city, and the heart of our city has been in coronary care for the last 20 years," said Councilman Robert Holmes III, D-4th, who called Monday's meeting.
Morrison pointed to a plan in Youngstown aimed at revitalizing the Smoky Hollow neighborhood.
To be successful, a plan must have consensus from the community and the will to carry it out, said Morrison, a former planning director of Cleveland. Planning departments of many cities have plans that weren't carried out setting on their shelves.
He pointed to Courthouse Square and the showcasing of the Mahoning River with the Riverwalk as city assets.
Warren, Youngstown, Akron, Cleveland and Pittsburgh have all had to realize that they aren't the cities they once were, he said.
"We've go to look at our communities with new eyes," Morrison said.
Cleveland, for example, has been able to stabilize its population by offering more housing options.
Doing an inventory
Anthony Iannucci, director of Warren Redevelopment and Planning, said that since August WRAP has been working on a building and business inventory of downtown. Once that is finished, a vision statement will be developed, he said.
Just like the Youngstown plan targets 2010, developing Warren's plan will be a long and evolving process too, Iannucci said.
"This is not something that happens overnight," he said.
Tristan Hand, a downtown business owner, sees development of an entertainment district as an element of downtown's revitalization.
Councilman Felipe M. Romain, D-at large, said Monday's meeting marked the first time he's heard realistic ideas offered for reviving downtown.
"I'd like to see Warren be vibrant again," Romain said. "This council and the city should join forces in whatever endeavor goes on."
denise_dick@vindy.com