Neighbors: Let's get kids off the streets

By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Upper South Side residents say their kids need places to go so they can stay off the streets.
The numbers say they're right, but turnout Tuesday night for a block party and neighborhood meeting afterward was an even better indicator.
Scads of kids swirled around their parents and grandparents at Sheridan playground, climbing the equipment, riding their bikes and playing volleyball.
At least 150 adults and youths gathered for hot dogs, hamburgers and corn-on-the-cob sponsored by the Sheridan Crime Watch. While the kids played, their parents talked about them needing more recreational opportunities.
Michelle Whipple of Ferndale Avenue said the neighborhood needs a youth center, teen club or recreation center.
Community center
Ruth Jenkins of Idlewood Avenue said a community center with after-school programs is needed to make sure kids stay on the right path.
"They just hang around. Get them off these corners," she said. "Teach them some things so they're not leaning on the corners."
When the festivities and about 85 residents moved inside nearby Sheridan Elementary for a Youngstown 2010 neighborhood meeting, those contentions were confirmed.
The neighborhood between Indianola Avenue and Midlothian Boulevard had about 4,700 youths age 19 and under, according to the 2000 Census. That is about 37 percent of the area's population. Yet, there are just two playgrounds in the neighborhood -- Bancroft and Sheridan.
"That's not a good use of land," said Jay Williams, director of the city Community Development Agency and moderator of the 2010 meetings.
Education
Kids and their educations were on the minds of others.
Kim Mabry lives on the East Side now but grew up in the neighborhood. South Side schools need the resources to bring their students to the same levels as youths on the West Side and across the Mahoning Valley, she said.
Blight and housing again was a major topic, as it has been across the city. Several people said vacant homes need to be renovated, not knocked down.
Beverly Warren of East Avondale Avenue and Bessie Ervin of West Princeton Avenue said vacant housing needs to be improved or eliminated. "We're not going anywhere," Ervin said of her and her neighbors. "Why can't we live in peace?"
Rick Bates, who owns an auto repair shop on Glenwood Avenue, said everybody needs to focus on small problems, such as litter, and the big problems won't keep growing.
Neighborhood cleanups need to become more frequent than just a couple times a year, said Sounja Dawson of Rodgers Road.
The last in the series of 11 neighborhood meetings for the 2010 plan for the future will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Aug. 24 at the Associated Neighborhood Centers, 1649 Jacobs Road on the East Side. The meeting is particularly for residents who live in the Lansdowne and McGuffey Heights areas.
rgsmith@vindy.com