YOUNGSTOWN 'Just the beginning': Proposals offered for Oak Hill revitalization

About 60 percent of the South Side neighborhood's land is vacant.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Proposals to revitalize the lower Oak Hill area on the South Side include replacing vacant land with parks, small stores, gardens and lots of green space.
But Anthony Kobak, the city's chief planner, was quick to say any major improvement project for the area is years away.
"This is a small piece in the puzzle," he said. "This is a marathon, not a sprint. This is just the beginning."
Kent State University's Urban Design Center selected the lower Oak Hill area to be the focus of its Shrinking Cities Institute study.
Presentation
UDC students presented four proposals for the neighborhood at a meeting Monday at Oakhill Renaissance Place, the former Forum Health Southside Medical Center.
About 60 percent of the neighborhood's land is vacant. Each of the four plans largely focused on turning that vacant land over to residents in the neighborhood and using much of it for green space and parks.
Other ideas included a senior citizen center, a skate park for kids, a farmers market, small stores and community gardens.
The neighborhood's boundaries are Interstate 680, Market Street, Falls Avenue and Mill Creek MetroParks. About 60 percent of the area is vacant land.
UDC will present the proposed changes for lower Oak Hill at a public forum on population decline and its impact on cities Oct. 14 at Cleveland State University. YSU will simulcast the conference.
UDC staff and students have studied the area since May, and spent Saturday and Sunday getting input from the neighborhood's residents about the proposals.
2010 plan
The UDC effort goes along with the city's 2010 Citywide Plan, completed in July, Kobak said.
The city is using the 2010 plan as its guide for development. The plan seeks to decrease the city's heavy industrial areas and create more green space. It also offers outlines for improving neighborhoods, attracting business to downtown and making the city cleaner.
A final plan for the lower Oak Hill area should be done in four to six weeks, Kobak said.
Then it will be up to organizations such as the South Side Community Development Corp. and Hope for Youngstown, along with the city, to find developers and real estate companies to market, sell and build the concept, he said.
Frank Popper, a Rutgers University land-use planning professor, said at Monday's meeting that the city should give much of the lower Oak Hill land to the neighborhood's existing landowners.
"Oak Hill can be a model for what can happen in other neighborhoods," he said.
skolnick@vindy.com