Expert: There's still work to do, but city is on the right course

Youngstown is 'rebounding,' the expert says.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Richard C. Harwood is impressed with the progress made by Youngstown.
The noted national expert on strengthening communities said there is still plenty of work to be done, but improvements made to the city in the past seven years have Youngstown heading in the right direction.
As head of the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation in Bethesda, Md., Harwood conducted a study of Youngstown in 1999 and had unflattering things to say then.
Harwood returned to Youngstown on Thursday for the first time since that study to deliver the keynote address at the Wick Neighbors Inc.'s annual meeting and dinner at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church.
His study said Youngstown was a "place in waiting," and its residents believed the city "was in a continual decline."
Changing the title
Harwood said the "rebounding nature of this community" would compel him to change the title of the report from "Waiting for the Future" to "A Community on the Go."
As proof of the improvements, Harwood pointed to the city's 2010 comprehensive growth plan, improvements to downtown, the new mayor, plans to tie Youngstown State University to the downtown, and organizations such as Wick Neighbors.
"Now is not the time to stop," he said. "It's time to continue."
Wick Neighbors is promoting a $250 million plan to redevelop the Wick District-Smoky Hollow area, bounded by Wick, Andrews, Rayen and Madison avenues.
The organization is in negotiations with a development company to implement its plan.
skolnick@vindy.com