Study gives ideas for revitalizing older industrial cities

By DAVID SKOLNICK

VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Despite lagging behind other urban areas nationwide, a study’s coordinator says Youngstown and Warren and similar cities can prosper if they receive assistance from their states and regional cooperation.

State assistance will go to worthy programs, said Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, who added that Gov. Ted Strickland’s administration is dedicated to investing in projects to help older industrial cities such as Youngstown and Warren.

About 20 Mahoning Valley residents — elected officials, those involved in local economic development and citizen activists — traveled Tuesday to Cleveland’s City Club to hear Fisher and Bruce Katz, the vice president and director of metropolitan policy at the Brookings Institution, the Washington, D.C., think tank that developed the study.

“While many of Ohio’s older industrial cities continue to struggle ... the report’s broader message is one of hope and optimism,” Katz said. “We are optimistic about the future of older industrial cities.”

Skepticism

While the Valley residents who traveled to Cleveland liked what they heard, a few were somewhat skeptical that the state will come through for Youngstown, Warren and their surrounding areas.

“It isn’t anything I haven’t heard before,” said Struthers Mayor Daniel Mamula. “We’re looking forward to seeing this implemented instead of hearing about it.”

Mamula and Campbell Mayor John Dill are hopeful the Strickland administration will assist older industrial communities.

“But we didn’t hear anything new,” Dill said. “It was speaking to the choir,” regarding the City Club audience largely filled by those who support increased state involvement in helping urban areas.

An 80-page study by Brookings, “Restoring Prosperity: The State Role in Revitalizing America’s Older Industrial Cities,” identified 65 cities nationwide that lag behind their peers based on “economic health and residential well-being.” Among the cities are eight in Ohio, including Youngstown and Warren. The others are Canton, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, Mansfield and Springfield.

Rachel McCartney, senior planner for the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, agrees with the study’s conclusion that the state must play a large role in helping cities like Youngstown and Warren.

“I look forward to concrete policies coming out of this,” she said.

Money and attention

The state is going to focus money and attention on developing alternative energy sources, Fisher said. He said the state also wants regions to cooperate to save money on duplicate services, and that it’s important for the suburbs to work with the cities to improve Ohio.

The state wants to first look at voluntary consolidation efforts for services such as fire departments and emergency medical care, Fisher said. “Those small changes lead to larger changes,” he said.

Fisher mentioned Youngstown’s proposed Joint Economic Development Districts plan that would enable the city to provide economic incentives and services to surrounding communities in exchange for a shared income tax as a good example of regional cooperation. Officials in Boardman and Austintown have repeatedly voiced strong opposition to the proposal because more of its residents would pay an income tax.

Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams, who attended the City Club event, said he was pleased that Fisher touted the JEDD concept.

“The Mahoning Valley region is underperforming,” he said. “We need to address the issues of Youngstown because by doing so you help the entire area.”

The state can help move the JEDD proposal forward by offering encouragement and financial incentives, Williams said.

Sarah V. Lown, Eastgate’s economic development director, said the Valley can be at the forefront of advanced manufacturing if it works as a cohesive unit.

The report is available on the Brookings Institution’s Web site by first going to: http://www.brook.edu/metro/pubs/20070520_oic.htm. A panel discussion open to the public on the report will be held at 1 p.m. next Wednesday at the Holiday Inn MetroPlex.