Good lighting is key for city to put its best foot forward

Good lighting is key for city to put its best foot forward

EDITOR:

During this weekend, the eyes of the boxing world will be on downtown Youngstown as national and world media descend upon the city. Many members of the media will be visiting the city for perhaps the first time. What will be the media’s perception of downtown once they leave? What is the city of Youngstown doing to beautify and spruce up the downtown area in order to make it look warm and inviting? Perception is everything and this is a golden opportunity.

In my opinion, the lighting downtown, especially on West Federal Street, is atrocious and leaves a lot to be desired. The street lighting itself is poor and does not project a well lit and safe environment. While driving, it’s extremely difficult to see the median, which is completely unlit. Recently, one snowy evening I almost drove my car into the median on West Federal Street. This is not difficult to do, especially when there is a lot of snow on the ground and it covers the median. The entire median on West Federal Street should be well lit with decorative lighting (small white lights).

Speaking of decorative lighting, why is the entire downtown completely void of it?

Go to any decent size city and you will see decorative lighting throughout the downtown area. In fact it’s expected. Downtown Sharon, for example, does a good job with its lighting, especially along the banks of the Shenango River. Decorative lighting is not only pleasing — it adds warmth and charm to an area — but it also gives out a perception of safety. When the Chevy Centre was built city leaders talked about how important it was to have decorative lighting all over the downtown area and there was a plan to have lighting throughout the downtown area by now. What happened? Until fairly recently, there was decorative lighting in the median on Wick Avenue but it was never taken care of properly and strands of lights were constantly out. Throwing lights on trees is important but the upkeep of them is just as important.

If you expect people to park their cars and walk to the Chevy Centre or walk any decent distance in the downtown area, they must feel safe. They do not want to feel as if they are walking in skid row. Excellent sidewalk lighting and decorative lighting go a long way when it comes to projecting the perception of safety. Restaurants and bars are doing their part to make downtown a more lively setting in the evening, but the city needs to improve the lighting drastically or it’s always going to be an uphill battle in regards to the safety perception. I’m afraid once the fight is over the media will walk away saying that “while the people of Youngstown are nice and there are some nice places downtown, downtown Youngstown looks depressing and dark.”

NICHOLAS DuBOS

Pittsburgh, Pa.

Big 3 undercut themselves

EDITOR:

Do you know who’s guilty of the most flagrant case of perfidy in this country? The Big 2 or 3 automobile manufacturers in this country are the guilty ones.

They forget what they did in 1946. They sent their automotive engineers to Japan to teach them how to make cars like we do here in the U.S.A. Now when Japanese cars are outselling ours, they cry the blues. Bah humbug on all of them. They have no one to blame but themselves. They don’t deserve any stimulus money from us.

We should tell them to climb out of the hole they dug for themselves. Let’s see if they can.

WILLIAM J. PERRY

Sharpsville