Embrace area’s new reality

I had two reactions when I read earlier this spring that Forbes magazine listed the Youngstown area as one of the best places in the nation to raise a family.

First, I had to chuckle because this is the same publication that on occasion has bashed the Valley as the poster child for Rust Belt misery. My second reaction: If there’s one thing that those of us who were born, raised and stayed in the Valley know full well, it’s that this is a great place for families.

The Forbes recognition is the latest in a string of honors from news media and others across the world recognizing the region’s rebirth. We’ve also been cited as one of the top cities for finding a job (Manpower, 2011), starting a business (Entrepreneur, 2009), affordable housing (National Association of Homebuilders, 2011), economic recovery (Brookings Institute, 2011), and manufacturing and job growth (Forbes, 2011). We’ve even been called one of the “Most Cool Places to Live” (Governing, 2011).

So, it’s time for us all — and especially those of us who have been here the longest — to embrace the new, emerging and, yes, cool Youngstown. While I have been accused of being overly optimistic, today, optimism is the Mahoning Valley’s new reality. Let us not look back.

Leading role

I am proud of the leading role Youngstown State University has played in helping turn simple optimism into solid reality. The spring, hundreds of graduates will walk across the stage at YSU’s commencement, receive degrees and then go out and take on the world. Some will leave the region; many will stay, becoming the next generation of leaders — in schools, neighborhoods, churches and communities throughout the area. They, in fact, are the new reality.

Look at those in position of leadership from Cleveland to Pittsburgh and beyond — from classrooms to board rooms, hospitals to banks, small businesses to large corporations — and you’re sure to find individuals whose basis for success started right here at YSU. They are a direct reflection of a talented faculty committed to academic excellence and to each and every student’s success. Faculty come to YSU from around the world to share their wisdom with our students, to become engaged members of the community and, yes, to raise families of their own.

As another academic year comes to an end, I want to thank everyone at YSU — and particularly the faculty, the center of all we do — for their commitment to ensuring the success of this next generation of leaders. I want to thank the community, as well, for your growing recognition and support of YSU’s critical role in the region’s success. Let us move onward and upward, embrace our new Mahoning Valley and work hand-in-hand, day-to-day convincing the Forbes of the world of our new reality.

Dr. Cynthia E. Anderson is president of Youngstown State University.