City’s neighborhoods, corridors reflect community that’s aging

The mayor of Youngstown, John A. McNally, asked voters to give him the tools needed to tackle two deeply rooted problems: neighborhood blight and the shabby appearance of the corridors leading into the city.

The 64.6 percent approval of a charter amendment on the Nov. 4 ballot combining Youngstown’s economic development office and community development agency was an unequivocal “yes” to the mayor’s request. The vote also reflected residents’ impatience with the lack of progress in dealing with those and other problems that have contributed to a diminishing of the quality of life.

We have long railed against the first- impression aspect of Youngstown — that is, the first impression visitors have as they drive into the city on Belmont Avenue, Fifth Avenue, South Avenue, Market Street, Glenwood Avenue and Mahoning Avenue.

While steps have been taken to give the entryways a face-lift, in a manner of speaking, much more needs to be done.

The negative first impression is reinforced by a visit to any number of neighborhoods on all parts of the city. There was a time when the upper North Side and the West Side were held up as examples of neighborhood stability.

Today, as the population grows older, and as families with young children leave for greener pastures (better schools and crime-free neighborhoods), Youngstown’s future is uncertain, at best.

“We need to pay more attention to what’s going on in the neighborhoods with blight remediation and saving structures that can be used for economic development,” the mayor told The Vindicator last week, in the aftermath of the passage of the charter amendment.

“I want them to be involved in neighborhood improvement and focusing on our main corridors like South Avenue and Glenwood Avenue. The work with [larger businesses] is important, but we envision them doing the same work elsewhere.

MERGER SHARPENS FOCUS

The merger of the economic development office and the community development agency into the department of community planning and economic development will bring much-needed focus and attention to the problems that have long plagued the city.

“We’ll be able to show some savings on employee costs, but that wasn’t the overriding goal,” McNally said. “The goal was to bring them together so they can work for the betterment of the neighborhoods.”

The charter amendment gives McNally the power to hire an at-will employee to head the department of community planning and economic development.

While he has Bill D’Avignon, CDA director, or T. Sharon Woodberry, economic development director to choose from, we urge him to consult with officials of the company that conducted a government efficiency study.

The study contained numerous recommendations, including combining the two departments.

Though D’Avignon and Woodberry have worked for the city for many years, it would benefit the administration and the community greatly to have an outsider’s view of their ability to do the job.

The mayor should also seek input as to the qualifications and experience necessary to guide the new department.

The residents of the city of Youngstown have run out of patience. They see their neighborhoods being overrun by abandoned, dilapidated homes, and they see the entryways into the city getting shabbier by the day.

Mayor McNally has been given the tools to make a real difference in the appearance of the city. He should not squander the opportunity.