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City Project Seeks "Full Potential" of 20 Federal Place https://businessjournaldaily.com/program-to-help-realize-full-potential-of-20-federal-place/ 20 Federal Place is currently a large mid-rise building used as office space. However, the first floor has sort of a mini shopping-mall with some restauarants and retail. However, it's heavily dated. The city is using a grant to get a study done on what could be done to maximize the potential of this building. One potential change to the building could be residential units, which I think is needed. Downtown hasn't added new apartments in several years and the market does not have enough supply to keep up with demand. They also hope to open up new facades along North Phelps's new pedestrian-street. Considering there's already a few restaurants inside, those could easily become additions to the new pedestrian street area. It appears the plan is basically to scrap the indoor shopping mall space in favor of having the stores from Phelps and maybe even Commerce, which is also receiving streetscape improvements in the coming years. I'm pretty excited to hear that this is happening! Not only will it help add even more vibrancy to Phelps Street, it will also begin the process of reusing a huge and underutilized building on the most active corner of Downtown. 20 Federal Place Currently:

I think part of the issue with the Welsh Church is that the Youngstown Diocese wants it either moved or demolished. Which is why the only option now seems to be sandwiching it on a hillside. And the Wells Court idea is really cool! But sadly your right, most of the houses on that street are gone now.

Youngstown April 9, 2020: This first photo was taken on the corner of Harmon Ave. and Homewood Ave. in the city's South Side neighborhood of Millview. Millview is a tiny neighborhood wedged between I-680 and the Mahoning River; it sits completely on a hillside and is a collection of disjointed dead end streets which were cut off by the construction of I-680. It used to be a part of the Lansingville neighborhood; Lansingville was a separate town when it was first created but was incorporated into Youngstown during its period of massive growth. The neighborhood was a largely Slovak enclave - even up until the late 20th century, Slovak was a common language heard around here. There was even a Slovak language newspaper based out of this neighborhood that survived for most of the 20th century. Though the neighborhood has experienced a lot of changes like most of the city, there's still a sizable number of ethnically Slovak households in Lansingville and some elderly people here even retain the Slovak language. I hope to get more pictures from this neighborhood in the future, but here's the photo I got. I'm quite proud of it and I love how it captures the grittiness of the city with the old houses, steel mills, and brick street. In fact, Millview has some of the last brick streets in the entire South Side, likely because the neighborhood has been largely isolated and forgotten. Next, we have the historic Fire Station No. 7 on the North Side. It was built in 1903 and served the neighborhood for 116 years until its abrupt closure in 2019 due to budget cuts. The closure was highly controversial and even led to some protests from the neighborhood. But in the end, it was closed. It's in a prime position because it is in between YSU's dorms and right on the growing Elm Street business district. I hope it is made into retail/dining space and not just torn down... YSU seems to love making surface lots out of vacant buildings! Next is the historic Welsh Congregation Church, built in 1861 by Youngstown's large Welsh immigrant community. Youngstown CityScape raised a lot of money to restore the structure, which is Youngstown's oldest remaining church. However, their plan to relocate the church to Wick Park was shot down by one of the Wick Park heirs because they felt the park shouldn't include buildings. The City was also uncooperative and seemed less than happy to help with the process - several alternative locations were offered by landowners, but in the end they were all too economically unfeasible to move the building that far away. In the end, the city offered "The Wedge," a hillside parklet around the corner. To my knowledge, the church is still supposed to be moved there and made into an events center. However, I have no idea how they plan to put the building on such a steep hillside. It's a bit depressing that it's the only option, but I do hope to see it restored one day. Here's a shot of the YSU tower from the corner of Rayen and Elm: Lastly, here's some shots from West Avenue in the Mahoning Commons industrial area:

Beautiful pictures! I love those narrow streets

Beautiful city! I'd love to be able to visit South America some day.

Agreed. Out of all the buildings lost Downtown recently, that was arguably the one I think shouldve been saved the most.

Vacant Downtown Youngstown, 1990s: I came across these pictures of West Federal Street in the 90s (maybe early 2000s) and it's amazing how terrible the area looked back then compared to now. So much progress has been made since then! The Wells Building (farthest left) has been renovated into luxury apartments and offices, the building next to it is gone, the State Theater is only a facade, the 2 buildings next to it (Davis Building & Draught House Building) has been totally renovated and had their original facades restored instead of that ugly metal stuff - you can see what I mean in the present day picture at the bottom of this post. Here's the alley behind West Federal Street: The only buildings remaining in this picture is the one on the far right (which is now beautifully restored and possibly the oldest remaining Downtown building) and the black one on the far left which is now vacant and recently painted white. The Kress Building on the left is gone, torn down in the early 2010s I believe. It caused a lot of controversy from preservationists, but it was just too far gone. The buildings to the right of that have all been torn down and is now the location of a new building housing the Seventh District Court of Appeals: Say what you want about urban renewals of that era, but Downtown sure has improved a lot ever since they tore down some of those buildings and replaced them with newer ones. Though I would have loved them to save more historic buildings, it just wasnt economically feasible at the time, and it could've still been much worse. Crazy to see how much progress Downtown has had.... no wonder no one in Youngstown ever went Downtown! What's funny is I've heard people that grew up in the area in this era that claim they had never even been to Downtown for the first couple decades of their lives, and I totally see why no one went here. BEFORE: PRESENT DAY: BEFORE: PRESENT DAY:

If 245 North Heights is this house, then I'm pretty sure it is being renovated. I've seen some people working on it a few times in the past year and there was a ladder up against the house yesterday

April 3, 2020 Youngstown Pics: This first house has always intrigued me! It is essentially a tiny house sandwiched inside of a much bigger building (which is now a nightclub). It's on Hylda Ave. in Uptown. I always wondered if it is a remnant of the old farming hamlet which once stood here known as "Kyle's Corners." It probably isn't, but it is definitely on one of the roads that existed when the area was still a farming hamlet, and some of the other houses left on Hylda seem like they look much older than the surrounding blocks as well. But whatever the history of it is, it sure is... unique! Here's an old abandoned service station on Ridge Avenue in the South Side. I can't quite make out the writing on it, but it may say "McClone" on it - But, it for sure says "since 1948" on it. This is one of a couple buildings in a small abandoned row of commercial buildings that overlook Downtown. They sit on the "ridge" right off of Market Street at the entrance to the South Side. Next, we have Saint Cyril & Methodius Catholic Church in Downtown. This church was one of many Catholic churches within city limits that was forced to begin the process of closing in order to consolidate with the more economically viable parishes in the city. It's sad to see all these old churches go, especially given their histories, which were often tied to immigrant groups. St. Stevens (Hungarian), St. Stanislaus (Polish), St. Anthony (Italian and located in Brier Hill, Youngstown's old Little Italy), Holy Name (Slovak), and this one, St. Cyril & Methodius (Slovak) are all shutting down. Some are trying to hold out still, namely St. Stevens which has put up quite the protest. It will be especially sad to see St. Stanislaus go as they are known for their delicious perogies! The house to the left served as the priest's home, and this church is located on the hill just above Downtown. Lastly, we have these two beautiful old homes on North Heights Avenue near Wick Park! North Heights Avenue is only one block from the park and is a mixture of well kept homes and ones that are in urgent need of repair. Luckily, there are a couple active renovation projects on this street, including a house that I was almost certain would be torn down. There's also some really cool apartment buildings on this block that I'm worried will get torn down eventually, so I'll try to get pictures of those one day as well. Anyways, here are the two houses! The first one is absolutely gorgeous and well cared for! In fact, I would love to own this house! As for the second one, I know it was for sale about a year ago and was in bad shape. Not terrible shape, but bad shape. I can't quite tell, but it looks like it may be getting some work done to it slowly. It also has a really cool car port on the left side of the house, which you can't see too well here.

Yeah I heard from another guy that the UPTOWN letters were being sold - apparently he plans to take down the marquee because it's all rotted out, so he won't have a place to put the letters even if he fixes them - still quite sad that they wont be on the building, but hey, if they manage to save the theater and make it into a business, I'll be happy. Hopefully someone with good intentions buys the letters and fixes them up. Also, that's a very cool house on Florida Ave! I noticed that those few blocks west of Market by Uptown (Florida, Philadelphia, Boston) have some pretty unique houses compared to the surrounding streets. The houses are much bigger and more ornate - it also appears the streets were tree lined. I'm assuming it used to be an upper middle class neighborhood back in its day. But yeah, I also love to look around Google Maps or drive around some side streets and look at the old houses - it's a shame that many arent taken care of these days.

So I have some more details about the Uptown Theater restoration project. The new owner is planning to turn it into a brew pub and concert venue but is not 100% positive about this yet. Much to my dismay, the iconic "UPTOWN" neon letters which have been there for the entire history of the building will be sold. They are very damaged and the owner won't have a place to put them anyways because the marquee will also be torn off - Apparently it is all rotted out. He does plan on replacing the marquee with video boards, but I really wish they couldve saved the marquee and the neon signs. It's what gives the building its character. Nonetheless, I wish him success and hope he can get a business opened up in there. It would both save the theater and possibly lead to a slow revitalization of the largely vacant Uptown district, which was once a bustling retail, dining, and nightlife center.

Here's the before and after pic from last week and today on the Uptown Theater - as you can see, the entire original facade is visible. I decided to take some pics of it just in case they cover it up again. I also hope they reinstall the neon "UPTOWN" signs and get them working again! BEFORE: AFTER:

Uptown Theater: I noticed the other day when driving down Market Street that the weird mid-century design feature covering up the original Uptown Theater facade was starting to be removed. They also tore off the siding on the attached building and installed new windows. I drove back today, and the entire original 1920s facade was exposed for the first time in probably 70+ years! I cant find anything online about what exactly they are doing to the building, but I know theyve done some repairs already such as a new roof and new side wall. Hopefully, they keep the old facade visible but fix up the "UPTOWN" neon signs - it would be awesome to have those working again! I assume they're planning on reinstalling them, it would be very odd if they didn't put them back. But just in case they decide to cover the facade back up again, I went to take some pictures of it: LAST WEEK: TODAY: Lastly, there's this cool house I never noticed before on a side street a few blocks from the theater on La Clede Avenue:

So I can't find any news about it, but the Uptown Theater is definitely getting more work done to it. I drove past it today and got a bit concerned due to the fact that it looks a bit rugged, but I've concluded it's due to renovations, not arson or something. They ripped off some of the crappy old siding (most likely replacing it) and putting in new windows on the second floor where they were previously boarded up (including the back side of the building) Interestingly, they also made the decision to take down the weird silver mid-century facade to the main theater (maybe temporarily) which means the original 1920s facade is partially visible currently! I'll try to get pictures of it. However, oddly enough, I'm not sure if I like that or not - the later addition to the facade seems pretty iconic to the building. Here's the original facade, which will likely be seen again soon:

Youngstown's skyline from the Oak Hill annex: (I just noticed you can see the abandoned brewery ruins in the bottom right corner, which was owned by George Renner whose mansion is also pictured below!) House on Michigan Ave: George J. Renner Jr. Mansion:

Youngstown Feb. 29: Here's some random shots I took around Youngstown yesterday... First off is Downtown from the new Wean Park (where the amphitheater is): Downtown from Woodland Ave. on the South Side: A vacant lot in front of the Ohio One Building: Some shots from around the B&O Station Area: Two Random Houses in the South Side near Uptown:

Sounds like a good project! Good to see some development coming to Toledo's neighborhoods.

Uptown G.C. Murphy Building Demolition: Yet another piece of Uptown's streetwall is gone with the demolition of the old G.C Murphy/Grey Drug Store Building on the corner of Market and Indianola. This building was nothing too special and was bound to be torn down - however, it will be super weird having an empty lot there and it takes away yet another piece of the only real neighborhood main street left. Overall, it will just make the area feel less urban as it will have just another empty lot.... Sadly, I didnt catch it before it got torn down as they must have demolished it earlier than they originally planned. So, here's what was left of it this morning: Here's the building in the 1940s: Abandoned Indianola Service Station: A building that always intrigued me was this abandoned art-deco style service station on the corner of Indianola and Rush in the Flint Hill neighborhood, across the street from Cardinal Mooney High School. What an interesting building! I'll probably go back another time (hopefully before it gets torn down) to get better pictures than these: I'm sort of making it my mission for this year to photograph as many places in Youngstown at risk of demolition as I can. I always get sad when a place gets torn down and I never got a chance to take pictures of it. So expect more pictures like these! I hope to do Uptown Theater soon and maybe some stuff down Indianola towards Lansingville.

Developer to Present Plans for Gallagher Building https://businessjournaldaily.com/developer-to-present-plans-for-gallagher-building/

We sure don't have a fully walkable area, but we have some that could pass or would be walkable with a few additions. Wick Park is pretty walkable now due to the new business district on Elm Street and the proximity to Downtown and YSU. A coffee shop, a couple restaurants, and some small boutiques. However, it's a very small neighborhood business district so it lacks essentials like grocery stores - even the CVS in the neighborhood shut down this year sadly. Most of the businesses in the neighborhood are all pretty "hipster" places as well. The Mahoning Avenue corridor on the West Side is pretty walkable too. The "Rocky Ridge" neighborhood (around corner of Mahoning & Schenley) is pretty walkable. Sure, it's a tiny bit sketchy at times, but there's some good restaurants, entertainment (Westside Bowl), a brand new library, and some stores for essentials like Wallgreens all within a few block radius. Sadly the Sparkle grocery store in this area shut down so now I can't say it's fully walkable. However, if some minor streetscaping, more new businesses, and a rebranding campaign came to the Mahoning Ave. corridor, it would become a walkable area. Apparently, there's a new development coming to the old business district on Mahoning closer to Downtown in the "Garden District" but the city's being cryptic on what that development is, but are hyping it up. That area could be walkable and has a few good businesses left, but it's in worse shape than Rocky Ridge's business district. As for the rest of the city... it's too far gone. As much as I'd love to see Uptown revitalized, it just isn't happening, and every time a building goes down, it loses what would make it a good walkable area anyways. There's still like two blocks on Market with a good streetwall left, but most of the buildings are probably in very bad shape. There's also no reason to revitalize an area so deep into "the ghetto." I still envision an "Uptown Arts District" centered around a re-opened Uptown Theater, but that's never going to happen. It's a shame, I used to drive past the area every day to get to school so I have a bit of an attachment to it and a lot of ideas for it.

One of Uptown's Main Buildings to be Torn Down https://www.wkbn.com/news/local-news/one-of-uptown-districts-main-buildings-in-youngstown-set-to-be-torn-down/ It was bound to happen... still sad that it will be torn down. As someone who loves urbanism, it's a shame to see one of the only real neighborhood main streets left in the area crumble. As the article said... the corner of Indianola and Market will look very bizarre now! If I feel ambitious this weekend, I'll try to go get a couple pics of it before its gone.

Just some random shots of some classic Youngstown Grit... (Ignore the bad photo quality, these were shot with an iPhone 6....) This is one of only two houses remaining on the entirety of North Hine Street in Youngstown's "Near East Side" - this part of the East Side is even more blighted than the rest of the East Side (yes, that's possible!) This small part of the East Side is sandwiched between Downtown and the Madison Avenue Expressway; as a result, it's heavily blighted and very few structures remain standing in this small neighborhood. This is one of the last survivors and it's a bit of a fixer upper! The only possible future this neighborhood has is in industrial development. With the close proximity to Downtown, I-680, and the new "Chill Can" factory a few blocks over, I'm hoping to see his area get redeveloped. Eventually, that is. I'm not really sure what this next building is, but I came across is while exploring around some of the lesser trafficked parts of the West Side; the Steelton neighborhood to be exact. This building is on Waverly Street at the bottom of the hill next to the railroad tracks. I don't know what the building's purpose was, but I assume it had something to do with the steel mills. Lastly, here's two houses on the corner of Broadway & Elm, across the street from Wick Park. Sadly the green house was damaged by an arson next door as another user pointed out earlier. I'm gonna try to get more pictures of houses and buildings in Youngstown... The problem is, I'm not too eager to walk around and take pictures in some parts of town ? However, there's this really cool old gas station on Indianola which seems to be nearing the end of it's lifespan that I hope to get pics of soon. Remember to follow my Instagram (@BuildingsOfAmerica) to see all the pics I take!

Eastern Gateway Plans to "Recharge" East End of Downtown: https://businessjournaldaily.com/egcc-to-recharge-east-side-federal-street/ Eastern Gateway Community College is planning on purchasing the three buildings they currently lease, most notably "Thomas Humphries Hall." They plan to make a lot of upgrades in order to make it feel more like a campus. On improvement they're planning is to close Boardman Street between Champion and Walnut and make it into a pedestrian area. I'm not completely sure how I feel about this, and I think the design looks reminiscent of some failed urban renewal projects of past decades. But then again, it's not necessarily a vital street to keep opened to traffic. EGCC has already opened up a lunch place on this block (Mocha House) very recently and to my knowledge, they want to bring businesses to East Federal Street as well. Currently, East Federal is all offices and has no restaurants or retail spaces - this is because almost all of the East End of Downtown was torn down in 1960s urban renewal projects. It's hard to believe, but East Federal used to look a lot like West Federal back in the day.

A Third Mexican Restaurant Coming Downtown In what is perhaps the strangest trend Downtown, a third, yes a third, Mexican restaurant is set to open in Downtown - all within a one block radius of eachother. Wahaka Tacos (a food truck from Bistro 1907) plans to open eventually in the Gallagher Building (if it's ever renovated....), Gringos Tacos & Tequila Bar will open in a month or so on North Phelps, and now "Tequila Coyote" is set to open in the first floor of Wick Tower on the corner of N. Phelps and W. Federal within three months. I'm happy to see restaurants open Downtown, especially in Wick Tower, but I can't help but feel there's an over-saturation of taco restaurants coming.... https://www.wkbn.com/news/local-news/new-mexican-and-italian-restaurants-coming-to-downtown-youngstown/

"Modern Italian Restaurant" Coming to former Roberto's Space in Downtown: https://www.mahoningmatters.com/local-news/republic-pizzeria-owner-to-open-shop-in-former-robertos-space-2094364