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That's awesome! For people that don't know, the grant will be used for improving transportation infrastructure in Downtown. It will rebuild Fifth, Rayen, Commerce, and Front Streets as complete streets, add bike lanes, an "autonomous shuttle," and possibly a bike share system. If Youngstown actually manages to be competent and not misuse their funding for once, this could be great for us. I still think the project has some pretty big flaws though. Like why on earth would they include a random East Side factory development as a stop for this "autonomous shuttle"? It makes no sense to me. Plus the autonomous shuttle route as a whole is pathetic and will get no ridership. It doesn't even run into the center of Downtown really.

Anthony's-On-The-River Site Being Redeveloped: So I haven't posted here much in a while but it's mostly because there's not much going on. Hopefully I can get Downtown soon and take some photos of the amphitheater construction site and some of the new businesses. Anyways, the Anthony's-On-The-River site is a large riverfront property in Mahoning Commons, which is directly across the bridge from Downtown. The site includes a two story building built in 1910 and a large parking lot. The site of the project: The land was purchased by a group that is affiliated with Oak Hill Collaborative. The name of the development will be "Two Bridges" it appears. The developers plan to redevelop the original building by bringing in a new fine dining restaurant and an office on the second floor. They hope to have that phase done by early 2020. After that is when it gets potentially interesting. The developers are pretty ambitious and want to make the property a riverfront mixed use area. In phase 2, they plan to build townhouses or apartments where the parking lots currently are; however they say they are open to suggestions from the community. They have also offered some land to Youngstown CityScape to relocate the endangered Welsh Congregational Church to. Two Bridges wants to work with the B&O station across the street to develop a riverfront trail and some small boat docks. The current building on the property: Hopefully this works out. It will be a huge asset to the riverfront and will bring a lot of attention to a currently underutilized side of Downtown. It will be located right next to the planned bike-lane connecting YSU, Downtown, and Mill Creek Park. It will also be only one bridge crossing away from the amphitheater park and all of Downtown, so it will be a walkable location.

I hate how Youngstown is in such a rut. Things like this GM closing screw us even more. However, this area totally deserves it because they are so hostile to new development (for example, TJ Maxx wanted to bring 3000 jobs to Lordstown and almost got blocked by NIMBY's). Cities like Akron and even Canton can benefit from being close to Cleveland or other big cities. While Youngstown is a good distance from both Cleveland and Pittsburgh, it is just far enough away from both to not be worth it. Therefore Youngstown is essentially on its own. The only good thing we have going for us is Youngstown State University which is expanding a lot. Downtown is revitalizing and a lot of new jobs have been created from that, but I still worry things could stop improving Downtown with the shape the local economy is in. The rest of the city is a disaster except for a couple neighborhoods on the edges of the city. The suburbs are likewise stuck in the past and hostile to new business.

Sandusky really has a lot of potential to be a great destination. I'm glad Downtown has seen so much redevelopment! Those historic buildings are beautiful. In particular, the new boutique hotel, Hotel Kilbourne is a pretty neat looking place.

Thanks for your input! I always assumed the second floor of Silver's was vacant - they really shouldn't keep the windows boarded up though. It makes the building look run down. And regarding the veteran house, I had the same thoughts. I wish that so many houses in Wick Park weren't sub-divided like that.

Enclave Student Apartments Opens: The Enclave Student Apartments has recently opened and students have moved in for the fall semester! The MercyHealth Student Health Center portion of the development is still not complete. I believe there is still a possibility for retail space along Lincoln Avenue, but I'm not sure. Here are some photos of the completed building from their Instagram page: New $1.5 Million YSU Intramural Sports Complex: The Cafaro Family has donated $1.5 million to Youngstown State University to build a new intramural sports complex on the north side of the campus. It will be located on the corner of Madison Avenue and Bryson Street in the Wick Park neighborhood. It is located in the parking lot behind the Flats at Wick Apartments and across the street from Ursuline High School. (Street View Link) The "Cafaro Family Field" will consist of a large sports field for lacrosse, soccer, rugby, and football. It will help serve YSU's eight intramural sports leagues. It will also be used by Cardinal Mooney and Ursuline High Schools for their lacrosse teams. It'll be nice to see YSU continue to spread into Wick Park - it's a neighborhood with a lot of potential and a big student population, but it is very underutilized. Luckily, some businesses are beginning to move in on the neighborhood's business district (I'll cover this later in this post) so hopefully Wick Park is on the upswing finally. A rendering of Cafaro Family Field: New Businesses Coming to Wick Park's Elm Street Business District: Wick Park Historic District was once the city's first "millionaire row" but is now a shell of what it once was. The neighborhood has experienced heavy blight which has led to the loss of countless historic houses and mansions. Sadly most of the remaining ones are in bad shape and run by slumlords. The neighborhood should be ripe for gentrification due to it being home to so many university students and its beautiful old houses surrounding a park - but no one has really gotten the ball rolling on the neighborhood yet. That being said, it's been gradually improving each year despite the continued loss of historic homes. Elm Street's 800 and 900 block serves as the neighborhood's business district. Thanks to some recent investment, this struggling yet quaint business district has begun to pick up some momentum. This is mostly thanks to Commonwealth Kitchen Incubator who took over a building in the neighborhood a few years ago. They began buying up other buildings and have been gradually renovating them. A popular business on the road is "Cultivate Co-Op Cafe" which is known for its unique menu and locally sourced foods. A new coffee shop is coming to 818 Elm Street soon - Culturehouse Coffee Roasters. They have been in business for a while now, but this will be their first brick and mortar store. I'm really excited for this and I think it will help out the neighborhood a lot. YSU has a lot of student housing right next to Elm Street, but students rarely venture up into Elm Street - hopefully new businesses like this will gradually change that! They should open sometime this fall. The future home of Culturehouse Coffee Roasters: Unfortunately, Dorian Books, a popular business on Elm Street, is closing soon. The good news is that the owners of the building are going to put it to good use. The building will be transformed into a 100 seat singer's cabaret and event center, building on the success of their past Music on Madison events. The Shagrin Building, which houses Dorian Books: Elsewhere in Wick Park, a few houses are being bought up by Housing Authority and are being fixed up and subdivided into apartments for homeless veterans. It won't just be a shelter - the plan is to eventually have them transition into leasing the apartments permanently after completing job training programs and securing a steady income. I'm glad that they are going to use some of these vacant houses which would have been torn down otherwise. One of the houses they will renovate (This is an older photo, it's been boarded up in recent years):

Another recent one was Ryan Sheridan. He owns a lot of businesses around town and a few important Downtown buildings that he of course failed to ever actually develop. Youngstown just can't get enough of its corruption! How fitting is it that the people who revitalized Downtown did it illegally and through very corrupt ways.....

Some more news on Downtown's main developer's legal trouble.... There are some more indictments in Youngstown related to the misuse of city money (specifically water department money) to various developers as well as bribery and general corruption. The Grand Jury has indicted former mayor Charles Sammarone, former City Finance Director Charles Bozanich, and developer Dominic Marchionda with 101 public corruption charges. Marchionda is the owner of NYO Property Group, which was the main catalyst for Downtown's redevelopment. In addition to developing Downtown's DoubleTree Hotel, he has redeveloped several other Downtown buildings and skyscrapers and owns buildings and land all around the city's center and YSU. His company has a near monopoly on Downtown's apartment market and is by far the largest investor in Downtown's comeback. It's safe to say that Downtown would be absolutely nowhere near what it is now without Marchionda - The problem of course is that he was receiving money illegally from the city finance director in order to fund these redevelopment projects (except for the hotel). Marchionda has defended himself by pointing out that his projects have led to hundreds of permanent Downtown jobs, many of which are high paying. Despite what you think of Marchionda, you can't deny that this could really stall Downtown's development. Hopefully his company will continue to manage their apartments well and new developers will rise up to take his place.

I hope it doesn't have too big of an effect on the area around the hospital. The part of the North Side it's in has been improving a lot and has a lot of businesses/restaurants around. It's definitely a shame to see the hospital go.

I haven't gotten around to taking photos there yet. I should be in Toronto on Monday - if I am, I'll try to make time for it. I know I'm a bit biased since its my hometown, but Toronto has some cool old buildings that you usually wouldn't see in a town its size - but sadly a lot are getting demolished. If I do a tour there, I'll also include some of the old victorian era mansions along the river.

Oh I know! It's hideous!! It ruins the whole base of what would otherwise be a nice building.

Hey guys! I made a Downtown Steubenville Photo Tour thread today! Make sure to check it out - it shows a lot of Downtown's old buildings and a few of the newer additions to the neighborhood!

Downtown Steubenville Photo Tour (Aug. 2018) Hey UrbanOhio! I have been spending some time in the Ohio Valley area recently and decided to take a trip to Downtown Steubenville today! Surprisingly, Downtown is structurally intact for the most part despite most buildings being vacant. Many buildings date back to the late 1800s. There are even two skyscrapers and a few midrises that could maybe classify as skyscrapers. Most of my trip was on Fourth Street. As I exited the parking lot, the first building I came across was the Laughlin Building - I can't find much information about it, but it is a really beautiful building in my opinion: Directly next to the Laughlin Building is the Grand Theater - This building has been receiving off and on renovations for years now and certainly looks better than it once did. I believe the first floor is a renovated event space. The hope is to one day restore the theater room itself and bring more events into Downtown: Continuing north, I crossed Market Street and entered the block of Fourth Street with the most activity and businesses - though it still is not very active. One building that stood out to me was the "Cottmann Building" which houses a local favorite, Yorgo's Gyros & Potatoes. The building dates back to 1886 and is in good condition it seems: Now, I entered the new Leonardo's Coffeehouse that has been put into the recently renovated Renaissance Building. The shop only opened a few months ago, but it really impressed me! There was a lot more people in there than expect, the coffee was good, and they had a lot of cool historical things to look at. They even have a stage for live music! Also in the same building as Leonardo's Coffeehouse is the Steubenville Popcorn Company. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo inside this store, but it was an awesome place! They had a wide variety of popcorn (made in the back of the store), many of which were branded for the local cities and high schools. I had the "Redskin Blend" which was caramel and cherry flavored. They also have ice cream here, but I didn't try it. Also in the building is Drosselmeyer's Nutcracker Shoppe. This gift shop plays off of the well know Steubenville Nutcracker Festival by selling a large variety of nutcrackers: Across the street, there's this little parklet with lights over top of it. It usually has picnic tables out, but not today for some reason. It mainly serves the patrons of the coffee shop: Here are two buildings directly across the street from the coffee shop. The mid-rise on the far left is a low-income housing building: Another old brick building on Fourth Street. Like many buildings around here, it could look great if it got a little bit of TLC: I can't tell you what this building is, but I assume it is affiliated with the Steubenville Diocese due to the statue of what I assume is Mary on the front of the building: Looking south on Fourth Street: Looking north on Fourth Street: Here's some buildings closer to Washington Street. They are both occupied, but as expected, they could use a good amount of work: Looking north on Fourth Street. The coffee shop is on the far right: The "Beerbower Building," which dates back to 1890: The Robinson Music Company Building: Yet another vacant and boarded up building: Here are two buildings next to the Huntington Bank Tower. The one of the left houses Hu-Nan Chinese Restaurant, which has been in Downtown Steubenville for decades. The building on the right has "coming soon" painted on the windows, but I didn't notice this until just now and I can't read what's supposed to be opening there :( At this point, I turned west onto Market Street. There's a few blocks of this street that are mostly intact still. There is a neat parklet up that street that I forgot to take a photo of as well as a midrise office building that I assume is from around the 1970s. I'm a big fan of the Italianate building on the left: The Huntington Bank Tower: The First National Bank Tower: Now, going south on Market Street, I found these two buildings that interested me. The one on the right is dated as 1885. Sadly that SUV was there, which prevented me from getting a better photo: Looking north on Market Street: Continuing south on Market Street, I got to the Jefferson County Courthouse. Here is a statue of Steubenville native, Edwin Stanton. He was the secretary of war during Abraham Lincoln's administration. A building across the street from the courthouse on Third Street: Next, I walked into the park area around Fort Steuben. This area is used for events such as the Dean Martin Festival and the annual Nutcracker Village. Here is a view of Downtown from the park: The fountain in the park with the courthouse in the background: Here's some better views of the courthouse: Another look at Steubenville's two skyscrapers: Here is a row of buildings (including the first two in this tour) on Fourth Street, south of Market Street. As you continue south on Fourth Street, the area seems to get worse and worse and eventually looks like a ghost-town. (There were a few cool buildings down there, but I didn't stop because most weren't too impressive and it seemed a bit sketchy.) Here is another building on Fourth Street south of Market Street: Lastly, there's this unique building. It's certainly unlike any others I saw today: And here's one last view of Fourth Street, looking north: Final Thoughts: Steubenville is obviously in a pretty bad spot at the moment. There isn't much business happening around the area, and poverty is clearly an issue in the half of the city closest to the river. Downtown has a ton of potential, as shown by the success of the new coffee shop, but no major plans to fix it up have been put into place. That being said, this is Downtown's best year in a long time due to the new coffee shop and the new First Friday Festivals, which have drawn in thousands of visitors. One thing that stood out to me was the lack of color in Downtown - for a city that prides itself on being the "City of Murals," you'd expect it to be colorful. But, I only saw 2 or 3 murals, and none of them were particularly photo-worthy. And, the murals that were there were far from colorful and vibrant. Even Toronto, Ohio down the road has much better and more vibrant murals that brighten up the town. Speaking of Toronto, Ohio, if you guys are interested, I'll gladly do a photo tour of Downtown Toronto and some other historic sites around town!

Exactly! The mayor was basically fighting by himself to try to convince people that 2 way streets are actually safer - But it didnt' matter in the end. They also argued that traffic would be bad, which is also a bit ridiculous because Wheeling isn't that crowded.

Wheeling Scraps Downtown Two Way Traffic Plan: Mayor Elliott proposed a plan to convert Main and Market Street in Downtown from one way roads into two way roads earlier this year. Much to his surprise, it turned into one of Wheeling's most controversial topics in recent years. Despite business support, an ever-growing NIMBY group strongly opposes the plan, claiming it is "dangerous for senior citizens." Most of the city officials have decided to side with their constituents, and the nail in the coffin came when Mayor Elliott himself threw in the towel. But, a compromise plan has been created which will bring a $19.1 million streetscaping project to Main, Market, and Chapline Streets - details on that are not yet known. I just hope this issue won't completely turn Wheeling against Mayor Elliott - he has done an amazing job promoting good urban planning principle within Wheeling. 950 Main Street Redevelopment: Local real estate investors have purchased 950 Main Street - a historic building on a prominent corner in Downtown Wheeling. The first floor is home to Bridge Tavern & Grill, which will remain in the building. The developers hope to make the building, once the Wheeling Hotel, into a first-class historical landmark. The second, third, and fourth floors will all be renovated to make room for office and apartment space. They hope to eventually invest $2 million in the building and to turn the first floor into a live music club. They cite the recent historic tax credit increase from 10% to 25% and the recent success of Downtown Wheeling as their motivation for investing in the building. It is across the street from another historic building that is undergoing a similar restoration. 950 Main Street: New Downtown Public Safety Building: There is a proposal for a new Public Safety Building on Market Street in Downtown in place of a surface parking lot. The building would be the new headquarters for the police department and fire department, which both need a bigger space to operate in. The building, designed by M&G Architects, must be approved by voters with a levy this November in order to proceed. It would be great to see this happen - it would bring more jobs to Downtown and get rid of a large surface parking lot. A rendering of the Public Safety Building:

There are a lot of apartment buildings Downtown actually. Most are pretty nice and new (and certainly more affordable). In fact, basically all Downtown apartments units seem to be filled up right now. - Wells Building - Wick Tower - Erie Terminal Place - Realty Tower - Several new apartment developments in YSU area next to Downtown - There's also a low income apartment building in Downtown as well as a low income senior apartment building. Many of the nicer apartments are owned by NYO Property Group, so check out their website. In terms of your other questions: - Grocery: We still don't have a grocery store Downtown, but a convenience store (Downtown Circle) as expanded into selling things like fresh produce, meat, and other grocery store items. - In terms of entertainment, there's a lot of new bars popping up (Whistle & Keg for example). There's also a lot of 'hip' restaurants such as Kitchen Post and Suzies Dogs and Drafts. There's only one coffee shop at the moment, but Boardman's Branch Street Roasters is going to be moving Downtown and making it their flagship location. Most of Downtown is pretty compact, so everything is within walking distance. The main entertainment area is around the corner of West Federal and North Phelps. The western edge of Downtown is mainly tech-related offices and the eastern edge is mainly corporate offices and a community college campus. Downtown is still pretty dead at night time (except for West Federal sometimes), but it is actually surprisingly vibrant in the day time. I was down there last week and was shocked at how many people were walking around.

Downtown Loft Apartment: This isn't necessarily development related, but I found this really impressive modern loft for rent online in Downtown Youngstown in a building that was renovated recently. It's pretty neat to see places like this pop up in Downtown Youngstown! You can see this full listing here. It is located at 217 West Federal Street in the Davis Building, which was built in 1899. It is located in a central location right between the Youngstown Business Incubator and the entertainment district around Central Square. When it was renovated, the first floor was made into retail space (now a State Farm office), the second floor into office space, and the third floor into a private residence - which is now for rent. The Davis Building is the center one: The loft is one bedroom and 1,750 square feet. There is also a beautiful 450 square foot private rooftop deck facing Market Court. It is listed at a pricy $1,950/month - pretty high for a one bedroom unit in Youngstown! That being said, it's a really impressive loft and it's cool to see places like this popping up in Youngstown! I'd sure like to rent it if I had the money.... The rooftop deck: The interior of the unit:

Canfield Mixed Use Development Hopes To "Attract Millenials:" Canfield (a suburb of Youngstown) is hoping to develop the 111 acres of empty land on the corner of Palmyra Road and US-224. FJA Developers hope to make this a community for all ages that will attract millennials, a group that is increasingly leaving Canfield. The plan is horrible though and will not attract millennials at all. The plan will add 35,000 sq feet of retail space in a 'lifestyle center" along US-224 - in reality, it is just a typical shopping plaza and is surrounded on all sides by parking. 10 acres will be set aside along US-224 for future retail development. The master plan of the development: Behind the retail will be several two story four-plex condos that will be "multi-generational." But in reality, they look no different than every other condo development in town. There will be 51 lots for custom homes, a clubhouse, and several walking trails. The town hopes to develop it over the next 5-7 years. Basically, this project brings nothing new to Canfield for millennials. But, this isn't surprising given Canfield's extreme NIMBY culture.

Youngstown's Oldest Church Being Saved: The Welsh Congregational Church, built in 1861, is Youngstown's oldest church. It is on Elm Street in the YSU neighborhood in between the YSU campus and Downtown. The church was the community center of Youngstown's Welsh community, which was the largest immigrant group in Youngstown during the 19th century. It has been owned by the Youngstown Catholic Diocese for decades and has been vacant and in bad shape. Luckily, Youngstown CityScape stepped up and announced an ambitious restoration project for the church. The plan is to move the church from its current location to Wick Park on the North Side. It will be used as a multi purpose community meeting house. This will hopefully contribute to the Wick Park Historic District, which is struggling to maintain its historic structures. CityScape is holding a fundraiser on July 20th at Noble Creature Cask House at 5:30pm to support the renovation. The Diocese will redevelop the land to better blend in with the neighborhood and campus. The Welsh Congregational Church: New Utility Box Art in Downtown: Downtown Youngstown has added five new utility box artworks recently. This is in addition to several that were already put into place in late 2017. This time the project was in Central Square and West Federal Street. They feature artwork and photography from local artists working with YSUscape. This along with new self guided walking tour signage were installed on the city's 222nd birthday. Utility boxes on Central Square: Utility box in front of Powers Auditorium on West Federal Street: Youngstown CityScape also installed five new self-guided walking tour signs marking several historic sites in Downtown including the B&O Railroad Station, Central Square, and Wick Park. One of the new walking tour signs in Downtown:

JSW Steel Investing $500 Million in Mingo Junction: JSW Steel announced yesterday that they are going to be investing $500 million into the former Acero Junction Plant in Mingo Junction, OH, a small town south of Steubenville. This will hopefully breathe some life back into Mingo, which has economically suffered for decades. The project will be divided into two phases, each of which will cost around $250 million. Phase one will modernize the hot strip mill by modernizing the arc furnace and slab caster. Phase two would add a second arc furnace. The company says they were attracted to the Ohio Valley due to the abundance of scrap metal and natural gas in the region. Mingo Junction officials hope this will bring their town's steel industry back for good. The former Acero Junction Plant: Mingo Junction is a pretty depressing town to drive through, but it is very interesting for sure. Most of the business district is completely abandoned and falling apart with crumbling steel mills dominating the skyline. The hilltop neighborhoods are where the better neighborhoods are these days. I will admit, I'm a bit skeptical to see Mingo become dependent on steel once again. Also, fun fact about Mingo Junction: It is the home town of Wild Cherry who released the 1976 hit "Play That Funky Music White Boy." Some photos around town in Mingo Junction:

SMAR2T Transit Grant News: The city is trying to re-apply once again for the SMAR2T Transit TIGER grant and it's honestly horrendous. The original plan called for several complete streets, bike lanes, and a bike share program. Well, for some reason, the city now wants an "autonomous shuttle." This shuttle is pathetic in my opinion - it will start at St. Elizabeth Hospital, go down Fifth Avenue, and then stop at the WRTA station in Downtown. Then a second route would go down Rayen to the University and the Chill Can Factory on the East Side.... I don't see why a new factory for a gimmicky product in the most distressed part of town should be a part of some high tech autonomous transit system. Instead, the shuttle should go into Downtown on Commerce or Front Streets - that way it would actually help link University students to Downtown. The autonomous transit shuttle would only hit the very western edge of Downtown proper. The revised SMAR2T Corridor Plan: There will be a public feedback meeting at the 10th floor of City Center One (100 E. Federal St.) from 4-6pm on July 5. I still hope this goes through though because Downtown really needs complete streets. I was in Downtown recently, and outside of Federal Street, the pedestrian infrastructure is really lacking. In all honesty, I see why the city has been denied the grant twice already - the plan is just all over the place and Youngstown's history of corruption and bad usage of money which continues to today doesn't help. And here's some older plans/renderings of SMAR2T which I hope are still a part of the new proposal: Bike lanes connecting Mill Creek to Downtown and Downtown to Youngstown State University Campus: Road Diet on Fifth Avenue: Commerce Street road diet:

I have a question involving accents in Ohio - Do people in Toledo have a strong midwestern accent? I remember having a younger teacher once who had a very strong accent. For example, she pronounce her A's as E's - so calendar would sound like "ceelender" or Allen would sound like "Eelen" - To all of our shock, she did not come from Minnesota, but from Toledo.... Is this common up there? I'll admit I've never really spent much time in that area, but I always found her strong accent super strange. According to her, it was not uncommon to hear A's pronounced like that up there.

I agree. There's a lot of vacant land - but they say they are only interested in that plot.

Yeah... Im aware lol. I just cannot for the life of me understand why rezoning 4 acres is a big deal and would bring people to tears.... I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Proposed Boardman Meijer's Re-Zoning Controversy: Source: Boardman Township This isn't major news, but it just demonstrates why nothing gets done in the Youngstown area. Meijers (grocery store chain) is having a hard time trying to open a store in Boardman at the corner of US-224 and Lockwood Boulevard. The store would create around 300 jobs, but NIMBY's are absolutely committed to destroying the proposal. Meijers needs to rezone a small 4 acre plot from residential to commercial which is causing everyone to freak out. The Zoning Commission turned it down 4-1 after several tear-ridden testaments about how Meijers will ruin their neighborhood, bring traffic, and be a danger for pedestrians - but funny enough, the project doesn't intersect any neighborhood, only two main roads - plus there's no sidewalks so it's not like Boardman can pretend to care about pedestrians for once. Meijers is getting a 30 day extension period where they will conduct a few studies then bring it back to the Township. What most NIMBY's don't realize is that either way the land will get developed - either Meijers moves in and takes an extra 4 acres, or a plaza moves in without any rezoning. It pains me that they are blocking out the business that will bring in more jobs, when a typical plaza will just show up instead. I know this isn't urban development, but it just shows why Youngstown suburbs are so behind. I was thrilled when Boardman got a new planning commissioner this year who is working on a plan to bring in bike lanes, mixed use development on Market Street, ect - but since the township can't even get in a flipping Meijers without NIMBY's throwing a tantrum, I can't foresee any mixed use development on Market Street sadly. Frankly, I can't wait to move out of Youngstown. The plot that would be rezoned. The red part below it is already zoned commercial. Most NIMBY opposition is coming from Alissa Place (The cul-de-sac at the top):