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I've somehow never heard of the plan to bring the blue line down towards North Randall before. It makes much more sense to me than the Green Line extension out towards Pepper Pike that people keep asking for. It's definitely a shame, because I think the whole RTA system would get a lot more riders if it had an extension out past the city and inner suburbs. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the plan I saw from a quick Google search would have been to connect it down to a park and ride off of I-480 in North Randall. Honestly, that would have been a great project, and it may have even been used by people like me who visit Columbus from the Youngstown area but would rather not have the stress of driving and parking in Downtown. It would have been so cool to take the train from there to University Circle, Downtown, Ohio City, etc. But hey, I shouldn't have ever expected something like that to actually happen in Northeast Ohio! 😁

They're a great restaurant, but not really "authentic" actually. They sort of fit in with the majority of Mexican restaurants in the US which all have a very similar slightly Americanized menu. Like I don't believe you can get things like street tacos or tamales at Casa Ramirez. That being said, they are very good and I do recommend them! They just aren't quite what I'm looking for.

The authentic Mexican place is/was Taqueria la Huasteca. Again though, it appears to be closed unless the owners reopen after the whole COVID mess is over. If it ever reopens, I really recommend trying their Horchata - it's by far the best I've ever had! As for the bike lane, it will start on Tod Lane below the gardens, go along Tod to Mahoning, and then along Mahoning to Downtown. It's a bit of a shame it doesn't go all the way down Mahoning to Glenwood and to the bridge to the West Side, but I think I might have heard someone say that's actually being planned out for the future. The new bike lane will link to Fifth Avenue's bike lanes, which will go up to YSU and Wick Park. They will also then connect to the Front Street bike lanes which will go all the way to South Avenue. There are also bike lanes planned for Rayen, which will link Fifth Avenue to Wick Avenue.

Downtown Youngstown April 21, 2021: Here's some random iPhone pictures I took today while visiting the new "Gringo's Tacos" in Downtown Youngstown! Unfortunately, Downtown is still pretty dead. Sure, it's cold out and a weekday, but the lack of activity Downtown is just depressing. Pre-COVID, it was actually quite busy almost every day. Usually this block is pretty busy due to it being home to most of the bars along West Federal Street. Unfortunately, many of the bars pictured are closed due to COVID, hopefully they will reopen. The only bar that's open right now is Whistle and Keg and maybe the Federal and Suzie's. Two restaurants in this area, V2 Trattatoria and Prima Cucina Italiana are open as well. Here's the Phelps Street Gateway pedestrian street, which is home to the brand new Gringo's Tacos! As you can see, Gringo's has already put some fencing out for an outdoor seating area (though it wasn't used today due to the cold weather) and Suzie's and Rhine Haus should be doing the same soon. Once the seating comes, the new pedestrian street will look a lot less barren. I'm glad to have Gringo's open a restaurants here, but goddamn did they completely mutilate an otherwise nice looking historic storefront! Here's what it looked like before. They have since taken our the historic storefront and replaced it with this god-awful mid-century-esque mess. I'm not sure how the hell that got past the Design Review Committee! I can't complain too much, but it really looks horrible which sucks consider the city's putting so much work into making this street look nice. At least the inside of Gringo's is done nicely! It looks sleek and modern, two things Youngstown desperately needs 😁 I wasn't actually going to try this place until I found out they had soft corn tortillas and al pastor tacos. I've been missing the authentic street tacos and tamales I can get in Columbus, so I just had to try this place even though it is far from authentic. There used to be an amazing authentic Mexican place on the West Side, but it looks like COVID closed them for good. Anyways, Gringo's tacos tastes pretty much like what you'd expect - similar to Barrio, Condado, and Bakersfield, except Gringos has a set menu rather than a build-your-own menu. It was very good, but definitely not as good as authentic street tacos! Back to Phelps Street.... You might notice the new "West 34" sign on Wick Tower (the building on the left). This is where the new Wick 34 restaurant will be opening. I looked through the windows, and it looks really cool and modern. It almost reminds me of the Kitchen Post (RIP) from what I saw. They will also be adding outdoor seating to the left here - you can just barely see one of their retractable doors in this picture, which will open up to their outdoor seating all along Phelps. Also, I can never get over how beautiful the brickwork and fire escapes are on these two buildings! Lastly, I'll leave you all with an inspirational graffiti message below I-680 along the Mahoning River. Also, this street is where the new protected bike trail/lanes are being built which link Mill Creek Park to Downtown. I don't have pictures, but they seem to be nearing completion along the Mahoning Avenue portion of it. I can't believe it took until 2021 for Youngstown to get its first bike lane!

If only I had a dollar for every time I've heard someone say renovations were ready to begin on this building 😁 Honestly at this point, I'm surprised the building is still in good enough shape to restore. I'm thrilled to see it should finally get renovated, it's got a ton of potential and is currently a bit of an eyesore. It's also pretty much the only big building Downtown that is in that bad of shape still.

The 15th & High Plaza looks so cool already! I can't wait to see what it looks like when I get back to campus. I really think it'll be a pretty vibrant place to hang out at, especially when they build the new building behind it along Pearl. I'm really glad they decided to do a plaza rather than just another building, it's great to have some public spaces like that, especially in such a busy area. Also, I just love the way that building at High & 15th turned out! It's such a great blend of modern and historic architecture, and it also doesn't look as plain and cookie-cutter as all the newer dorms around North Campus It's also really exciting to see more development between campus and Short North. Pretty soon, there will be almost no separation between the two! One part of the University District that I'd like to see more development on though is Lane Avenue west of High - there's just so many surface lots down there, but it has a ton of potential for development because of that!

Historic Youngstown Church to be Auctioned https://www.wkbn.com/news/local-news/historic-youngstown-church-to-be-auctioned/ Speaking of the Richard Brown United Methodist Church.....The church is being auctioned off starting at $60,000. The 4,400 square foot stone church was built in 1905 and designed by famous architect Charles Owsley. It also sits right on Wick Park and is right by the shops and cafes along Elm Street.

I can't believe Shaker Heights is actually building something that tall! Most suburbs would never even consider allowing that to be built. I think Shaker has great potential to mimic what Dublin, OH has done with Bridge Park but with Van Aken. Still though, I do sympathize with the concerns of it being out of place - but rather than denying it, I'd say we should fix that problem by building one or two more mid-rises in the Van Aken District! I don't know a whole lot about Shaker, but I've always thought it hasn't fully tapped into its potential despite all the good bones it has. I think it's long overdue to make Van Aken into a big town center like this, especially since it sits at the terminus of the blue line. I hope Shaker Heights also tries to improve their other business districts such as the one around Chagrin & Lee while they're at it! Also, I know it's not technically in Shaker Heights, but it would be amazing to see some new TOD projects along the blue line in Shaker Square as well! I know if I ever moved to Cleveland, that would be a really desirable location for me.

I'm glad to see the new place open on Elm Street and I'm glad to hear another is coming. Plus, I believe the old Dorian Books building is getting some work done to it. Also, is the new "Prepped Wellness" place an actual health foods store or just another one of the million Herbalife fronts popping up in the area? Either way, at least someone's using that site. To be honest, I was worried Elm Street would be gone after COVID, but it's looking better now.

April Design Review Committee Meeting: Stambaugh Auditorium Renovations: This project has been proposed for a while, but it finally seems to be in motion now. Stambaugh Auditorium is planning to redo the front steps and plaza by cleaning and removing some of the current stones. This is definitely much needed as the steps/plaza have a lot of cracks in the stone. They also are adding a new ADA accessible ramp between the steps/plaza and the side garden, a second flag pole, and new lighting for night time, which can also be lit in different colors for different events. For the most part though, the project is just to clean up the building, nothing will really change from the current iconic design. Ohio Urban Renaissance Project: The community group Ohio Urban Renaissance is doing a project on their property on the corner of North & Arlington in the former Elks Lodge Building. The project is basically to take an overgrown vacant lot attached to the building and make it into an outdoor plaza area with terraced seating, a garden, and oddly enough, an outdoor pizza oven. They plan to eventually put a wooden fence around it though so it won't really be a public space. It's located in an extremely blighted area though so it shouldn't really matter. Penguin City Brewing Project: Penguin City Brewing has recently purchased the old Republic Steel Warehouse building along East Federal Street on the far east side of Downtown. This is a really big project which will house Penguin City's corporate offices, its brewing site, their taproom, and a separate taproom, DOPE Winery & Cider, which will be owned by the first professional African American female brewer in Ohio. In other words, this should hopefully end up being a big destination, especially since it has two breweries/taprooms. This is a really cool way to honor the industrial past of the city while also bringing in something new - Youngstown Flea has also done the same with their project, almost across the street from this, where they reused a factory building from the 19th century. Also, the new Andrews Avenue mural is located to the side of this building and is another great project in this corner of the city - in fact, I was shocked at how great it looked when I drove past it the other day! I hope to get some pictures of it soon.

Bird Scooters Launch in Warren https://www.tribtoday.com/news/local-news/2021/03/e-scooters-ride-in-warren/ In completely unexpected and bizarre news, Bird E-Scooters have launched not in Warren. The scooters were brought in by a local businesswoman who franchised them out through her own company (I guess that's a thing now?) and plans to have 100 scooters in the city. While I'm excited to see this, I'm just a bit worried about the commercial viability of e-scooters in a city like Warren. Most of the attractions in Warren are in Downtown, all of which can be accessed easily by foot. I'm not sure how exactly people will use these scooters. The good news is the owner says she plans to launch them in Youngstown eventually, which will be great! At least in Youngstown, they'd be useful to get people from YSU, to Downtown, and even to Mill Creek Park. While Warren's attractions are all around the same town square, Youngstown's attractions are quite spread out. I've long said e-scooters would be a great asset for the city and would get YSU students and visitors to go Downtown more often as the walk can get a bit long depending on which part of campus you're on. For example, the biggest YSU dorms are actually on the North Side by Wick Park - that would be a good 15-20 walk to Downtown, but an easy 5 minute scooter ride. Anyways, I hope they succeed in Warren just so they come here eventually! I may even have to go rent one out and do a photo tour of Warren one day this summer!

Happy April Fools Day from Youngstown! As I'm sure we're all aware, Ohio had some interesting weather today! It felt like winter in the morning, then it got bright and sunny when I went to get a coffee, and next thing I know, it's a total whiteout! Because I missed out on getting any snow pictures this winter, I hurried up and got some Downtown while I was out. Sadly I didn't have my camera, just my phone, but I think they turned out well! First off, I wish I had photos from earlier to compare to what it looked like only an hour before this! It went from spring to the middle of December and back in only about an hour or two! First off, I have a picture of the new Phelps Street Gateway project, which I'm super excited about. I'm hoping the restaurants get some outdoor seating out there soon - I know Suzie's Dogs and Drafts recently got a permit to put an outdoor seating area in, and I believe Gringo's next door may have as well. West 34 (formerly planned to be called Tequila Coyote) in Wick Tower also plans to open this summer with outdoor seating. I saw the inside off the restaurant through a window recently and it looks really nice in there! It's nice that Youngstown has some new projects and restaurants to bring people back Downtown once COVID restrictions ease up. There's also the new upscale "Prima Cucina Italiana" right by this pedestrian street: Next, we get a view of Downtown from the top of the Phelps Street Steps, which link Downtown to Youngstown State University. This is a big reason why Phelps Street has been getting improvements; it serves as the connection between Youngstown State, Downtown, and the new riverfront at Wean Park. In other words, YSU students walking Downtown will be first greeted by the restaurants and bars on the pedestrian mall. Anyways, you can also see across the street at the base of the steps, which is another section of the street that was redone. The small dead end street was torn up and replaced with an elevated pedestrian area which will be used as seating for OH Donut Company (formerly One Hot Cookie, still the same owners) as well as a stage for concerts and other events. I can already picture a concert going on there with people hanging out in the street out front and the bars down the street! Lastly, the big building to the left is 20 Federal Place, a huge office building with an indoor mall/food court which the city hopes to renovate soon. Check out my Youngstown development thread for more on that. This is looking down East Federal Street. The building on the left is the DoubleTree by Hilton, which came to this historic skyscraper a few years ago. It also houses TCF Bank and an upscale restaurant, Bistro 1907. Here's a view of Central Square, or Federal Plaza, or whatever the official name even is! The Chase Bank Building on the corner is up for sale currently and has a beautiful original bank interior perfect for a restaurant - so if anyone wants to put down a million or so to buy it, now's your chance 😁 Lastly, here's a picture of First National Bank Tower, formerly Metropolitan Tower once it got a little sunnier out. This building is Youngstown's tallest skyscraper. Next to it to the left is OH Wow Science Center which will soon make this side their main entrance and will add a vehicle pull off on the plaza in front of it. They also plan to add one of the most god-awful designs I've ever seen to both this entrance and the West Federal entrance where they'll essentially paint the entire first floor with an "OH WOW" mural. It's so bad I refuse to post the rendering of it! Other Random Pictures: One of my favorite things to do is to drive around Youngstown and gawk at the old houses and explore as much of the city's backstreets as I can, and now that I'm home from college due to COVID, I've had plenty of time to do that! I don't like taking pictures of houses from my car as I feel it's a bit intrusive, but I do take some of seemingly-abandoned ones. Here's one in the Oak Hill neighborhood. Oak Hill is one of the city's oldest neighborhoods and was considered a slum decades before Youngstown's decline. Most streets in this area have been decimated, and it's a wonder any houses have made it this long. This house is one of the last ones on this once-dense block, and it's clearly holding on for dear life at this point: This "fixer upper" in the Idora neighborhood caught my eye.... This neighborhood is at the epicenter of the efforts of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation, but as you can see, some blocks in the neighborhood, like this one, are still in desperate need of attention. Also, check out the new documentary "The Place That Makes Us" about the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation, it's streaming for free starting today and is a great watch! This building on West Philadelphia Avenue in Uptown is an example of the type of multi-family residential buildings that used to be common across the city. Due to the high cost of maintaining them, most have now been torn down and only a handful remain, many of which are in the same shape as this building. It's a shame I'm not more daring or have a friend that would do it with me, or else I'd sneak inside those open windows to get some pictures of the inside! This small neighborhood actually used to be a fairly well off area. While most of the big houses are demolished, a handful of ornate bungalows, large colonial revivals, and tree-lined streets remain. Here's two houses on West La Clede Avenue in the same neighborhood. Again, you can sort of tell this used to be an upper middle class neighborhood: Next, we have a random view of Downtown from Ridge Avenue with the Mahoning River and Youngstown Foundation Amphitheater in the foreground. One of my grand visions for Youngstown, which will never happen, would be to tear out this vegetation and make Youngstown's version of the Irishtown Bend project. The views from here would be great! Last but not least, here's some shots from Market Alley, home to the famous "Furnitureland" pedestrian bridge. This spot is very popular for senior pictures and such. The vacant space between the buildings on the left used to be home to the State Theater, or as it was known later on, the Youngstown Agora. The theater saw many famous acts such as Joan Jett, AC/DC, Ramones, Judas Priest, etc. Most of these acts came here before they got big, and from what I've heard, it was quite the venue. Today, the facade of the building is preserved, and I'm hopeful it will eventually be incorporated into a new building. Lastly we have this view of the Home Savings Building, or as it's now called, the "Premier Bank Building" from the Alley. Much like Chicago refuses to call the Sears Tower the Willis Tower, I refuse to refer to the Home Savings Building as the Premier Bank Building 😁

Speaking of old banks, check out this stunning restoration of the old Potter National Bank in East Liverpool, OH. It's not quite Youngstown area, but it's still pretty close. They turned the old bank into an upscale restaurant called Renovatio's. It adds to the suprising revitalization of Downtown East Liverpool, which now has a new trade school (that renovated an old department store building), a vegan restaurant, a new apartment building, and a coffee shop. I can't believe how nice this new restaurant looks, and I'd love to see Youngstown do something similar with the Chase Bank space. In fact, besides Bistro 1907, Downtown Youngstown really doesn't have any fancy upscale restaurants, which I think there is still a market for. They even have a rooftop bar:

I have to say, the location for the second Yosteria location is a bit...odd. It's just an old frame house on a largely abandoned residential street. I'm a huge preservationist, but even I questioned what exactly he saw in that old run-down house. But it is cool though because the house is right next door to the owner's family's original property in Youngstown. The renderings look really nice too. Smokey Hollow is far from being a nice walkable neighborhood, but it certainly has a good variety of food options now, some of the best in Youngstown! Noble Creature Cask House, Zizzo BBQ (formerly Space Kat), MVR, and now Yosteria are all within a couple blocks from eachother in Smokey Hollow. Here's a rendering of the project:

You could be right. Honestly I only was inside of it when I was really young, so I possibly wouldn't have noticed if it was modified.

The lobbies of First National Bank and Huntington Bank are still in tact as far as I'm aware. I haven't actually been in them before though so I'm not sure if they are completely original or not. The Premier Bank (formerly Home Savings) building might have a historic lobby as well.

Historic Chase Bank Building Hits the Auction Block https://businessjournaldaily.com/downtown-youngstown-chase-building-to-hit-auction-block/ Built in 1928, the 14-story Chase Bank Building sits on the most prominent corner of Downtown Youngstown, overlooking West Federal Street and Central Plaza. The building is currently only 26% occupied, and with Chase Bank leaving the building to move across the street to the Realty Building, this historic tower now has no ground floor retail occupant. As the article points out, the historic interior of the bank could work really well for an upscale restaurant. The starting bid is at $500,000. I couldn't find any good interior photos, so here's a random picture of the interior I got from a Google Maps review of the bank. Definitely a ton of potential:

The Lordstown Motors Mirage: Fake Orders, Undisclosed Production Hurdles, And A Prototype Inferno https://hindenburgresearch.com/lordstown/ Obviously I don't take joy in this story, but I feel like I should mention it anyways. Basically, Lordstown Motors, the electric truck startup that took over the former GM plant, is being accused of faking their pre-orders, having no real product, having a sketchy CEO known for being a conman, and lying about the timeline of their vehicles being produced. Frankly this revelation was very predictable to me, and after their prototype burst into flames last month, I lost hope of this whole experiment working out. It's a shame, but it seems like companies like this just keep coming to Youngstown with empty promises. First Chill Can and now Lordstown Motors. One big example presented in the article was that they were passing off letter of intent as pre-orders. Even worse, many of the pre-orders come from tiny companies that clearly do not have the means to fulfill the large million dollar "pre-orders" that Lordstown Motors claims they have made. Even the smaller buyers had the same story when reached out to. For example, the City of Ravenna said this in regards to their 15 truck "pre-order:" "The commitment of that size is totally impossible,” I would recommend reading the article. It's a long read, but it's very informative. As much as I'd like to see them succeed, this really just solidifies my belief that it will end up amounting to nothing despite all the hype.

I'm sure they will. The owners seemed to care about preserving it. I know pre-COVID it was supposed to become a music venue, but that fell through. The building actually has a couple apartment units already on the upper floors - I've seen pictures and they look so nice. I believe one of the upper floors is vacant and the other has apartments. But no matter what, as long as they preserve the building, I'm happy.

Youngstown Design Review Committee Meeting (March 2021): This post will go over some of the news from today's Deign Review Committee meeting. 802 Elm Street Restoration: Firstly, this commercial building on Elm Street in the North Side will be restored. This building, across the street from Youngstown State University, once housed the well known Dorian Books. The plan is rough at the moment, but the idea is to have first floor retail and potentially a co-working space on the upper floors, which would be a concept new to Youngstown. The new owners wish to do some facade/storefront restoration, and plan to keep the historic style of the building. This is great news due to the very hard times the Elm Street business district has faced since COVID-19. Since the beginning of the pandemic, all but one business on the street, Culturehouse Coffee, has closed its doors. This building has a ton of potential as it is directly across the street from two of Youngstown State's biggest dorms as well as a privately run student apartment building. Secondly, I should briefly mention that the Butler Art Institute is adding a new two story addition to the front south side of the building in to increase their gallery space and to allow for larger pieces to be displayed. The new addition will still be slightly set back from the main historic part of the building so that it does not overpower it. 20 Federal Street Redevelopment: Sadly there weren't any super detailed renderings to go along with the 20 Federal plans. However I will attach some floor plans. If you want to read more about this project, I put some details in my previous post. The building's upper floors present a unique challenge - the building is so large that much of the upper floors will not have windows facing the outside of the building. Due to this, the current proposal is to make the upper floors a mixture of residential and office space. In other words, residential units facing the outside of the building with offices in the space with no window access. They also have been in touch with Youngstown State University, who is interested in using some of the residential units for international students and Pell Grant recipients. Here's some info on the sunken plaza and the part that will be demolished in order to build the plaza: Lastly, here's some rough floor plans. Also sorry for the poor image quality, these were taken from a Youtube video recording:

$34 Million Renovation Proposed for 20 Federal Place https://businessjournaldaily.com/proposal-to-give-34m-makeover-to-20-federal-unveiled/ There's some big news out of Downtown Youngstown today! There is a proposed renovation of 20 Federal Place - This building, which formerly housed Strouss Department Store, is home to an indoor mall & food court area. However, the building is in need of renovations. The building faces the new Phelps Street Gateway pedestrian plaza and sits right in the heart of Downtown. The city hopes to make this the center point of Downtown Youngstown. I will post the photos of the renderings once the city releases the Design Review Committee meeting in which this was discussed. In the meantime, here's some of the plans: Convert the indoor mall into a market area with local vendor stalls Open up the restaurants in the food court to the Phelps Street pedestrian mall by creating new storefronts Tear down an ugly addition to the building on the corner of Commerce & Phelps and turn it into a terraced seating area, which also leads down to the basement level Convert the basement level into a restaurant/bar Convert upper floors into apartments Here's a view of the building. The narrow road has since been converted into a pedestrian plaza, and the newer addition on the corner will be torn down: The Federal Street entrance at night: The indoor mall section:

Great pictures! I've never actually been to Hamilton, but I've always wanted to stop by some time. There's a lot of potential there, and many of the neighborhoods look like ones you'd fine in a much bigger city.

New Boutique Opens Downtown https://businessjournaldaily.com/bella-amica-casual-boutique-opens-downtown/ Despite the many closures and uncertain futures for current Downtown businesses, construction and redevelopment Downtown is marching on, specifically in terms of infrastructure. The bike lanes along Mahoning are coming along nicely, and the Fifth Avenue project is continuing up by Stambaugh Stadium - by this time next year, it should be possible to bike from Mill Creek Park, through Downtown, and to YSU campus all on bike lanes! The university is also renovating an old warehouse on the corner of Commerce and Fifth, which will nicely complement the Fifth Avenue rebuilding project. Anyways, this news surprised me, but it's nice to see for sure! Downtown will finally be getting some retail as Bella Amica Casual Boutique will be having its grand opening on February 3rd. It's currently open, but will be closing soon in order to prepare the store for its grand opening, including some storefront work. The building will be occupying an extremely small space in the building that houses Avalon Pizza on West Federal - where the old Vogue Jewelers was. It appears the new boutique will focus a lot on Youngstown related clothing. Also, popular Downtown BBQ joint, Space Kat, will officially be moving out of its home in the Draught House bar on Federal Street, and will be moving into Noble Creature Cask House, a brewery up the road towards YSU. They will also be changing their name to "Zizzo BBQ" - A bit sad that they won't be on Federal anymore, but it's still within walking distance to all of YSU and Downtown. Plus, both the brewery and BBQ place will benefit from being in the same location. It's also right next to all the new YSU apartments which will help their business.

I've been posting a lot of pictures I took over my fall semester at OSU on my Instagram. You can check there for more pictures from Columbus and other places in Ohio. Here's a few I've taken: I have more of the skyline that I'll post either here on on Instagram eventually, but this is the only one I've edited so far: Dennison Place & Victorian Village: Campus Area (Northwood Park, SoHud): Olde Towne East:

Beautiful photos!