I've been in a bad mood lately.  On top of some personal issues, and the general tone of today's national politics, there have been some tragic murders in Youngstown recently.

 

A few weeks ago, a realtor, Vivian Martin, was killed by the men to whom she was showing a house.

Story: http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/sep/30/three-indicted-in-real-estate-agent8217s/

 

Not long after that, an elderly man, Thomas Repchic, was murdered and his wife, Jacqueline, was maimed while driving down the street, because the shooters thought their car looked like it belonged to a rival gang member.

Story: http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/oct/08/repchic-suspects-indicted-police-pledge-/

 

But, these are not directly related to the topic I'm starting.  Because these murders happened within a short period of time, and because another parishioner at St. Dominic's was murdered early this year, (Mr. and Mrs. Repchic were members of St. Dominic's) there is--understandably--an outcry to do something about crime.  And here is the reason I'm starting this thread.  After talking with the pastor of St. Dom's, the mayor's response is "Operation Redemption" where he has vowed to demolish 27 houses in the neighborhood, and beef up police presence in the neighborhood.

 

Story, with video: http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/oct/10/st-doms-pastor-explains-plans-fight-back-against-s/

 

I have always been a proponent of the Youngstown 2010 plan which, generally, was to clean out the city's surplus housing, and strengthen the neighborhoods that remain intact. (the 2010 plan was never intended to address crime)  However, if you look at the video in the story I linked to above, (if the videographer did their job) the neighborhood appears to be relatively intact and just needs cleaned up.  Too many people in the city--officials and residents--have come to the conclusion that demolition is the solution to all problems.  And that is beginning to look a lot like the urban renewal of the 60's and 70's, to me.

 

I'm sorry if this sounds like a rant, that's why I started off by saying I've been in a bad mood.  But, to combat crime by tearing down the neighborhood it happens in, seems off-track to me.  For example, wouldn't it be better for the city to seize the problem properties, spend some of the $2-7k--that would be required to demolish the house--on minor visual improvements instead, and give the house to anyone who would be interested in living there for 5-10 years?

 

Thoughts?

“A vacant lot is not ideal, but it’s better than a dilapidated house,” Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams said. “What I’m most pleased and excited about is the work done in conjunction with block watches and neighborhood associations.”

 

I have never organized a neighborhood association.  I wish these people luck.  I cannot understand a world where gangsters murder their business rivals.  I grew up in a neighborhood full of violent and otherwise degenerate people, but they were not that bad.

“A vacant lot is not ideal, but it’s better than a dilapidated house,” Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams said. “What I’m most pleased and excited about is the work done in conjunction with block watches and neighborhood associations.”

 

I have never organized a neighborhood association.  I wish these people luck.  I cannot understand a world where gangsters murder their business rivals.  I grew up in a neighborhood full of violent and otherwise degenerate people, but they were not that bad.

 

It's not that difficult.  The hardest part, and what the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative (MVOC) often helps with, is introducing the concerned citizens to one another.  I don't know the exact numbers, but in the last 2 years, the number of neighborhood organizations in Youngstown has more than doubled.

Man, I wish I could remember the video but I saw a report on Youngstown and the formation of a neighborhood association there.  It was near a big park...I'll search around and see if I can find it.  Rather hopeful piece in the face of a severe situation.

 

Sorry to hear about the tragic crime.

Man, I wish I could remember the video but I saw a report on Youngstown and the formation of a neighborhood association there.  It was near a big park...I'll search around and see if I can find it.  Rather hopeful piece in the face of a severe situation.

 

Sorry to hear about the tragic crime.

 

While it is tragic, it's the reaction that's upsetting to me.  The murder rate in Youngstown has been falling for the last few years, and we're on track for another decrease in homicides this year. (we've had 19 homicides this year, which is atrocious.  But last year at this time, we had 22 homicides, in 2008 we were at 24, and in 2007 we were at 25.)  However, because the victims weren't black males, people assume that crime is out of control, and now something needs to be done.

 

As for the video, you might be thinking of the Idora Neighborhood.  Good things are happening in the city.  And, as Jeffery points out, Youngstown has "positive buzz." http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,24357.0.html  But, all the good that's happening is easily overlooked and forgotten when some bad things happen.

 

    In my community there were some problem properties that were the site of crimes of one kind or another almost every week. The local government decided to purchase the properties and demolish the buildings. There was nothing wrong with the buildings themselves.

 

    Well, that was the end of the crime at those sites. Whether the criminals simply moved to a new location, either in the same community or not, I do not know.

 

   

While it is tragic, it's the reaction that's upsetting to me.  The murder rate in Youngstown has been falling for the last few years, and we're on track for another decrease in homicides this year. (we've had 19 homicides this year, which is atrocious.  But last year at this time, we had 22 homicides, in 2008 we were at 24, and in 2007 we were at 25.)  However, because the victims weren't black males, people assume that crime is out of control, and now something needs to be done.

The firearms zealots have the media and the lawmakers cowed to the point that nobody wants to talk about the issue.  The NRA owns the ultimate wedge issue: if you cross them, you are electoral "dead meat".

Here's a Newsweek article on this subject from Nov. 2009:

 

Cutting Down To Size

Postindustrial cities, even relatively successful ones such as Pittsburgh, are trying to manage, rather than just reverse, population loss.

 

Known as "right-sizing," the policy became a workable idea in the late 1970s when Cleveland tweaked local law to help the city reclaim and redevelop abandoned properties. It has since taken off as an answer to postindustrial decline: bulldozers, grass seed, and foreclosure law are used to prepare once booming urban environments for a more modest future—a notion that has won praise from academic and even presidential quarters. In 2007 Harvard awarded Michigan's Genesee County (which includes Flint) an innovation award for implementing right-sizing strategies. The Obama administration has channeled $2 billion toward the policy through the use of land banks—governmental or nonprofit organizations that focus on flipping vacant or abandoned properties for positive use.

...

But not everyone is happy with such slimming-by-design. Nationally, critics blast right-sizing as the second coming of "urban renewal"—a mid-20th-century policy that flattened often vibrant working-class and minority neighborhoods in the name of revitalization. They condemn it as a defeatist position that accepts, rather than fights, urban contraction. "The use of a bulldozer conjures that ugly past," says Genesee County Treasurer Dan Kildee, who runs one of nation's most robust land banks in Flint, which could shrink by as much as 40 percent.

 

more: http://www.newsweek.com/2009/11/26/cutting-down-to-size.html

 

I'm very familiar with the right-sizing concept, and I support it.  But Youngsotnw has been "right-sizing" for 40 years, as population continued to decline.  If they continue to "right-size" without making some effort to stabilize the remaining intact neighborhoods so they remain desirable to existing residents, and possibly attract those leaving the less desirable neighborhoods, there won't be anything left.

I'm very familiar with the right-sizing concept, and I support it. But Youngsotnw has been "right-sizing" for 40 years, as population continued to decline. If they continue to "right-size" without making some effort to stabilize the remaining intact neighborhoods so they remain desirable to existing residents, and possibly attract those leaving the less desirable neighborhoods, there won't be anything left.

Good point. I was surprised to learn that Youngstown's population is ~80k. I guess each city has its own issues with detrimental forces that it has to tackle its own way.

 

Someday we'll learn that bulldozers cannot fix cities.