# The Incredible Shrinking City



## Chicagoago (Dec 2, 2005)

Interesting article. For years, many industrial cities in the United States have been tearing down abandoned buildings, hoping that fresh new construction would replace them on the grassy lots and empty streets. In many cases though, it never happened, and cities spend more and more of their money doing upkeep on abandoned infrastructure. Youngstown, Ohio is now approaching from a different view-point. They want to tear down all buildings in abandoned areas, along with the streets and everything else that comes with it. In essance, to just erase decaying areas of town, and return them to woodlands and natural areas. They've tried for decades to bring towns back, but are now accepting that maybe it's best to just return them to nature and hopefully start from scratch in the future. 

(CNN)

*The Incredible Shrinking City *
*Youngstown, Ohio, has long been on the decline and now is being hit by the foreclosure crisis. Its answer: Razing abandoned buildings and tearing up streets.*

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (CNNMoney.com) -- Youngstown, Ohio, has seen its population shrink by more than half over the past 40 years, leaving behind huge swaths of empty homes, streets and neighborhoods. 

Now, in a radical move, the city - which has suffered since the steel industry left town and jobs dried up - is bulldozing abandoned buildings, tearing up blighted streets and converting entire blocks into open green spaces. More than 1,000 structures have been demolished so far.

Under the initiative, dubbed Plan 2010, city officials are also monitoring thinly-populated blocks. When only one or two occupied homes remain, the city offers incentives - up to $50,000 in grants - for those home owners to move, so that the entire area can be razed. The city will save by cutting back on services like garbage pick-ups and street lighting in deserted areas.

"When I grew up in the 1950s, the city was at its peak," said Father Ed Noga, who heads St. Patrick's on Youngstown's South Side. "There were kids everywhere and everyone converged on downtown. You went to eat, to shop and to go to the movies."

Today, downtown is positively sleepy and even somewhat derelict. Residents have to drive out of town to shop for clothes or housewares. And while foreclosures have long been a scourge in this city, they have recently skyrocketed along with the rest of the country, up 178% in February from a year ago. 

"Abandoned houses here are like rainfall in the spring," said Mayor Jay Williams, "That has gone on for decades." 

Growth strategy failed
For a while, Youngstown, with its population at just over 80,000, hoped to return to its boomtown roots, when 165,000 residents called it home. 

"We long pursued a policy of growth," said the city's energetic young mayor. "We went after all these things that would make Youngstown a city of 150,000 again."

There were some harebrained schemes.

"A blimp factory was going to put the city back on the map," Williams said. "That represents a whole lot of the promises made and broken. They sound ridiculous now. President Clinton promised a defense facility employing 5,000. We were waiting for a savior."

They never got one. But now, Youngstown's infrastructure-paring strategy may yet become a model for other Rust-Belt cities that must recreate themselves after years of decline. 

Already, delegations from smaller, post-industrial cities like Flint, Mich.; Wheeling, W.Va.; and Dayton, Ohio, have come to Youngstown to study the plan.

"We're one of the first cities of significant size in the United States to embrace shrinkage," said Williams. 

It's an odd way to pioneer. "The American narrative always includes growth," said Hunter Morrison, Director of the Center for Urban and Regional Studies at Youngstown State University, which works closely with the city on plan 2010's implementation. "No one wants to talk about shrinkage. That's too threatening to politicians, civic boosters and Chambers of Commerce."

The demolitions can yield stark contrasts. In many neighborhoods, blocks have more empty lots than buildings. 

Glory days
Even wealthy neighborhoods, like the North Side historic district, where mill owners and upper management once congregated, have eyesores. 

On one corner, there sits a beautifully maintained seven-bedroom Tudor, yet down a side street, a wood-framed colonial is boarded up. Next door, an empty Victorian sits moldering, the wood of its window frames scorched. Lines of old hedges mark lot boundaries where once-proud homes stood.

Youngstown used to be the nation's third-largest steel producer; its mill workers earned among the highest factory wages in America. Demand for their services was strong.

"You could graduate from high school one day and start work in the mills the next," said Noga.

That changed on Sept. 19, 1977 - Black Monday - when Youngstown Sheet and Tube abruptly closed its doors.

"Five thousand people showed up for work one day and were turned away," said Phil Kidd, Downtown Director of Events and Special Projects for the city. 

"The city lost its heart and soul," said Mayor Williams.

Within years, all the mills vanished. Noga recalls seeing idled workers watching as one of the oldest blast furnaces in the valley was dynamited. "I saw these hard men, shot-and-a-beer guys, standing there crying," he said.

The city's East Side stands as a totem to Youngstown's glory days. This mostly empty land was readied for development just after World War II - when streets, water and sewer service, signs and utility poles were installed. 

But growth never came, and that makes for some strange city streetscapes today. There are few occupied homes and unkempt woodlands have taken over. There's at least one 10-acre farm and many other large fields. 

Some dead-end streets are already uninhabitated and torn up, their outlets blocked with concrete barriers. Many roads are pitted and potholed; drivers have to slalom slowly through or face axle-busting jolts. Lonely water hydrants look woefully out of place sitting on the sides of rural-looking roads.

Today, a new spirit seems to have taken hold. Phil Kidd started the Web site Defend Youngstown, and said he hears from tons of former residents who would like to return.

"They call and email from all over the United States with suggestions on how to help," he said.

A fresh start
"I'm very nervous to have all that space," said Elsa Higby, the founder of Grow Youngstown, which promotes produce gardening and farmers markets. "I'm used to living in 460 square feet."

Ideally, all this energy surrounding 2010 will help turn the city around. It does have a lot going for it, including Youngstown State University, which attracts creative-class types like artists and writers and other intellectuals, as well as museums and an excellent public library.

The cheap residential and commercial real estate can be a draw. Start-up companies thrive on low overhead, and employees can easily find housing just minutes from work. 

At the very least, the 2010 plan has changed residents' perspective, said Hunter Morrison. "It's getting us to think about where we're going into the future, rather than where we've been in the past."


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## bob rulz (Oct 20, 2005)

Wow, that's very interesting, and also really cool. I think this is the future of declining mid-sized Rust Belt cities. It's efficient and probably much cheaper and safer than trying to maintain them or leaving them to rust. I think this is a very good plan and will help it become a much more attractive place.


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## Chicagoago (Dec 2, 2005)

I think it's an interesting idea.

You also have to remember that a vast majority of people living in the "rust belt" don't live in these older historic core cities. People talk about the "dying" cities of the midwest, but normally those struggling central cities contain between 15 and 25% of the metro areas population.

For instance Youngstown city has less than 15% of the population of the Youngstown Metro area. The rest live in the suburbs and are doing much better.


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## urbanjim (Feb 22, 2008)

And it should be added that many older _suburbs_ of rust belt cities have also been experiencing similar population loss, general decay, abandonment by businesses, and deterioration of infrastructure. In many urban areas, the money just keeps flowing outward....from the central cities to the inner-ring suburbs to the ex-urbs. 
Perhaps the root of this, in part, is due to these older industrial cities failing to attract jobs in other sectors. After the factories closed, the people moved to where the jobs were: the suburbs. And as time went on, older sububan areas began falling out of favor, too, as the shiny new outer burbs were created. Translation: sprawl. But that's a topic for another discussion. 
To experience renewal, these rust belt cities simply must re-invent themselves. They'll need to attract companies and create jobs. They'll need to create livable neighborhoods. They'll need to provide services. In a nutshell: They'll need to provide some good reasons for people to _want_ to move back. 
Perhaps Youngstown is on to something. Unfortunately, maybe the only way to move forward is to "wipe the slate clean" and start over.


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## Andrew (Sep 11, 2002)

Someone go there and get some photos of the place before it's gone!!!


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## Libra (Jun 3, 2006)

^LOL

How sad though. I've actually been there once, since my mom went to Youngstown State University ( in 1969) and she wanted me to see where she went to college when she first came to America and also to meet the woman that took care of her. It seemed like a cute place with a lot of potential, but its current reality was depressing.


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## Canadian Chocho (May 18, 2006)

Went to it on Google earth, the downtown looks like a giant parking lot.


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## Chicagoago (Dec 2, 2005)

Canadian Chocho said:


> Went to it on Google earth, the downtown looks like a giant parking lot.



I just went to check it out, and it's actually MUCH less of a parking lot than I thought it would be, regardless of the comment!


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## urbanjim (Feb 22, 2008)

I also looked at the satellite images, and I see exactly what the article is describing. 
For example, look closely at the small neighborhood just Northeast of the downtown area. It's roughly bounded by Rte. 422, W Rayen Avenue (289), and 5th Avenue. You can count the number of homes remaining in each block on one hand, literally. And it's doubtful that each of the remaining homes are occupied. 
Other nearby neighborhoods have similar characteristics. It has the appearance of a city long in decline. But at least there's a plan to save it from total ruin. At least someone has a vision of a rebirth. Gotta give em credit for that.


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## Jim856796 (Jun 1, 2006)

Youngstown's population was at its highest in 1930: Its population at that time was 170,002.


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## Oaronuviss (Dec 11, 2002)

Nothing's worse than Detroit.
1950: 1,849,568
2006: 918,849

Can't see any city beating that.


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## Bartolo (Sep 20, 2004)

I find it so odd that in the US many cities are decaying in the downtown core, where as in Canada you don't find that happening. Even in Hamilton, there are very very few abandoned buildings, and even then most that are happen to be industrial lands and not homes. A big thing in Ontario is the need for intensification though, and many of those abandoned lots and blocks, would end being redeveloped, rather than greenfield sites being developed.


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## Xusein (Sep 27, 2005)

Oaronuviss said:


> Nothing's worse than Detroit.
> 1950: 1,849,568
> 2006: 918,849
> 
> Can't see any city beating that.


I think that Gary, Indiana is more screwed up and lost more of it's % of peak population.

However, it is tiny compared to Detroit.


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## karim aboussir (Dec 4, 2006)

gary indiana is the arm pit of america


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## urbanjim (Feb 22, 2008)

Still? It was like that back in the 1980's when I drove thorugh it.


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## LtBk (Jul 27, 2004)

Bartolo said:


> I find it so odd that in the US many cities are decaying in the downtown core, where as in Canada you don't find that happening. Even in Hamilton, there are very very few abandoned buildings, and even then most that are happen to be industrial lands and not homes. A big thing in Ontario is the need for intensification though, and many of those abandoned lots and blocks, would end being redeveloped, rather than greenfield sites being developed.


It's because Americans don't give **** about cities or even older pre WWII suburbs.


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## tablemtn (May 2, 2006)

I think it would be more selfish to stick around a crappy city like Youngstown (especially with your family) when there are better cities elsewhere. 

Youngstown had a purpose once, and that purpose was mostly industrial. That went into decline. There's no real reason to have a city the size of Youngstown in Youngstown's current location.

That has to do with logic, not "selfishness."

I sure as hell wouldn't live in a place like Youngstown. That doesn't make me "selfish," it makes me "smart."


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## LtBk (Jul 27, 2004)

I was talking about US cities in general.


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## eMKay (Feb 2, 2007)

Brilliant idea, needs to be done here.


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## Bartolo (Sep 20, 2004)

I think the big problem is that the big developers create new homes in the suburbs, and that there is no one that is moving it to these older communities. Also the big thing is that in Ontario at least, all schools, which is the big reason why families leave the city is to get into a better school district, does not occur in Ontario. All schools get about the same amount of funding per capita.


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## mgk920 (Apr 21, 2007)

Another BIG factor in the USA are environmental laws that make the owner of a piece of land responsible for cleaning up any messes on it, they were adopted during the 'make those big bad polluting corporations PAY for their evil sins!!!' :bleep: era....

-Company that made the mess goes bankrupt and disappears;
-Nobody wants to take over the land and its cleanup responsibility and it sits abandoned and unwanted.

Legislative steps have been taken in more recent years to help alleviate that situation, but that is still a HUGE problem in many places.

hno:

Mike


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## Bartolo (Sep 20, 2004)

mgk920 said:


> Another BIG factor in the USA are environmental laws that make the owner of a piece of land responsible for cleaning up any messes on it, they were adopted during the 'make those big bad polluting corporations PAY for their evil sins!!!' :bleep: era....
> 
> -Company that made the mess goes bankrupt and disappears;
> -Nobody wants to take over the land and its cleanup responsibility and it sits abandoned and unwanted.
> ...


We have similar laws here. The owners have to pay for any clean-up on the land, before development can occur on them.


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## karim aboussir (Dec 4, 2006)

here in orlando things are more balanced you do not have like a gettho inner city with rich suburbs we have pockets of poverty in city and suburbs as well as pockets of extreme wealth in city and suburbs middle class make up the rest


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## urbanjim (Feb 22, 2008)

^That's because Orlando wasn't built on an industrial-based economy that eventually dried up. Orlando was built on Disney.


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## bob rulz (Oct 20, 2005)

mgk920 said:


> Another BIG factor in the USA are environmental laws that make the owner of a piece of land responsible for cleaning up any messes on it, they were adopted during the 'make those big bad polluting corporations PAY for their evil sins!!!' :bleep: era....
> 
> -Company that made the mess goes bankrupt and disappears;
> -Nobody wants to take over the land and its cleanup responsibility and it sits abandoned and unwanted.
> ...


Isn't it a GOOD thing that a site needs to be cleaned up before something can be built on it? It makes sense to me. Really, the main issue is much more broad and far-reaching than that.


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## Jim856796 (Jun 1, 2006)

Are there any development projects in Youngtown?


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## mgk920 (Apr 21, 2007)

bob rulz said:


> Isn't it a GOOD thing that a site needs to be cleaned up before something can be built on it? It makes sense to me. Really, the main issue is much more broad and far-reaching than that.


The problem is that due to that requirement, the land just sits vacant and abandoned as *NOBODY*, no private entity and no government, will take ownership of it because of that 'up front' cleanup cost, a cost that in some cases could bankrupt whomever takes it over.

Mike


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## trainrover (May 6, 2006)

Bartolo said:


> I find it so odd that in the US many cities are decaying in the downtown core, where as in Canada you don't find that happening.


It's not odd, it's plain American, plus all of it happens around this country too . . .


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## Khanrak (Jun 28, 2006)

I think that Canadian cities haven't declined as much as ours because Canada, to the best of my knowledge, didn't experience the massive "White-Flight" which devastated our older city cores as wealthy whites fled to newly built suburbs in order to get away from newly arrived blacks from the South. Other than that, I'm not sure anything else was drastically different in Ohio than it is an hour away in Ontario since we both have similar demographics, weather, and industrial decline. I blame White Flight!


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## Bartolo (Sep 20, 2004)

Yeah I will have to go with that, and also we didn`t have a crashing Manufacturing sector to deal with. That is starting to happen now though, but I don`t see the inner cities of primarily manufacturing cities decay to the extreme in the US. Also today many of these communities have diversified, and atleast for Hamilton, it has changed from being just about the steel factories, to now the largest source of jobs is Health Services.


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## trainrover (May 6, 2006)

^^ That country's ten times as populated as this one -- no wonder their immense zones of discard stand out more, I reckon . . .


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## Astralis (Jan 28, 2007)

Very interesting... never knew that about Youngstown.



Oaronuviss said:


> Nothing's worse than Detroit.
> 1950: 1,849,568
> 2006: 918,849
> 
> Can't see any city beating that.


No wonder with murder rate like that...


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## karim aboussir (Dec 4, 2006)

U know in my home city where I was born casablanca 's east side and some of casablanca's eastern suburbs have lost population in the last 40 years by 30 % olot of factories and manufacturing plants closed down but now there is a rebirth a new renaissance and the eat side as well as the eastern suburbs of casablanca are coming back and booming


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## bayviews (Mar 3, 2006)

Khanrak said:


> I think that Canadian cities haven't declined as much as ours because Canada, to the best of my knowledge, didn't experience the massive "White-Flight" which devastated our older city cores as wealthy whites fled to newly built suburbs in order to get away from newly arrived blacks from the South. Other than that, I'm not sure anything else was drastically different in Ohio than it is an hour away in Ontario since we both have similar demographics, weather, and industrial decline. I blame White Flight!


"White flight" may explain part of decline in some larger cities. But a lot of smaller cities in places like northern & western Pennsylvania & parts of Ohio, Indiana & certinly West Virginia, that have seen no black in-migration are among the places worst hit bu rustbelt decline. The differeance in Canada has more to do with the fact that it has no real low-tax, unregulated, warm weather Sunbelt to speak of. Alberta & British Colombia are the closest examples of that, but they are nothing like North Carolina, Florida, or Arizona in terms of tax structure, business-freindly environment, or weather.


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## Beware (Oct 30, 2007)

*What a coincidence THIS, Youngstown, revelation is!* I, just recently, warned My fellow hometown bloggers that many smaller cities like Ours (Peoria IL) won't survive the 21st century without dramatic changes (ex: economical, educational, physical, social, etc.) Youngstown may or may not be the first to shrink into oblivion, but It DEFINITELY won't be the last!


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