Young in Youngstown

Mollie McGovern is producing and hosting a new show on WFMJ TV Tuesday night at 7:30pm. Mollie says, "It's about topics of interest to young professionals and also features yp's here in the valley."

By the way, I'll be in Virginia for work this week, so I'm not sure what my schedule will be like for blogging. However, you can definitely count on a post Wednesday. As you may have noticed in today's Vindicator, editor Todd Franko asked the bloggers to do some articles about Youngstown since Black Monday. Here's the rundown:

Blog: Mahoning Valley View
Author: Heather McMahon
Age: 31
Occupation: Community Development
Life in a nutshell: Born in Warren. Educated in Philadelphia, London and Chapel Hill. Worked in Chicago. Returned to the Valley. Influenced by Jane Jacobs, Daniel Burnham and Frederick Law Olmstead. Reads Jane Austen. Listens to Harry Connick Jr. Watches James Bond.

Web site: mahoningvalleyview.blogspot.com

HEAD
Reinvent the wheel, or encourage efficiency?

TEXT
Throughout the Mahoning Valley, smokestacks still stand as a testament to the production of steel: the industry that shaped this community for generations. Today, 30 years after Youngstown Sheet & Tube announced the closure of its Campbell Works, a new generation of leaders stands poised — with steel in their hearts, but not in their hands — to confront the challenges presented by an economy that has embraced diversification, lean manufacturing and the second-curve economy.

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Blog: I Will Shout Youngstown
Author: John (Janko) Slanina
Occupation: Analyst
Life in a nutshell: Youngstown born, Youngstown bread. Fan of walking through cities, mathematics, gypsy punk music, the residents of Lansingville, baseball, French cooking and opinionated people.

Web site: shoutyoungstown.blogspot.com

HEAD
Youngstown's opportunity to become interconnected community

TEXT
Even if the steel industry had not collapsed as it did 30 years ago, would be much different? Some researchers believe the structure of social networks within the Mahoning Valley is what really impedes its economic development. Perhaps one solution is the engagement of the citizenry that are too young to remember a Youngstown with steel mills – now numbered at 42 percent of the Valley's population.

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Blog: Youngstown Pride
Author: Joe Lowry
Age: 25
Occupation: Emergency manager
Life in a nutshell: Raised on the northside of Youngstown before setting out for Washington, D.C. and finding his way into federal emergency management. Uses blog to do his part to revitalize Youngstown from 300 miles away.

Web site: youngstownpride.blogspot.com

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New generation brings own brand of leadership

TEXT
Thirty years ago, Valley leaders were unable to look past the corruption and decay left in the wake of the steel mill closures. Today, a new generation of city leaders is looking forward instead of back, seeing a future different than imagined on Black Monday. These are their profiles in leadership and their vision for Youngstown.

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Blog: Youngstown Renaissance
Author: Tyler Clark
Age: 32
Occupation: Software consultant
Life in a nutshell: First experienced Youngstown as University Scholar at YSU's Dana School; returned to Youngstown this year and created the Center for Altruism to promote community activism. Regularly humbled by marriage and fatherhood. Heroes include Leonard Bernstein, Steve Jobs and Benjamin Franklin.

Web site: ytownrenaissance.blogspot.com

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Industrial legacy: Environmental hazards, but opportunities

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From brownfields to the Mahoning River to abandoned lots, the decreased presence of heavy industry, while improving the air quality, has exposed an enormous environmental impact. Finding solutions to these challenges is an opportunity for Youngstown to showcase its famous innovation in new ways.

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Blog: Defend Youngstown
Author: Phil Kidd
Age: 28
Occupation: Mahoning County court administration
Life in a nutshell: Raised in a steel town west of Pittsburgh; attended YSU as an undergraduate; and served as an tank officer in the U.S. Army. Drawn back to Youngstown by the 2010 plan. Live on the North Side. Finishing master's degree in criminal justice at YSU. Member of Leadership Mahoning Valley. Recently selected as a member of this year's "40 under 40" class.

Web site: defendyoungstown.blogspot.com

HEAD
Activism defines Youngstown's post-steel mill generation

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Youngstown now has younger leadership and activism that is beginning to promote more forward thinking in the Valley. This new thrust of ideas and energy may begin to redefine the region's traditional political identity. But changes in government structure may be needed to accommodate this new proactive and progressive minded form of leadership.

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Blog: Stark Raving Youngstown
Author: Jessica Trickett
Age: 29
Occupation: Curator/Collections Manager
Life in a nutshell: Born and reared in Youngstown, studied history at YSU. Fascinated by the wealth and diversity of local history. Passionate about the preservation of buildings, documents and artifacts that tell the stories of the past better than I ever could.

Web site: starkravingyoungstown.subpopular.com

HEAD
From Black Monday to Bright Future

TEXT
The collapse of the local steel industry could have meant Youngstown's demise. Yet today, Youngstown is considered a model for shrinking cities with its innovative plan to do more with less. Once defined by the steel it produced, Youngstown is being redefined by its citizens and their ideas, and we now hold the city's future in our hands.

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Blog: The Stage
Author: Brooke Slanina
Occupation: Educator
Life in a nutshell: Raised on the mean streets of Campbell but shaped by the city of Youngstown. Prominent Pro-Yo-socialite, community theater schmoozer, art scene renegade, writer gone awry, long time nonprofiteer. Loves strong coffee, good music, Richard Serra and motzah ball soup.

Web site: theoaklandstage.blogspot.com

HEAD
Arts Rises from Rust

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The arts scene in Youngstown has long been a source of satisfaction, inspiration and motivation. The steel boom offered certain community members enough money to purchase art, start museums and fund theaters — in essence, they founded a uniquely rich arts community that still exist today, despite years of generational erosion. Does living in Youngstown mean living with the grit and loss? Or is it an opportunity for us to find beauty in unexpected places?