Comments on Youngstown Renaissance: Summary: Forum on Violence

You'd be very welcome here. My wife and I and our ...

2008-02-17T22:26:00.000-05:00

You'd be very welcome here. My wife and I and our community of friends have many gay and lesbian friends in Youngstown, and we know many that are homeowners all around the north side. In my experience, it's very open.

My partner and I are looking at moving to Youngsto...

2008-02-17T11:21:00.000-05:00

My partner and I are looking at moving to Youngstown from Ft. Lauderdale. We had enough of the high cost of living here and he is from Austintown.

I've been reading this blog and many others trying to get a feeling for what life is like up there. Not too long ago, Ft. Lauderdale (suburb Wilton Manors) was very much the way I see Youngstown being. Filled with crime, abandoned homes and a place you would never go to or through especially after dark.

That all turned around BIG time over the past 10 years. The reason? Gays started to buy up the abandoned homes and fix them up. Soon, gays from all over the country heard about it and started moving down, fixing up the homes and now Wilton Manors is a thriving community.

Now, I'm not sure how people up there really feel about gay people, but from all of the blogs I read, it seeems the community may exist but not out. I've been on the "Out in Youngstown" site and there isn't one post. That tells me, they either don't exist, which I can't believe, or they are afraid to openly be present.

It's obvious to me that Youngstown is a community of great diversity, given the mix of different ethnicities, but it seems there are invisible borders that each community doesn't cross. I may be wrong, but from an outsider trying to get a handle on the area, that is the way I perceive it.

I chose to post here because if Youngstown is looking for a Renaissance, I believe it needs to embrace its diversity and look to attract people with disposable income that can invest in the community.

Yes, I am suggesting that Youngstown actively pursue the gay community. Look at every major city across the country and see what gays have done to revive them! If we move up there, believe me, I intend to be very active in my community and actively pursue other gay couples to follow.

I'm sure I will here both good and bad responses to this post, but then if I ran from the bad, I would be just adding to the approach that many citizens past in Youngstown have done.

ha ha...you are very funny...of course you are not...

2008-02-02T02:11:00.000-05:00

ha ha...
you are very funny...of course you are not so good with the romanian language,nobody is...and my blog is about love(that you"guys"don't feel that)(sorry no purpose)and about crazy minds of people...
but...after I've read what you say about your town....I'm happy that I'm not there(even if 1year ago I wanted more than air to go in unites states)
you should appreciate your family ,healthy life and beauty of the nature..... in my country is the worst ignorance from the world...
but I've found the peace...like you said

Thanks, andra. I tried to read your blog but I'm n...

2008-02-01T23:52:00.000-05:00

Thanks, andra. I tried to read your blog but I'm not so good at the Romanian :-( Peace.

hi,I've opened by accident your blog and , because...

2008-02-01T17:51:00.000-05:00

hi,
I've opened by accident your blog and , because I've been there,almost there(cleveland-ohio)I was curious to read what you say about your town.
I'm from romania,so I don't really understand what's happen there,but I liked you style of writing ...
so see you around........

As a Warren native and Youngstown resident, I'd li...

2008-01-29T19:18:00.000-05:00

As a Warren native and Youngstown resident, I'd like to remind everyone that a lot of the problems Youngstown has also exist 25 minutes north. While my main focus is Youngstown, as I live on the Northside now, I'd like to make sure people aren't forgetting Warren - the city I lovingly refer to as "The Boomtown That Never Was."

Janko's idea is great, but wouldn't it be tragic if it only stayed in the city limits?

I hate to be the regionalization-junkie here, but keep in mind Youngstown's problems are Warren's problems enlarged.

12 cruisers?? Are you serious? I am not sure why...

2008-01-29T15:52:00.000-05:00

12 cruisers?? Are you serious? I am not sure why I was never aware of that, it always seems like I am passing a Ytown cruiser somewhere, but I guess I do get around town a lot for meetings and shoots and whatever. I had read about that very subject not too long ago about how there is so much square mileage of Youngstown City that it's impossible to have the police manpower to cover it all.

Community policing has been a buzzword for a long time, but you are exactly right Tyler, I think the citizens think it means the police coming to their community, (neighborhood), when it's really about bringing the neighborhood to the police.

What would happen if every Friday and Saturday night from 7-10 pm 10 adults in each neighborhood tied on their bright orange bandanas around each bicep, went to their local McD's who provided them with a free warmer of coffee and cups, (cause there is definitely one of those in each neighborhood), and spent the 3 hours walking side by side around their city blocks. And please dont let it be the SAME 10 people each week. How long would it take for the young ones to start walking with them? Hearing the stories of history and pride from one generation to the other. Now that is something I would like to see. Sign me up for that!

I wish I would have heard about the meeting sooner, but I hope to keep hearing more updates about it by the blogging community. Thanx Tyler and the community who all met together, keep up the good work.......SF

oh nuts. i'm sorry to have missed this T&D, espec...

2008-01-28T11:33:00.000-05:00

oh nuts. i'm sorry to have missed this T&D, especially the discussion about MH. i could talk your ear off about the limited funding and resources and reasons we will never have another institution like woodside, and why that is both good and bad.

great work as usual, mr. t!

Thanks for zeroing in on the prime theme in the po...

2008-01-27T20:54:00.000-05:00

Thanks for zeroing in on the prime theme in the post: uniting the city through relation and interaction.

I keep thinking how lot of sometimes the ignorance...

2008-01-27T20:27:00.000-05:00

I keep thinking how lot of sometimes the ignorance as a community comes from not knowing each other well enough.

Unfortunatley, the school system is not set up to completely catch all the kids from falling through the cracks, but maybe citizens can help out.

Maybe we could set up a system where every 3rd grader (pre-puberty) city school student gets paired with two residents from across the valley for tutoring or support through big brother and big sister-type activities.

Would there be enough volunteers out there willing to start something like this?