tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7037030002547566426.post-10784677966945570142008-02-17T11:21:00.000-05:002008-02-17T11:21:00.000-05:00My 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. <BR/><BR/>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. <BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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. <BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.John Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00301634192035845948noreply@blogger.com