How does a city aspire to be livable when the outside public seemingly brands it as ‘dying?’ How does the city grow when it is told that is 'shrinking’? With eyes that are turning away from the core industrial cities and onto the technological hubs of the twenty-first century: can the city sustain itself?
For Mayor Jay Williams of Youngstown, OH, hearing his city being labeled by Forbes Magazine as one of Americas 10 Fastest-Dying Cities, inspired him to take the city in a new direction; one that leveraged successful development upon its own definition.
At the “Building Livable Communities” forum held at Washington, DC's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden on September 22, 2010, Mayor Williams held a detailed discussion on how civic institutions in Youngstown redefined their role to promote dynamic change as amenity rich centers.
When labels of ‘decline’ and ‘dying’ are directed at the post-industrial city, there is often a disconnected view between what people mistake to be the city and the true reality of what the city actually is. Focusing on the direction and anticipation of the city’s mortality can lead the outsider to believe that a continual lack of economic investment is the leading indicator of hopelessness. However, for Youngstown, it may be true that the heyday of steel production had declined in economic prominence, but that doesn’t mean the city is in the current stage of dying. In fact, Youngstown is still a place of social and economic activity, one in which a rich fabric of history and individual development created a prominent atmosphere for its citizens. Yet while the pervasive mindset of a dying city captivates the outsider perspective, Youngstown is currently on the forefront of reinvesting the city of its economic and social capital, creating a new standard of development for America’s so-called ‘dying’ cities.
Working alongside Partners, Mayor Williams instituted a program strategy known as “Using All Assets: Institutions as Fulcrums of Change,” an agenda that has created a new standard of development in what the Mayor described as, “shifting the roles of institutions to fill the voids of the steel mills.” Both Partners and Mayor Williams found that traditional institutions embedded in the city—whether they are libraries, schools, churches, and museums—can become anchors for providing the resources and civic assets needed to instigate economic, physical, and social revitalization. For the city of Youngstown, the most prevalent example of success was that of Youngstown State University (YSU).
Located centrally in downtown Youngstown, Youngstown State University is a foundational landmark to the civic and economic life of the city with its employment of over 2,100 faculty members and a yearly enrollment of nearly 16,000 students. With the large student body and prominent structures throughout the city, the university was one of the first to take the lead in taking and expanding a role outside of its own academic structure and beginning to invest in the neighborhoods and communities that it was built upon.
For Mayor Williams, the university exemplified the essential anchor institution—its town and gown linkage transformed the meaning of public space within the city by blending academic structures within the central business district and expanding its reach outward into the city to create spaces of public forum.
In a city full of economic gaps left by the declining steel industry, the university redefined its role in a broad attempt to fill these holes. Like many core industry cities, the drawback of a shifting economy pushed the urban core into disrepair, cutting off residents from one end of the city to the other. Without the clear distinction of a lively downtown the vitality of the city’s communities is compromised. However, Youngstown State University instigated a substantial change in its academic agenda by facilitating a role as an effective instigator of economic and social development. For the City of Youngstown, the university successfully promoted livability by leveraging the terms of its own social prosperity.
With its strategic location in the downtown heart of the city, Youngstown State University expanded the use of its campus to inspire citizens from the regional suburbs to join the burgeoning downtown business district. Along with downtown retail stores, the university promoted activities and a family-oriented atmosphere to liven the downtown promenade. Because of Youngstown State University's idyllic location, people stroll at leisure in the center of downtown, indicating that Youngstown is very much alive and prospering. For Mayor Williams, Youngstown State University was promoting the city as a “place of choice” for residents to live, grow and prosper in.
By transforming its role, Youngstown State University is working to overturn the reputation that its location is one of America’s dying cities; and yet, the university is only one example of an anchor institution. Like all cities, Youngstown holds a breadth of vibrant cultural and civic institutions that can build upon their own agenda to act as a facilitator of community change. Federal resources and philanthropy still play a major role in helping facilitate change in the physical setting of the city, but without institutions and places of civic well-being, the city is unable to grow and sustain a population and residents who choose to live there.
You can read more about the program strategy here: Institutions as Fulcrums of Change
For Mayor Jay Williams of Youngstown, OH, hearing his city being labeled by Forbes Magazine as one of Americas 10 Fastest-Dying Cities, inspired him to take the city in a new direction; one that leveraged successful development upon its own definition.
At the “Building Livable Communities” forum held at Washington, DC's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden on September 22, 2010, Mayor Williams held a detailed discussion on how civic institutions in Youngstown redefined their role to promote dynamic change as amenity rich centers.
When labels of ‘decline’ and ‘dying’ are directed at the post-industrial city, there is often a disconnected view between what people mistake to be the city and the true reality of what the city actually is. Focusing on the direction and anticipation of the city’s mortality can lead the outsider to believe that a continual lack of economic investment is the leading indicator of hopelessness. However, for Youngstown, it may be true that the heyday of steel production had declined in economic prominence, but that doesn’t mean the city is in the current stage of dying. In fact, Youngstown is still a place of social and economic activity, one in which a rich fabric of history and individual development created a prominent atmosphere for its citizens. Yet while the pervasive mindset of a dying city captivates the outsider perspective, Youngstown is currently on the forefront of reinvesting the city of its economic and social capital, creating a new standard of development for America’s so-called ‘dying’ cities.
Working alongside Partners, Mayor Williams instituted a program strategy known as “Using All Assets: Institutions as Fulcrums of Change,” an agenda that has created a new standard of development in what the Mayor described as, “shifting the roles of institutions to fill the voids of the steel mills.” Both Partners and Mayor Williams found that traditional institutions embedded in the city—whether they are libraries, schools, churches, and museums—can become anchors for providing the resources and civic assets needed to instigate economic, physical, and social revitalization. For the city of Youngstown, the most prevalent example of success was that of Youngstown State University (YSU).
Located centrally in downtown Youngstown, Youngstown State University is a foundational landmark to the civic and economic life of the city with its employment of over 2,100 faculty members and a yearly enrollment of nearly 16,000 students. With the large student body and prominent structures throughout the city, the university was one of the first to take the lead in taking and expanding a role outside of its own academic structure and beginning to invest in the neighborhoods and communities that it was built upon.
For Mayor Williams, the university exemplified the essential anchor institution—its town and gown linkage transformed the meaning of public space within the city by blending academic structures within the central business district and expanding its reach outward into the city to create spaces of public forum.
In a city full of economic gaps left by the declining steel industry, the university redefined its role in a broad attempt to fill these holes. Like many core industry cities, the drawback of a shifting economy pushed the urban core into disrepair, cutting off residents from one end of the city to the other. Without the clear distinction of a lively downtown the vitality of the city’s communities is compromised. However, Youngstown State University instigated a substantial change in its academic agenda by facilitating a role as an effective instigator of economic and social development. For the City of Youngstown, the university successfully promoted livability by leveraging the terms of its own social prosperity.
With its strategic location in the downtown heart of the city, Youngstown State University expanded the use of its campus to inspire citizens from the regional suburbs to join the burgeoning downtown business district. Along with downtown retail stores, the university promoted activities and a family-oriented atmosphere to liven the downtown promenade. Because of Youngstown State University's idyllic location, people stroll at leisure in the center of downtown, indicating that Youngstown is very much alive and prospering. For Mayor Williams, Youngstown State University was promoting the city as a “place of choice” for residents to live, grow and prosper in.
By transforming its role, Youngstown State University is working to overturn the reputation that its location is one of America’s dying cities; and yet, the university is only one example of an anchor institution. Like all cities, Youngstown holds a breadth of vibrant cultural and civic institutions that can build upon their own agenda to act as a facilitator of community change. Federal resources and philanthropy still play a major role in helping facilitate change in the physical setting of the city, but without institutions and places of civic well-being, the city is unable to grow and sustain a population and residents who choose to live there.
You can read more about the program strategy here: Institutions as Fulcrums of Change