![RepublicIron&SteelWorks YoungstownOH 1900s](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/RepublicIron%26SteelWorks_YoungstownOH_1900s.jpg)
The economy of
Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...
, flourished in the 19th and early 20th centuries, with steel production reaching all-time highs at that time. The steel boom led to an influx of immigrants to the area looking for work, as well as construction of skyscrapers in the area.
The city's population peaked at 170,002 in 1930, just at the onset of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
.
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
also brought a great demand for steel. After World War II, demand for steel dropped off dramatically, and industrial base of Youngstown began to see a decline.
Youngstown's economy has been impacted by a loss of the steel industry jobs which started on September 19, 1977, on what became known to locals as "Black Monday", and continued into the mid-1980s. While the loss of
steel
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
industry jobs in the region coincided with the general
deindustrialization
Deindustrialization is a process of social and economic change caused by the removal or reduction of industrial capacity or activity in a country or region, especially of heavy industry or manufacturing industry.
There are different interpre ...
of
Rust Belt
The Rust Belt is a region of the United States that experienced industrial decline starting in the 1950s. The U.S. manufacturing sector as a percentage of the U.S. GDP peaked in 1953 and has been in decline since, impacting certain regions and ...
cities such as Youngstown as well as the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
as a whole, Youngstown's economic struggles have been well documented. In the
Mahoning Valley
The Youngstown–Warren–Boardman, OH–PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, typically known as the Mahoning Valley (and historically the Steel Valley), is a metropolitan area in Northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania the United States, with t ...
region, where Youngstown is located, the city's population was halved, while non-industrial businesses were forced to close or relocate due to cascading effects resulting from Youngstown's deindustrialization.
Steel boom
Founded by
John Young John Young may refer to:
Academics
* John Young (professor of Greek) (died 1820), Scottish professor of Greek at the University of Glasgow
* John C. Young (college president) (1803–1857), American educator, pastor, and president of Centre Col ...
in 1797 in the
Connecticut Western Reserve
The Connecticut Western Reserve was a portion of land claimed by the Colony of Connecticut and later by the state of Connecticut in what is now mostly the northeastern region of Ohio. The Reserve had been granted to the Colony under the terms of ...
section of the
Northwest Territory
The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...
, Youngstown spent the first half of the 19th century as a small village, dependent on mostly
agricultural
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...
needs, until the beginning of the
Second Industrial Revolution
The Second Industrial Revolution, also known as the Technological Revolution, was a phase of rapid scientific discovery, standardization, mass production and industrialization from the late 19th century into the early 20th century. The Firs ...
. The discovery of
iron ore
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...
along the
Mahoning River
The Mahoning River is a river located in northeastern Ohio and a small portion of western Pennsylvania. Flowing primarily through several Ohio counties, it crosses the state line into Pennsylvania before joining with the Shenango River to form the ...
, however, would make the city a viable and logical place to manufacture
steel
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
. The city sits roughly in between
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
and
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
—steel manufacturers in their own right—and halfway between
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
.
Youngstown Sheet and Tube
The Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company, based in Youngstown, Ohio, Youngstown, Ohio, was an American steelmaking, steel manufacturer. Officially, the company was created on November 23, 1900, when Articles of Incorporation of the Youngstown Iron S ...
and
Republic Steel
Republic Steel is an American steel manufacturer that was once the country's third largest steel producer. It was founded as the Republic Iron and Steel Company in Youngstown, Ohio in 1899. After rising to prominence during the early 20th Centu ...
were among the region's largest locally owned steel companies, while
U.S. Steel
United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in severa ...
also had major operations in the region.
![A scene in a steel mill, Republic Steel, Youngstown, Ohio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/A_scene_in_a_steel_mill%2C_Republic_Steel%2C_Youngstown%2C_Ohio.jpg)
Endowed with large deposits of coal and iron as well as "old growth" hardwood forests needed to produce charcoal, the Youngstown area eventually developed a thriving steel industry. The area's first blast furnace was established to the east of town in 1803 by James and Daniel Heaton. In time, the availability of fossil fuels contributed to the development of other coal-fired mills, including the Youngstown Rolling Mill Company, which was established in 1846. By the mid-19th century, Youngstown was the site of several iron industrial plants, notably David Tod's
Brier Hill
Brier Hill is a neighborhood in Youngstown, Ohio, that was once viewed as the city's "Little Italy." The neighborhood, which was the site of the city's first Italian settlement, stretches along the western edge of Youngstown's lower north side and ...
Iron & Coal Company. The iron industry continued to expand in the 1890s, despite the depletion of local natural resources. Numerous rail connections ensured a consistent supply of coal and iron ore from neighboring states.
At the turn of the 20th century, local industrialists began to convert to steel manufacturing, amid a wave of industrial consolidations that placed much of the Mahoning Valley's industry in the hands of national corporations.
[Blue ''et al.'' (1995), p. 94.] Shortly after the establishment of
U.S. Steel
United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in severa ...
in 1901, the corporate entity absorbed Youngstown's premier steel producer, the National Steel Company.
One year earlier, a group of city investors had taken steps to ensure high levels of local ownership in the area's industrial sector. Led by local industrialists
George D. Wick and
James A. Campbell, they organized what became the
Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company
The Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company, based in Youngstown, Ohio, was an American steel manufacturer. Officially, the company was created on November 23, 1900, when Articles of Incorporation of the Youngstown Iron Sheet and Tube Company were fil ...
,
among the nation's most important regional steel producers.
The firm significantly expanded its operations in 1923, when it acquired plants in
South Chicago
South Chicago, formerly known as Ainsworth, is one of the 77 community areas of Chicago, Illinois.
This chevron-shaped community is one of Chicago's 16 lakefront neighborhoods near the southern rim of Lake Michigan 10 miles south of downtown. ...
and
East Chicago, Indiana
East Chicago is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,698 at the 2010 census. The city is home of the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, an artificial freshwater harbor characterized by industrial and manufacturing ac ...
. This impulse to support local ownership surfaced again in 1931, when Campbell, as chairman of the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company, attempted to merge the firm with
Bethlehem Steel
The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...
, in a bid to create the nation's second-largest steel corporation.
[
] Other area industrialists blocked the move,
[
][
] with the financial backing of Republic Steel founder
Cyrus S. Eaton, who feared the implications of a strengthened Bethlehem Steel.
In the late 1930s, the community's steel sector gained national attention once again, when Youngstown became a site of the so-called "Little Steel Strike", an effort by the
Steel Workers Organizing Committee The Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC) was one of two precursor trade union, labor organizations to the United Steelworkers. It was formed by the CIO (Committee for Industrial Organization) on June 7, 1936. It disbanded in 1942 to become the ...
, a precursor to
United Steelworkers
The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, commonly known as the United Steelworkers (USW), is a general trade union with members across North America. Headquar ...
, to secure contract agreements with smaller steel companies.
These firms included
Republic Steel
Republic Steel is an American steel manufacturer that was once the country's third largest steel producer. It was founded as the Republic Iron and Steel Company in Youngstown, Ohio in 1899. After rising to prominence during the early 20th Centu ...
, Bethlehem Steel, Youngstown Sheet and Tube,
National Steel,
Inland Steel, and
American Rolling Mills
AK Steel Holdings Corporation was a steelmaking company headquartered in West Chester Township, Butler County, Ohio. The company, whose name was derived from the initials of Armco, its predecessor company, and Kawasaki Steel Corporation, was a ...
.
Gus Hall
Gus Hall (born Arvo Kustaa Halberg; October 8, 1910 – October 13, 2000) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) and a perennial candidate for president of the United States. He was the Communist Party nominee in the ...
, one of the committee's founding organizers, led strikes in Youngstown and Warren.
On June 21, 1937, strike-related violence in Youngstown resulted in two deaths and 42 injuries.
Despite violent episodes in Youngstown and Chicago, the
Little Steel Strike
The Little Steel strike was a 1937 labor strike by the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) and its branch the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC), against a number of smaller steel producing companies, principally Republic Steel, ...
proved to be a turning point in the history of the U.S.
labor movement
The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other.
* The trade union movement ...
. Historian William Lawson observed that the strike transformed industrial unions from "basically local and ineffective organizations into all-encompassing, nationwide collective bargaining representatives of American workers".
In 1969, Youngstown Sheet and Tube merged with the
-based Lykes Corporation, and in 1979 the combined Lykes-Youngstown was bought by the conglomerate
LTV. This brought decisions to the local economy out of the hands of the Youngstown area for the first time, although Republic Steel had moved to nearby Cleveland years earlier. LTV had discovered that the numerous mills in the area had not been upgraded in decades, and would not meet pollution regulations set forth by the United States government without an expensive upgrade. In addition, many steel manufacturers were
outsourcing
Outsourcing is an agreement in which one company hires another company to be responsible for a planned or existing activity which otherwise is or could be carried out internally, i.e. in-house, and sometimes involves transferring employees and ...
steel to developing nations, where the costs would be cheaper and with fewer pollution regulations.
Black Monday
![Youngstown Sheet&Tube Abandoned](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Youngstown_Sheet%26Tube_Abandoned.jpg)
Between the 1920s and 1960s, the city was known as an important industrial hub that featured the massive furnaces and foundries of such companies as Republic Steel and U.S. Steel. At the same time, Youngstown never became economically diversified, as did larger industrial cities such as Chicago, Pittsburgh, Akron, or Cleveland. Though population levels remained flat for a few more decades, population had not grown since the Great Depression, though
General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
had opened
Lordstown Assembly
The Lordstown Complex is a factory building and automotive manufacturing plant in Lordstown, Ohio, U.S. Lordstown is an industrial suburb of Youngstown, Ohio.
It was a General Motors automobile factory from 1966 to 2019, comprising three facil ...
in 1966 to help offset some losses.
[Fuechtmann (1989), p. 16.] Hence, when economic changes forced the closure of plants throughout the 1970s, the city was left with few substantial economic alternatives. The 1969 corporate merger between the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company and the New Orleans-based Lykes Corporation proved to be a turning point in the demise of the local steel industry.
[Fuechtmann (1989), pp. 41–43.] The merger and subsequent takeover of Youngstown Sheet and Tube burdened the community's primary steel producer with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.
Further, the deal placed control of the company outside of the Mahoning Valley.
On September 19, 1977, it was announced a large portion of Youngstown Sheet and Tube would be closing. Although federal laws now require employers to give 60 days notice to its employees if they plan on doing mass layoffs, the
Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 (the "WARN Act") is a U.S. labor law that protects employees, their families, and communities by requiring most employers with 100 or more employees to provide 60 calendar-day advance ...
was still eleven years from going into effect at the time, and Youngstown Sheet and Tube instantly put 5,000 workers out of work. The day is still known locally as "Black Monday".
Youngstown Sheet and Tube's announcement had a ripple effect in the area. In 1979–1980, U.S. Steel pulled out of the Youngstown area and started scaling back its operations in Pittsburgh before eventually merging with
Marathon Oil
Marathon Oil Corporation is an American company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration incorporated in Ohio and headquartered in the Marathon Oil Tower in Houston, Texas. A direct descendant of Standard Oil, it also runs international gas operations ...
and filing with bankruptcy. In the mid-1980s, Republic Steel also filed for bankruptcy. Attempts to revive the local steel industry proved unsuccessful. Shortly after the closure of most of Youngstown Sheet and Tube's area operations, local religious leaders, steelworkers, and activists such as
Staughton Lynd participated in a grassroots effort to purchase and refurbish one of the company's abandoned plants in neighboring
Campbell, Ohio
Campbell (; ) is a city in eastern Mahoning County, Ohio, United States, along the Mahoning River. The population was 7,852 at the 2020 census. Located directly southeast of Youngstown, it is a suburb of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan are ...
.
[Fuechtmann (1989), p. 5.] This project met with failure in April 1979. Youngstown State University professors Terry Buss and F. Stevens Redburn have concluded that the mill closings resulted from forces beyond the control of the community. Youngstown was simply just one piece of a national problem, and the area could not solve this problem alone. In 1982, Staughton Lynd wrote about the effects of the mill closings in Youngstown in the book, ''The Fight Against Black Monday''.
In the wake of the steel plant shutdowns, the community lost an estimated 40,000 manufacturing jobs, 400 satellite businesses, $414 million in personal income, and from 33 to 75 percent of the school tax revenues. The Youngstown area has yet to fully recover from the loss of jobs in the steel sector.
The move had an effect on non-industrial businesses as well. Fast food chain
Arby's
Arby's is an American fast food sandwich restaurant chain with more than 3,300 restaurants system wide and third in terms of revenue. In October 2017, '' Food & Wine'' called Arby's "America's second largest sandwich chain (after Subway)".
Ar ...
, which at the time was beginning to make a national push, moved its corporate headquarters out of the Youngstown area.
Idora Park
Idora Park was a Victorian era trolley park in north Oakland, California constructed in 1904 on the site of an informal park setting called Ayala Park on the north banks of Temescal Creek. It was leased by the Ingersoll Pleasure and Amusement P ...
, an
amusement park
An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
in the area, suffered several fires before closing its doors in 1984. The
Strouss
Strouss was a department store serving the U.S. states of Ohio and Pennsylvania.
History
The company was founded as Strouss-Hirshberg Co. by Isaac Strouss and Bernard Hirshberg, two young Americans of Jewish descent. It was long the leading dep ...
department store would be consolidated into
Kaufmann's
Kaufmann's was a department store that originated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Summary
The store was owned in the early 20th century by Edgar J. Kaufmann, patron of the famous Fallingwater house. In the post-war years, the store became a regi ...
by its parent company,
May Department Stores
The May Department Stores Company was an American department store holding company, formerly headquartered in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. It was founded in Leadville, Colorado, by David May in 1877, moving to St. Louis in 1905. After many ch ...
, before its own consolidation into
Macy's
Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
.
The city made attempts to attract another steel manufacturer, and even re-open Youngstown Sheet and Tube as a community-owned steel mill, but all these attempts failed.
After Black Monday
The loss of industrial jobs has had a lasting impact in the
Mahoning Valley
The Youngstown–Warren–Boardman, OH–PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, typically known as the Mahoning Valley (and historically the Steel Valley), is a metropolitan area in Northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania the United States, with t ...
region of Youngstown, as the city's population was cut in half as a result,
[Christie, Les (April 24, 2008)]
"The Incredible Shrinking City"
money.cnn.com. Retrieved 2010-12-16. while non-industrial businesses were forced to close or relocate due to the ripple effect of the loss of the steel industry. Although some other Rust Belt cities such as
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
have since successfully been able to diversify their economic base,
as of December 2010, more than a generation after deindustrialization, Youngstown has not recovered. The deindustrialization of Youngstown has been well documented.
Alternate enterprises
A number of products and enterprises other than steel introduced in Youngstown during the manufacturing era became national household names. Among these is Youngstown-based
Schwebel's Bakery
Schwebel's Bakery is a regional producer of bread and other baked goods that was established in Youngstown, Ohio, in the early 20th century.
History
The Schwebel's brand was created by Joseph Schwebel and Dora Schwebel, a married couple that sta ...
, which was established in neighboring Campbell in the 20th century. The company now distributes bread products nationally. In the 1920s, Youngstown was the birthplace of the
Good Humor
Good Humor is a Good Humor-Breyers brand of ice cream started in Youngstown, Ohio, US, in the early 1920s with the Good Humor bar, a chocolate-coated ice cream bar on a stick sold from ice cream trucks and retail outlets. It was a fixture in Ame ...
brand of ice cream novelties,
and the popular franchise of
Handel's Homemade Ice Cream & Yogurt was established there in the 1940s. In the 1950s, the suburb of Boardman became the site of one of the country's first modern shopping plazas, which was established by Youngstown-born developer
Edward J. DeBartolo, Sr.
Edward John DeBartolo Sr. (May 17, 1909 – December 19, 1994) was an American businessman. In 1971, his Ohio-based corporation was ranked as 47th among the nation's top 400 construction contractors. In 1983, DeBartolo was included on ''For ...
The
fast-food
Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredient ...
chain,
Arby's
Arby's is an American fast food sandwich restaurant chain with more than 3,300 restaurants system wide and third in terms of revenue. In October 2017, '' Food & Wine'' called Arby's "America's second largest sandwich chain (after Subway)".
Ar ...
, opened the first of its restaurants in Boardman in 1964, and
Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips was headquartered in Youngstown in the late 1970s. More recently, the city's downtown hosted the corporate headquarters of the now-defunct pharmacy chain store
Phar-Mor
Phar-Mor (stylized as PHA℞-MOR) was a United States chain of discount drug stores, based in Youngstown, Ohio, and founded by Michael "Mickey" Monus and David Shapira in 1982. Some of its stores used the names Pharmhouse and Rx Place (purchas ...
, which was established by Youngstown native
Mickey Monus Michael I. "Mickey" Monus (born 1947) is the former president of Phar-Mor, Inc., founder of the World Basketball League and was an original owner of the Colorado Rockies, a Major League Baseball expansion team. Phar-Mor was a deep-discount drug an ...
.
The blow dealt to the community's industrial economy in the 1970s had been slightly mitigated by the presence of auto production plants in the metropolitan area. In the late 1980s, the
Avanti, an automobile with a fiberglass body originally designed by
Studebaker
Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers M ...
to compete with the
Corvette
A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...
, was manufactured in an industrial complex on Youngstown's Albert Street. This company moved away after just a few years.
A mainstay, though, of Youngstown's industrial economy has long been the GM Lordstown plant. The
General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
'
Lordstown Assembly
The Lordstown Complex is a factory building and automotive manufacturing plant in Lordstown, Ohio, U.S. Lordstown is an industrial suburb of Youngstown, Ohio.
It was a General Motors automobile factory from 1966 to 2019, comprising three facil ...
plant was the largest industrial employer in the area.
One of the nation's largest auto plants in terms of square feet, the Lordstown facility was home to production of the Chevrolet Impala, Vega, and
Cavalier
The term Cavalier () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of King Charles I and his son Charles II of England during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration (1642 – ). It ...
. It was expanded and retooled with a new paint facility and in the 2010s produced the Cavalier's successor, the
Chevrolet Cruze
The Chevrolet Cruze is a compact car that is produced by General Motors since 2008. It was designated as a globally developed, designed, and manufactured four-door compact sedan, complemented by a five-door hatchback body variant from 2011, and ...
.
[Lyne, Jack (2002)]
GM Doling Out $500M to Build New Model in North Ohio.
Site Selection Online Insider. Retrieved 2007-03-08
Several times, General Motors has announced intentions to close Lordstown Assembly, especially after its
2009 bankruptcy, with the plant's final closure coming on March 6, 2019. Currently,
Youngstown State University
Youngstown State University (YSU or Youngstown State) is a public university in Youngstown, Ohio. It was founded in 1908 and is the easternmost member of the University System of Ohio.
The university is composed of six undergraduate colleges an ...
is the area's largest overall employer, a far cry from the city's industrial past. Even though the area was embarrassed by the collapse of the Phar-Mor chain, ''
Entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...
'' named Youngstown one of the top 10 cities to start a business in 2009.
Downtown Youngstown has seen modest levels of new construction. Recent additions include the
George Voinovich
George Victor Voinovich (July 15, 1936June 12, 2016) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from Ohio from 1999 to 2011, the 65th governor of Ohio from 1991 to 1998 and the 54th mayor of Cleveland from 1980 to 1989, th ...
Government Center and state and federal courthouses: the Seventh District Court of Appeals and the
Nathaniel R. Jones
Nathaniel Raphael Jones (May 12, 1926 – January 26, 2020) was an American attorney, judge, and law professor. As general counsel of the NAACP, Jones fought to end school segregation, including in the northern United States. From 1979 until 199 ...
Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse. The latter features an award-winning design by the architectural firm,
Robert A. M. Stern Architects. Youngstown's downtown has experienced some business growth. The Youngstown
Business Incubator
Business incubator is an organization that helps startup companies and individual entrepreneurs to develop their businesses by providing a fullscale range of services starting with management training and office space and ending with venture ca ...
is located downtown. This nonprofit organization, based in a former department store building, fosters the growth of fledgling technology-based companies. With more than a dozen business tenants, has recently completed construction on the Taft Technology Center, where some of its largest tenants will locate their offices.
and houses several start-up technology companies, which have received office space, furnishings, and access to utilities.
Some companies supported by the incubator have earned recognition, and a few are starting to outgrow their current space. One such company – Turning Technologies – was in 2007 rated by ''Inc. Magazine'' as the fastest-growing privately held software company in the United States and 18th fastest-growing privately held company overall. In an effort to retain companies downtown, the incubator secured approval to demolish a row of vacant buildings nearby to clear space for expansion. The project will be funded by a $2 million federal grant awarded in 2006.
In 2005, Federal Street, a major downtown thoroughfare that was closed in order to create a pedestrian-oriented plaza, was reopened to through traffic. The downtown area has also seen the razing of structurally unsound buildings and the expansion or restoration of others.
New construction has dovetailed with efforts to cultivate business growth.
Reversing the trend, in 2010,
Vallourec & Mannesman broke ground for a $620 million-dollar pipe mill north of its existing business V&M Star. Production of steel pipes began in October 2012. Opened in 2012, the facility is in area and produces tube goods to service natural gas exploration in the
Marcellus Formation
The Marcellus Formation or the Marcellus Shale is a Middle Devonian age unit of sedimentary rock found in eastern North America. Named for a distinctive outcrop near the village of Marcellus, New York, in the United States,
it extends throughou ...
and has been an employer for 350 people.
Remaining steel operations
Youngstown is the site of several steel and metalworking operations, though nothing on the scale seen during the "glory days" of the "Steel Valley". The largest employer in the city is
Youngstown State University
Youngstown State University (YSU or Youngstown State) is a public university in Youngstown, Ohio. It was founded in 1908 and is the easternmost member of the University System of Ohio.
The university is composed of six undergraduate colleges an ...
(YSU), an urban public campus that serves about 15,000 students, located just north of downtown.
The largest industrial employers within the Youngstown city limits are
Vallourec
Vallourec S.A. is a multinational manufacturing company headquartered in Meudon, France. Vallourec specializes in hot rolled seamless steel tubes, expandable tubular technology, automotive parts, and stainless steel, which it provides to energ ...
Star Steel Company (formerly North Star Steel), in the Brier Hill district, and Exal Corporation on Poland Avenue. The latter has recently expanded its operations.
Defunct retail and amusement sectors
Several of the city's recreational resources disappeared amid the economic hardships that began in the late 1970s. Among these was
Idora Park
Idora Park was a Victorian era trolley park in north Oakland, California constructed in 1904 on the site of an informal park setting called Ayala Park on the north banks of Temescal Creek. It was leased by the Ingersoll Pleasure and Amusement P ...
, an amusement park that served as a convenient alternative for residents who preferred not to travel to larger parks in Northern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania. (These included
Conneaut Lake Park
Conneaut Lake Park is a summer resort and event venue located in Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania, United States. It has long served as a regional tourist destination, and was noted by roller coaster enthusiasts for its classic Blue Streak coaster, ...
in
Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania
Conneaut Lake is a borough in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, located at the southern end of the lake of the same name. The population was 626 at the 2020 census, down from 653 at the 2010 census.
History
The town was founded in 1799 as "Evansbu ...
,
Geauga Lake
Geauga Lake was an amusement park in Bainbridge Township and Aurora, Ohio. It was established in 1887, in what had been a local recreation area adjacent to a lake of the same name. The first amusement ride was added in 1889, and the park's fi ...
in
Aurora, Ohio
Aurora is a city in Portage County, Ohio, United States. It is a suburb of Cleveland and Akron, Ohio, and is co-extensive with, and formed from, the former township of Aurora, which was formed from the Connecticut Western Reserve. It is part of ...
,
Cedar Point
Cedar Point is a amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. Opened in 1870, it is considered the second-oldest operating amusement park in the U.S. behind Lake Compounce. Cedar Point is owned and op ...
in
Sandusky, Ohio
Sandusky ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Erie County, Ohio, Erie County, Ohio, United States. Situated along the shores of Lake Erie in the northern part of the state, Sandusky is located roughly midway between Toledo, Ohio, Toledo ( wes ...
, and
Kennywood
Kennywood is an amusement park located in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, just southeast of Pittsburgh. The park opened on May 30, 1899, as a trolley park attraction at the end of the Mellon family's Monongahela Street Railway. It was purchased in 1 ...
in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
, Pennsylvania.) The park, which closed in 1984, held sentimental value for many local residents and enjoyed a degree of historical significance. Former Youngstown resident
Jack L. Warner
Jack Leonard Warner (born Jacob Warner; August 2, 1892 – September 9, 1978) was a Canadian-American film executive, who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. Warner's career spanned some ...
noted in his autobiography that the
Warner brothers
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
took their first step into the movie business when they screened a used copy of ''
The Great Train Robbery'' at ''Idora Park'' and other local venues.
From the early 20th century to the mid-1970s, Youngstown was the retail center of the Mahoning Valley. There were two flagship department stores in the downtown area, including
Strouss Hirshberg's (later absorbed by
Kaufmann's
Kaufmann's was a department store that originated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Summary
The store was owned in the early 20th century by Edgar J. Kaufmann, patron of the famous Fallingwater house. In the post-war years, the store became a regi ...
, now part of
Macy's
Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
) and
McKelvey's (later
Higbee's
Higbee's was a department store founded in 1860 in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1987, Higbee's was sold to the joint partnership of Dillard's department stores and Youngstown-based developer, Edward J. DeBartolo. The stores continued to operate unde ...
, now part of
Dillard's
Dillard's, Inc. is an upscale American department store chain with approximately 282 stores in 29 states and headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Currently, the largest number of stores are located in Texas with 57 and Florida with 42. The ...
). Specialty shops lined the main artery of West Federal Street, and the district had four upscale movie theaters, including the Palace Theater, the Warner Brothers' first Theater, the State Theater, and the Paramount Theater. These businesses were the first to close as a result of declining attendance in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. In the early 1970s, the appearance of two suburban malls (the
Southern Park Mall
Southern Park Mall is a shopping mall in Boardman, Ohio, United States, serving the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area. It was developed by the Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation in 1970, and is now owned by Washington Prime Group. The mall, wh ...
, in Boardman, and the
Eastwood Mall, in Niles) hastened the closure or relocation of many businesses that remained. The collapse of the community's steel industry at the end of the decade created additional challenges for downtown business owners, and throughout the 1980s and 1990s, efforts to revive the former retail hub were unsuccessful.
"Youngstown 2010" project
![YoungstownOH DilapitatedHouse](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/YoungstownOH_DilapitatedHouse.jpg)
In the 2000s, residents and city planners became motivated to change the city's course, eventually producing the "Youngstown 2010" project. This project is also colloquially referred to as "The Greening of Youngstown" due to the large scale demolition of dilapidated structures in favor of green space and the expansion of public parks.
"The City of Youngstown is operating under a comprehensive plan that was formulated over a four year period in the early 1950s. The plan was reviewed and updated with two additional volumes in 1974. These plans were for a different era that anticipated a population of between 200,000 and 250,000. The Youngstown 2010 Plan is based on a new vision for the new reality that accepts we are a smaller city that will stabilize at 80,000 people."
Major Vision Principles of Youngstown 2010 include:
# Accepting that Youngstown is a smaller city.
#: The dramatic collapse of the steel industry led to the loss of tens of thousands of jobs and a precipitous decline in population. Having lost more than half its population and almost its entire industrial base in the last 30 years, the city is now left with an oversized urban structure. (It has been described as a size 40 man wearing a size 60 suit.) There are too many abandoned properties and too many underutilized sites. Many difficult choices will have to be made as Youngstown recreates itself as a sustainable mid-sized city. A strategic program is required to rationalize and consolidate the urban infrastructure in a socially responsible and financially sustainable manner.
# Defining Youngstown's role in the new regional economy.
#: The steel industry no longer dominates Youngstown’s economy. Most people work in different industries today. The city must align itself with the present realities of the regional economy. This new positioning means support for a more diverse and vibrant economy founded on the current strengths within the city and region, such as the university, the health care sector, and the arts community.
# Improving Youngstown's image and enhancing quality of life.
#: Youngstown must become a healthier and better place to live and work. Over time people have grown accustomed to seeing rundown buildings and streets. Urban decay is a constant and demoralizing reminder of Youngstown’s decline. It is important that Youngstown begin to "fix its broken windows" and support initiatives to improve neighborhoods, the downtown, the river, and the education system. The city must also begin dealing with difficult issues such as public safety and racism.
# A call to action
#: The people of Youngstown are ready for change. The city already has a large number of local leaders who want to involve others and make a contribution. The citywide plan must ensure that the excitement and optimism fostered through the planning process is maintained and advanced. To that end, the city needs a practical, action-oriented plan and a process through which local leaders can continue to be empowered and the city’s successes constantly celebrated.
Besides embracing downsizing and green space expansion, the plan focuses strongly on attracting more diverse businesses. This has resulted in the city gaining international recognition for addressing the negative consequences of deindustrialization, which are common across the world.
Downsizing Detroit: Youngstown 2010 may foreshadow Detroit circa 2020
MLive.com. Retrieved on 2010-12-23.
See also
*Decline of Detroit
Detroit, the largest city in the state of Michigan, was settled in 1701 by French colonists. It is the first European settlement above tidewater in North America., p. 56. Founded as a New France fur trading post, it began to expand during the 19 ...
*Deindustrialization
Deindustrialization is a process of social and economic change caused by the removal or reduction of industrial capacity or activity in a country or region, especially of heavy industry or manufacturing industry.
There are different interpre ...
*Rust Belt
The Rust Belt is a region of the United States that experienced industrial decline starting in the 1950s. The U.S. manufacturing sector as a percentage of the U.S. GDP peaked in 1953 and has been in decline since, impacting certain regions and ...
*Steel crisis
The steel crisis was a recession in the global steel market during the 1973–75 recession and early 1980s recession following the post–World War II economic expansion and the 1973 oil crisis, further compounded by the 1979 oil crisis, and last ...
* Steel Valley (Ohio-Pennsylvania)
*Urban decay
Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban deca ...
References
Sources
*
* Aley, Howard C. (1975). ''A Heritage to Share: The Bicentennial History of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley''. Youngstown, OH: The Bicentennial Commission of Youngstown and Mahoning County, Ohio.
* Blue, Frederick J.; Jenkins, William D.; Lawson, William H.; Reedy, Joan M. (1995). ''Mahoning Memories: A History of Youngstown and Mahoning County''. Virginia Beach, VA: The Donning Company
Walsworth Publishing Company is a family-owned publishing company based out of Marceline, Missouri. Walsworth produces catalogs and periodicals, and is the only American- and family-owned publisher of yearbooks. It was started in 1937 by brother ...
. .
*
* Brody, David (1960). ''Steelworkers in America''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...
.
* Bruno, Robert (1999). ''Steelworker Alley: How Class Works in Youngstown''. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press
The Cornell University Press is the university press of Cornell University; currently housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage. It was first established in 1869, making it the first university publishing enterprise in th ...
. .
* Fuechtmann, Thomas G. (1989). ''Steeples and Stacks: Religion and Steel Crisis in Youngstown''. New York: Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press
A university press is an academic publishing hou ...
. .
* Jenkins, William D. (1990). ''Steel Valley Klan: The Ku Klux Klan in Ohio's Mahoning Valley''. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press
Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses ...
. .
* Knepper, George W. (1989). ''Ohio and Its People''. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press. .
* Lemann, Nicholas (1991). ''The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America.'' New York: Vintage Books. .
*
*
*
* Scarsella, Richard S. ''Memories and Melancholy: Reflections on the Mahoning Valley and Youngstown'', Ohio. New York: iUniverse, 2005.
* Warner, Jack L. (1964). ''My First Hundred Years in Hollywood''. New York: Random House.
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Urban decay in the United States