Downtown Youngstown

Downtown Youngstown is the traditional center of the city of Youngstown, Ohio, United States. After decades of precipitous decline, the downtown area shows signs of renewal. Civic leaders have expressed hope that the district will emerge as a significant arts and entertainment district within the Youngstown-Warren metropolitan area.

Downtown Youngstown is the site of most of the city's government buildings and banks. A number of entertainment venues are also located in the downtown, including the Covelli Centre, Powers Auditorium (the original Warner Bros. Theatre), the DeYor Performing Arts Center, and Oakland Centers for the Performing Arts. In addition, the downtown sits to the immediate south of notable cultural and educational resources, including Youngstown State University, the Butler Institute of American Art, and the McDonough Museum of Contemporary Art.

In line with national trends, Youngstown's traditional downtown area fell into steep decline in the 1970s and early 1980s. This downward trend was exacerbated by factors including the opening of shopping malls in neighboring communities. These included the Southern Park Mall, in the suburb of Boardman, and Eastwood Mall, in nearby Niles. Other contributing developments were the collapse of the local steel industry and depopulation of the center city.

Amid the departure of retail businesses along the main thoroughfare of West Federal Street, municipal officials made an ill-fated decision to close the street to vehicle traffic in order to build a pedestrian-oriented shopping area. While this project was in line with urban renewal efforts around the country, it merely furthered the decline of the downtown area. By the mid-1980s, most of the downtown area's department stores and movie theaters had closed up. Meanwhile, the city's car dealerships relocated in the suburbs. By the early 1990s, the downtown had become a stark symbol of the community's economic decline.

In the early 2000s, municipal officials took steps to reverse Youngstown's economic difficulties. They presented a citywide redevelopment plan known as Youngstown 2010. One of the plan's primary goals was to facilitate the revival of the downtown area. One of the municipal government's first steps was to re-open West Federal Street to traffic, a project that was completed in early 2005.

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Wikipedia