UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI
Date:______
I, ______, hereby submit this work as part of the requirements for the degree of: in:
It is entitled:
This work and its defense approved by:
Chair: ______
Creative Shrinkage: In Search of a Strategy to Manage Decline
A thesis submitted to the
Graduate School
of the University of Cincinnati
In partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF COMMUNITY PLANNING
In the School of Planning
of the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning
By
LI SUN ALLIGOOD
Bachelor of Arts, Community Development
Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, March 2001
Committee Chair: Menelaos Triantafillou, AICP, ASLA
Committee Member: David Varady, PhD, FAICP Abstract
Post-industrial cities in the Rust Belt of the United States have been losing population to their suburbs and other regions for decades. Even as the population and density of these cities de- crease, the infrastructure and physical area—and the cost to maintain them—remain the same.
A new concept known as “Creative Shrinkage” calls for planning proactively for the possible or likely population shrinkage of a city by adjusting its physical size to its reduced population.
This study explores the causes of urban growth and decline in Youngstown, Ohio and Pitts- burgh, Pennsylvania and compares Pittsburgh’s conventional responses with the unconventional
“Creative Shrinkage” responses adopted by Youngstown, and determines that Creative Shrink- age as utilized in Youngstown has several standard components that allow for its use as a strat- egy for declining cities. The study suggests a new federal program to assist declining cities with shrinkage and calls for a shrinkage-oriented planning model.
ii iii Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my husband, Shawn Miller, for supporting me emotionally and financially throughout my graduate studies; my parents, Paula and Robert Kuehn, for their encourage- ment; and my sister, Tahroma Skugrud, for sharing thoughts and notes on the thesis process throughout.
I would like to thank Professor Menelaos Triantafillou and Dr. David Varady for their willingness to share their time and knowledge, and the guidance and editing assistance they provided.
iv Table of Contents
Introduction ...... 1 Research Questions ...... 3 Definition of Terms ...... 4 The Organic City ...... 6 Review of the Literature ...... 6 The Growth Model in the United States ...... 8 A History of Urban Shrinkage ...... 9 Community Responses to Urban Decline ...... 11 Federal Responses to Urban Decline ...... 19 Summary ...... 25 Methodology ...... 27 Case Studies ...... 30 Youngstown ...... 30 Pittsburgh ...... 37 Content Analysis ...... 47 Youngstown ...... 47 Pittsburgh ...... 50 Summary ...... 52 Evaluation and Recommendations ...... 54 Evaluation ...... 54 Recommendations ...... 58 Conclusions ...... 64 Bibliography ...... 66 Appendix 1. Shrinking Cities ...... 73 Appendix 2. Youngstown 2010 Maps ...... 74 Appendix 3: Content Analysis Data ...... 80 Appendix 4. Census 2000 Demographics ...... 85
v Table of Figures
Figure 1. The Growth Model in the United States ...... 10 Figure 3. New York’s campaign ...... 17 Figure 4. “Glasgow’s Miles Better” ...... 17 Figure 3. Community responses to urban decline ...... 19 Figure 6. Clearing an urban renewal area ...... 24 Figure 5. Summary of federal government programs ...... 26 Figure 7. Population decline in Youngstown and Pittsburgh since 1950 ...... 30 Figure 8. Coverage of Youngstown in the local paper in 2007 ...... 48 Figure 9. Coverage of Youngstown in the New York Times ...... 49 Figure 10. Coverage of Pittsburgh term “population” in the local paper ...... 51 Figure 11. Coverage of Pittsburgh in the New York Times ...... 52 Figure 12. Youngstown Current Zoning ...... 74 Figure 13. Youngstown Future Land Use ...... 75 Figure 14. Youngstown Future Recreational/Open Space/Agricultural Land Use ...... 76 Figure 15. Youngstown Future Industrial Land Use ...... 77 Figure 16. Youngstown Future Residential Land Use ...... 78 Figure 17. Youngstown Future Business Land Use ...... 79
vi Introduction
Youngstown, Ohio was once the center of the thriving industrial region of Eastern Ohio and
Western Pennsylvania. With Pittsburgh, it formed the heart of the national steel manufacturing industry. In the 1950s, Youngstown was Ohio’s seventh largest city and the 57th largest city in the United States (Swope 2006).
The 1960s brought many changes to Youngstown and other Midwestern and Northeastern cit- ies. The substantial loss of industrial jobs, and the residents that had depended on them for a living, halved the population of Youngstown—from 168,000 at its height in 1950 to 80,000 today. Youngstown became better known for its mob ties, corrupt politicians, and new federal prisons than for its steel production.
Today, things are changing yet again. Since the adoption of the Youngstown 2010 plan in 2005,
Youngstown has become the darling of the planning world. The Youngstown 2010 plan has struck a chord—the city’s young mayor, Jay Williams, is fielding calls from officials all over the
United States asking how they can create a plan of their own (Lanks 2006). Tellingly, one of the four major vision principles of the plan is “Improving Youngstown’s image and enhancing quality of life” (emphasis added).
What makes the Youngstown 2010 plan special? It is not a plan for growth; rather, it is a plan for reducing the infrastructure of the city and targeting future development and investment to better meet the needs of its remaining 80,000 residents. The theme of the plan is to make
Youngstown “clean and green” (City of Youngstown 2004), with green infrastructure—consist- ing of natural areas, parks, and recreation trails—replacing abandoned and deteriorated physical structures. The concept is so radical because in the United States, bigger is better; however, in the case of Youngstown, the city has chosen to accept—even embrace—its new smaller size.
Youngstown is hardly alone in dealing with the phenomena of population loss and shrinking
1 economic resources. Post-industrial cities in the Rust Belt of the United States have been los- ing population to their suburbs and other regions for decades (Oswalt 2006; Oswalt and Rieni- ets 2006; Pagano and Bowman 2000; Rybczynski 1995). Today, every sixth city in the world is losing population, while in many cases their suburbs are simultaneously expanding, creating a
“doughnut shaped” urban area (Oswalt and Rieniets 2006; Pallagst 2005).
Even as the population and density of these cities decrease, the infrastructure and physical area remain the same. Often, vacant and abandoned properties become safety hazards and nega- tively impact economic health (Pagano and Bowman 2000; Rybczynski 1995). Population loss and decreased tax revenue create a struggle for declining cities attempting to provide efficient services to their remaining residents. Residents with the means to do so leave the cities for more affluent suburbs or other metropolitan areas, the negative urban trends reinforce each other, and the physical downward spiral of the city continues (Jackson 1985; Moe and Wilkie
1997).
With the issue of shrinking populations comes the issue of the declining urban image. Rust
Belt cities have become synonymous with failed industrial communities with their suggestion of desolate streets, grey streetscapes, and unemployed residents. Political leaders are reluctant to admit that their cities are shrinking, and many turn to economic development strategies to lure residents back (Macenka 2007; Steelhammer 2006) or attempt to redevelop vacant land (Den- hez 2007; Jones 2005).
Today, the concept of guided urban shrinkage, like that proposed by Youngstown, is gaining ground on more traditional growth-oriented economic and physical development plans. A new movement variously called “right-sizing” (Rybczynski 1995), “creative shrinkage” (Lanks 2006),
“creative decline” (Swope 2006), “controlled shrinkage” (Aeppel 2007), or “smart decline” (Axel-
Lute 2007) is gaining currency among academics and community leaders. This concept calls
2 for planning proactively for the possible or likely population shrinkage of a city by adjusting its infrastructure, development patterns and governmental services to its reduced population.
Despite the Youngstown example, the concept of embracing the smaller population that is the reality of many aging cities has remained a primarily academic movement. Downsizing cities is anathema to current United States planning practice and theory, which is focused on growth, and most politicians are loathe to admit that continued decline is inevitable (Allweil 2007;
Pallagst 2006; Rybczynski and Linneman 1999). As a result, there is no accepted strategy for managing decline in urban areas. According to Karina Pallagst (2006), economic and population changes in shrinking cites in the United States should lead to changes in planning strategies. Up to now this has not happened. The goal of this thesis is to suggest strategies that can be used by federal, state and local governments to guide shrinkage, much in the way past programs have promoted revitalization and growth.
For the purpose of this study, the term “Creative Shrinkage” will be used. Although the term
“Planned Shrinkage” would be more appropriate, it carries negative connotations due to its use in a controversial proposal by Roger Starr in 1976.
Research Questions
This study seeks to determine whether Creative Shrinkage is primarily an academic movement that describes a set of urban conditions, or a shrinkage strategy that can be utilized by aging post-industrial cities. In order to address this issue, this study asks:
•What is Creative Shrinkage?
•How does it work?
•What role does marketing play?
•What components should existing government programs integrate to provide a blueprint
for downsizing cities?
3 In order to answer these questions, I will:
•Evaluate current government programs in place and determine whether these programs
can promote Creative Shrinkage
•Identify the ingredients necessary for a successful government strategy to address Cre-
ative Shrinkage
•Utilize the findings to suggest a new model to guide shrinkage in post-industrial cities.
In order to determine what these new components might be, I will conduct case studies of
Youngstown, Ohio, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. These two cities were once the center of the
Midwest region’s manufacturing, and today each has lost many employers and residents. The leaders of these cities are taking very different routes toward promoting overall quality of life;
Pittsburgh has adopted fairly conventional redevelopment strategies utilizing federal programs, redevelopment, and promotion, while Youngstown has adopted a radical new plan to reduce its infrastructure and change development patterns in the city.
Media and marketing has played a large role in both cities. In order to track the role of me- dia and marketing in Youngstown, I will perform a content analysis of the primary newspaper coverage of Youngstown and Pittsburgh during the years 2004 and 2007, as well as search the
New York Times for articles about each city between the periods of 1997 to 2007. The New York
Times has been chosen because it is generally considered the nation’s paper of record, and will provide a snapshot of the national impressions of each of these two cities over a decade.
Definition of Terms
Although most of the terms I will use in this study are fairly straightforward, I believe a few definitions will be helpful.
Blight: “‘Something that impairs growth, withers hopes and ambitions, or impedes progress and
4 prosperity. Within planning and redevelopment practice, blight may refer to these impairments on the physical fabric, on community structure and social fabric, or on the economy” (American
Planning Association Policy Guide on Public Redevelopment, ratified April 25, 2004).
Creative Shrinkage: The utilization of large-scale demolition, reclamation of vacant and aban- doned areas for green space, and reduction of the developed area of a city to improve quality of life and more efficiently meet the needs of its residents. This process may result in decreased urban density.
Post-industrial city: A city that has shifted from a center of industry to a marginal industrial cen- ter. Many of these cities reached their maximum population and wealth in the early 1900s due to their role as centers of the steel, coal, or auto industries. Post-industrial cities can gain popu- lation through immigration but are generally unable to regain their previous economic functions.
Shrinking Cities: Cities with populations greater than 100,000 that have been losing popula- tion steadily since 1950 due to deindustrialization and/or suburbanization (Oswalt and Rieniets
2006). See Appendix 1 for a map showing the distribution of shrinking cities worldwide.
Urban renewal: The attempt to improve the physical and economic health of a large area of a city through demolition or rehabilitation of existing structures; generally refers to governmental programs of the 1930s to 1960s.
Urban shrinkage: Loss of population resulting in the accumulation of vacant and abandoned structures and excess infrastructure.
5 Review of the Literature
A great deal of research has been done in recent years regarding declining cities in the United
States and Europe. The primary experts in the field of shrinking cities are Karina Pallagst, direc- tor of the Shrinking Cities in a Global Perspective Program at UC Berkeley’s Center for Global
Metropolitan Studies; Philip Oswalt, professor of Architecture and Design at the University of
Kassel, Germany; Terry Schwarz, Senior Planner Kent State University’s Urban Design Center of Northeast Ohio, which runs the Shrinking Cities Institute in Cleveland; and Hunter Morrison,
Director of the Center for Urban and Regional Studies at Youngstown State University. Other re- searchers in the field of post-industrial urban population decline are Robert Beauregard, Profes- sor of Urban Planning at Columbia University; and Witold Rybczynski, Professor of Urbanism and
Real Estate at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business.
The most unique aspect of Creative Shrinkage is its approach to promoting urban shrinkage rather than attempting to stop or reverse it. This literature review will discuss current growth- oriented planning models in the United States, community responses to urban decline, and federal programs designed to respond to urban decline and population loss as they relate to the concept of Creative Shrinkage.
The Organic City
Cities can be viewed in many ways as living organisms. They evolve, adapt and stabilize as con- ditions change, and have a symbiotic relationship with their environments and their residents.
Like organisms, some cities adapt to change more successfully than others. The ecosystem suc- cession model, proposed by Peter Newman in 1975, identifies an organic process of evolution, adaptation and stabilization that can be seen within the ecological concept of “dynamic equilib- rium.”
The economic succession model describes a process of succession from young to mature eco- system in the natural world after environmental disturbances such as clearance. In this model,
6 ecosystems renew themselves after each disturbance, begin the process of succession again, and can more effectively utilize energy and materials, space, information and governance as a result (Newman and Jennings 2008). Dynamic equilibrium holds than an ecosystem, like a city, can “persist through time only by constantly reacting to changes” (Kaufman and Franz
1993, 82). All ecosystems undergo succession, which is defined as “the gradual, sequential, and somewhat predictable changes” in the community (Kaufman and Franz 1993, 94). In the natural world, as in the built world, disturbance or decline is often a natural part of the cycle. In some cases, urban areas retain (or re-attain) maturity or dynamic equilibrium and do not face the cycle of decline; however, those cities are the exception rather than the rule.
The neighborhood life cycle model, proposed by Edward M. Hoover and Raymond Vernon
(1959) to explain smaller blocks of urban areas, expands upon the dynamic equilibrium concept.
This model delineates five stages of neighborhood-level urban growth:
•Stage 1: Single-family residential development
•Stage 2: Transition to higher density, apartment construction
•Stage 3: Downgrading to accommodate higher density through conversion and over
crowding of existing structures, spread of ethnic and minority districts
•Stage 4: Thinning-out or “shrinkage” characterized by population loss and decline in
housing units
•Stage 5: Renewal through public intervention, redevelopment and replacement of
obsolete housing with new multifamily apartments (emphasis added)
Hoover and Vernon’s model recognizes the place of decline in the natural urban cycle, and also points to public intervention as a means to reverse this decline. This intervention can also come in the form of private investment in neighborhoods due to proximity to the center city, historic housing stock, or other perceived amenities—a phenomenon commonly referred to as gentrifi- cation.
7 Today’s aging post-industrial cities are fighting to regain their equilibrium after significant shifts in population, economy and finances. At issue is the fact that today’s planning models focus pri- marily on the growth and stability stages of organic growth, but planners have not considered
Creative Shrinkage as a possible approach to reversing the decline stage. This is due primarily to the dominance of the growth model in United States planning practice.
The Growth Model in the United States
Today’s planning models are focused on guiding urban growth in appropriate ways. The domi- nant and most familiar planning theories are those of the Chicago School. E. W. Burgess pro- posed the concentric ring theory in 1925; this theory focuses on the concepts of invasion, succession and segregation. The assumption is that cities will grow in concentric rings from the
Central Business District (CBD), with each zone invading the next as the CBD grows. Homer
Hoyt expanded on the concentric ring theory with the sector theory in 1933; he identified wedges of urban uses projecting from the CBD along transportation routes which results in an urban form that extends in a star shape rather than a ring. The multiple nuclei theory, proposed by C. D. Harris and E. Ullman in 1945, suggests that a city grows around multiple nuclei within an urban area, such as neighborhood centers, employment centers and edge cities, and does not subscribe to the concept of a single CBD.
Although the details and shape of each model differ, they have in common the assumption of continued urban growth and expanding singular or multiple urban centers. Harvey Molotch goes further, arguing that “the very essence of a locality is its operation as a growth machine…the clearest indication of growth is a constantly rising urban-area population” (1976, 310). Molotch frames the growth of cities as a zero sum game, with each city competing with others for a finite amount of industry, employment and population—a theory very much at odds with current growth-oriented planning models, which assume an endless supply of all three. He identifies growth as the natural desire of those in power, and land use and industry as a means of con-
8 trolling that growth.
At the opposite end of the growth spectrum is the phenomena of urban shrinkage (often cou- pled with suburban growth), which has remained fairly quiet in the national discussion—shrink- ing cities face a stigma because of Americans’ desire for the bigger and better, and the reluc- tance of politicians to admit that their cities are losing population (Beauregard 2003; Molotch
1976; Pallagst 2005). Regardless, urban shrinkage is becoming increasingly hard to ignore and many city leaders are realizing that they will need to consider it as a possibility. Youngstown,
Ohio, has adopted a plan with the reduction of city infrastructure and demolition of buildings as a central proposal (City of Youngstown 2005); Buffalo, New York, recently adopted a plan to demolish over 5,000 vacant and abandoned structures in five years in order to reduce the city’s vacancy rate (City of Buffalo 2007); and Richmond, Virginia, is replacing vacant houses with parks, wildlife refuges and bike trails (El Nasser 2006).
A History of Urban Shrinkage
The continuous organic cycle of growth, stability and decline has been with us almost as long as cities themselves. Ancient Rome reached the zenith of its population in the fourth century, when almost 1 million people called the city home. In the fourteenth century, the population had been reduced to 10,000 people (Tung 2001). Today, the city has continued the cyle and grown to
2,655,370 residents. The city of Venice, Italy had a population of 150,000 in 1500 (Tung 2001), grew to 180,000 in the seventeenth century, and today has a population of 137,000 (Rybczynski and Linneman 1999).
Various statistics speak to the severity of the problem of urban shrinkage: one in every six cit- ies in the world is shrinking, and 59 of these cities are in the United States (Pallagst 2005). In response to this trend in Europe and abroad, the term “Shrinking Cities” was coined in 2002 by the Shrinking Cities Project of Germany’s Federal Cultural Foundation, which has undertaken the
9 most comprehensive study of the trend of shrinking post-industrial cities to date.
Though the concept of “shrinking cities” has been a topic of discussion for many years in Ger- many and other European countries (Oswalt 2005; van Hasselt 2007), it has only recently emerged in the United States. While post-industrial American cities lost their population over the course of decades, Eastern Germany suffered the same loss in a matter of years; following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Eastern Europe lost more than one million residents by 2004, leaving behind more than one million vacant houses in empty factory towns that had no expec- tation of regaining former populations (Karina Pallagst cited in El Nasser 2006). Urban shrinkage in the United States is unique because it is often accompanied by suburban growth as popula- tion and employment moves outward. The advantage is that the slow progress of most post-in- dustrial urban shrinkage allows us time to consider our options.
Figure 1. The Growth Model in the United States
Source: Burgess 1925; Garreau 1991; Harris and Ullman 1945; Hoover and Vernon 1959; Hoyt 1933; Molotch 1976; Newman 1975
10 Community Responses to Urban Decline
The first instinct of most city leaders facing population loss and urban shrinkage is to attempt to reverse it (Jones 2005; Steelhammer 2006). Cities have initiated marketing and redevelop- ment strategies in the hopes of attracting more residents and employers; attempted to annex surrounding suburban and rural communities; replaced abandoned and vacant structures with green spaces and parks; and courted dual-income couples with no children to trendy downtown residential areas. However, some cities such as Youngstown, Ohio, and Richmond, Virginia, have determined that rather than attempting to grow, they will accept their current size and attempt to improve the quality of life for remaining residents (Axel-Lute 2007; El Nasser 2006).
The concept of planning for the decline of cities in the United States is not new. Academics have been suggesting strategies to address shrinkage for decades. Two of those strategies, “planned shrinkage” and “right-sizing”, share some commonalities with the concept of Creative Shrinkage.
Planned Shrinkage
In 1976, former New York City Housing Commissioner Roger Starr suggested a program of
“planned shrinkage” be applied to the parts of New York that were largely vacant and aban- doned (Starr 1976). In the New York Times article “Making New York Smaller” (1976), Starr argued 1) that the state of New York would never regain its manufacturing supremacy, 2) that the city of New York was well on its way toward economic decline, and 3) that serious consid- eration should be given to taking some areas of the city offline until future development needs emerged.
As part of this proposal, Starr suggested 1) resettling residents of severely declining neighbor- hoods in areas still viable and 2) discontinuing services to vacant parts of the city. Starr stated that “the natural flow out of areas that have lost general attraction” should be encouraged by city government (Starr 1976, 225), and proposed that unused land be taken “off-line” un-
11 til future development required it. The goal was to save funds in the face of New York State’s impending financial crisis by reducing infrastructure and services in areas with low and declining populations. He specifically targeted areas such as the South Bronx, which had gained a reputa- tion for crime and poverty during the 1960s due in part to disruption caused by urban renewal and highway projects (Acitelli 2005; Tarver 2007). The dire situation in the Bronx of the 1970s has been compared to the concept of “triage”, a wartime system used to “set priorities for the wounded by concentrating care on those who have the most chance of survival” (Gratz 1989,
180).
Although the program of “planned shrinkage” was never formally adopted, residents of the poor, largely minority communities that it addressed claim that the city eliminated fire and safety ser- vices in parts of the South Bronx, due in part to the large number of arsons in the area (Axel-
Lute 2007; Gratz 1989). This sense of pessimism resulted in the precipitous physical and social decline of the area and a strong distrust of urban planning among residents. Today, however, the situation is starkly different; housing in New York City continues to increase in value and the communities targeted by “planned shrinkage” are thriving (Acitelli 2005; Axel-Lute 2007).
Downsizing
Almost twenty years later, University of Pennsylvania professor Witold Rybczynski proposed the concept of downsizing cities in an article in The Atlantic Monthly. Rybczynski suggested that aging post-industrial cities, particularly those in the northeast and Midwest, had lost the oppor- tunity to expand their populations by annexation and must now look to alternatives. He stated that “downsizing has affected private institutions, public agencies, and the military, as well as businesses. Why not cities?” (Rybczynski 1995, 38). His solution? Cities that had suffered popu- lation loss would be wise to consider “right-sizing” their cities by consolidating population and services, removing unused buildings and infrastructure, and work toward making the developed area of the city more compact and lucrative (Rybczynski 1995). Like many of the terms used in
12 the article, “right-sizing” was borrowed from military and corporate terminology and suggested a more business-like approach to evaluating cities.
In 1999, Rybczynski, along with Peter D. Linneman, revisited the topic in their article “How to
Save Our Shrinking Cities”. In making comparisons between the vertical, or historic city, and the horizontal, or automobile-friendly city they find the vertical city wanting. In pursuit of creating a more horizontal city, they state:
“Just as physicians should allow gracious and healthy decline as people age, so too must our planners manage older cities. However, just as aging is not merely adolescence in reverse, urban planning for shrinkage is fundamentally different than planning for growth” (Rybczynski and Linneman 1999, 30).
The article suggests the consolidation of large tracts of vacant center city land for sale to pri- vate developers or the federal government, as well as the de-annexation of portions of the physical city to private developers, who would take on the costs of infrastructure maintenance and resident services. Though these are radical suggestions, they speak to the increasing need of the time to look at shrinking cities honestly.
Like Starr, Rybczynski addressed the idea of relocating residents of declining neighborhoods, consolidating residents into areas that remained viable; Rybczynski suggests building large, single-family residences in place of higher-density housing in the inner city in order to increase the city’s competitive advantage with the suburbs, with the belief that suburban growth is the key to saving the shrinking city.
Although this strategy has not been formally adopted in any city, some post-industrial cities are finding the center city reverting to low-density, quasi-rural uses (Axel-Lute 2007; DelVecchio
2007). The city of Youngstown, Ohio is considering allowing residents to purchase entire city blocks, plant orchards in vacant lots, or incorporate agricultural uses into the city with the hopes that suburbanites will be attracted by the idea of a semi-rural home in the city (Axel-Lute 2007;
13 DelVecchio 2007; El Nasser 2006). The city of Cleveland is considering replacing an urban neighborhood called “the Forgotten Triangle” with a tree nursery—an idea that has considerable support among residents and academics alike (Perkins and Breckenridge 2007). The city of De- troit has allowed some inner city areas to revert to an “urban prairie” through neglect (Axel-Lute
2007; McMillan 2008).
This dramatic break with traditional growth- and density-oriented urban planning models and practice has forced shrinking post-industrial cities to consider what they want to look like in the future. One outgrowth of this consideration has been increasing interest in Creative Shrinkage.
Creative Shrinkage
Creative Shrinkage has emerged as a synthesis of Starr’s “planned shrinkage” and Rybczynski’s
“downsizing”—like these proposals, the concept of Creative Shrinkage calls for planning proac- tively for the possible or likely shrinkage of a city by adjusting its infrastructure and developed area to its reduced population. However, Creative Shrinkage calls for a high level of community involvement in order to avoid the criticisms that were leveled against planned shrinkage.
Plans that contain Creative Shrinkage components generally call for a reduction of physical structures and associated services; an expansion of “green infrastructure”, which is generally defined as a network of side yards, parks, recreational trails, urban agriculture, community gardens, and open space (Axel-Lute 2007); a focus on “quality of life” issues to retain current residents and perhaps lure new investment; and lower-density residential development in the inner city. This paradoxical approach to urban development--increasing the number of green spaces and amenities while accepting a smaller population to utilize and finance it—is a hall- mark of this approach. One outcome of Creative Shrinkage can be decreased physical density in the inner city, leading to a suburban or even rural development pattern. A study by INTERBORO
Partners, an urban planning and design firm in New York City, have coined this phenomenon the
14 “New Suburbanism” (Armborst, D’Oca and Theodore 2006).
Perhaps because of its commonality with planned shrinkage and downsizing, Creative Shrinkage has emerged as a somewhat controversial concept. Critics see echoes of the “planned shrink- age” strategy. They voice concerns that those remaining in neighborhoods slated for clearance will be the most vulnerable—the poor, elderly, minority, and underrepresented (Aeppel 2007;
Axel-Lute 2007; Gratz 2007). Critics as diverse as author Roberta Brandes Gratz and Cleveland
Mayor Frank Jackson feels that the decision of some shrinking cities such as Youngstown to limit local and federal investment to particular parts of the city is uncomfortably close to the mid-1900s policy of redlining in neighborhoods considered “distressed”, i.e. racially mixed (Gratz
1989; Perkins and Breckenridge 2007; Swope 2006).
Also of concern is the fact that the South Bronx has seen a significant increase in investment and construction since the economic crisis of the 1970s, causing the planned shrinkage proposal to appear short-sighted; some researchers feel that these “weak-market” cities may rebound in the future, and that it is a mistake to plan for them to remain small (Axel-Lute 2007; Burnett
2003). Roberta Brandes Gratz, an outspoken proponent of citizen activism and grass roots urban development, states:
“Demolition as a development tool is back in vogue. Not since the discredited post war urban renewal policies of the 1970s have political leaders embraced so wholeheartedly the idea of bulldozing vast tracks [sic] of vacant residential structures—and consequently, demolishing existing urban fabric, undermining local initiative, derailing organic regeneration, and displacing longtime residents and local businesses” (Gratz 2007).
Gratz, like Jane Jacobs before her, believes that the organic regeneration of cities is not only possible, but a necessary part of the cycle of growth, stability, and decline (Gratz 1989; Gratz
2007; Jacobs 1961). Rather than intervention, she points to grass roots activism as the key to regenerating declining communities. However, in cities that are facing serious population loss
15 and industrial abandonment, grass roots activism may not be enough.
Despite these concerns, there are also many supporters of Creative Shrinkage. Some residents of Youngstown look forward to lower density residential areas and larger lots, with the belief
“that is what people want today” (Aeppel 2007, 3; Editor 2007). Other supporters, primarily academics, see Creative Shrinkage as a means of improving the quality of life for remaining residents by creating “green infrastructure” and larger urban residential lots, as well as creating a stronger market for remaining properties (Aeppel 2007; DelVecchio 2007; Lanks 2006; Mor- rison 2006; Rybczynski and Linneman 1999).
Planners and academics have focused on the dominant planning paradigm of growth and have been slow to focus on managed decline (Pallagst 2006; Rybczynski and Linneman 1999). Politi- cians in shrinking cities are loathe to admit that their cities are losing population and do not expect to regain it (El Nasser 2006; Perkins and Breckenridge 2007; Steelhammer 2006; Swope
2006). Mayor Frank Jackson of Cleveland is facing substantial population loss in his city—34,000 in the last six years; Mayor Jackson’s response to that population loss is quoted in Perkins and
Breckenridge (2007):
“We’re going to grow...we’re going to stabilize and we’re going to grow. What the growth is, I don’t know. When it will happen, I don’t know. But we’re working on it.”
Mayor Jackson’s attitude toward shrinkage is not unusual, and has hampered the conversation about shrinkage in many areas and has slowed the adoption of a formal Creative Shrinkage strategy. Convincing him, and other city officials and residents, will be the true task of Creative
Shrinkage proponents. Urban image marketing can be a very powerful tool in that campaign.
Urban Image Marketing
Both planned shrinkage and downsizing emphasize adapting of the city to changing economic,
16 cultural and physical conditions. Post-industrial cities that have lost their primary industries must also adapt to changing market conditions. An important component of many post-industrial urban revitalization strategies is marketing and promotion; the literature states that the most effective way to shift the image of a city is to market a new image to potential investors, poten- tial consumers, and current residents (Goodwin 1993; Holcomb 1993; Ward 2006). These urban marketing activities focus on adapting to changing economic, cultural and political realities—a reality where the decline of industry has resulted in a loss of both employment and identity, and government is considered more of a cause than a solution to urban ills (Goodwin 1993). In many cities, market forces are considered the only realistic means of re-establishing a healthy community.
In the past two decades, urban marketing efforts have become increasingly sophisticated.
Holcomb (1993, 133) states that “the primary goal of the place marketer is to construct a new image to replace either vague or negative images previously held by current or potential resi- dents, investors and visitors.” Potential investors must be convinced that the city is the best place to locate their business; consumers must be convinced that the city has much to offer in terms of shopping, culture, or recreation; and residents of the city must be convinced that the
Figure 3. New York’s campaign Figure 4. “Glasgow’s Miles Better”
Source: nymag.com/daily/intel/0070213iloveny.gif Source: www.hiddenglasgow.com/misc/images/
17 city remains a source of pride and that its new post-industrial purpose is worthwhile (Holcomb
1993; Ward 2006).
Two of the most frequently discussed examples of successful urban marketing campaigns are those introduced by New York State and Glasgow, Scotland. The state of New York introduced the Milton Glaser-designed “I NY” campaign in 1977, as a response to the same statewide financial crisis that inspired Roger Starr’s planned shrinkage proposal. The state was on the brink of bankruptcy and was hemorrhaging population and businesses, and the crime rate in
New York City was rising steadily (Stohr 2003). Though the campaign was statewide, it is pri- marily associated with New York City today and has inspired knock-offs all over the world. New
York City is now known as a center of tourism, finance, culture and entertainment rather than a center of crime and poverty.
Glasgow, recognizing that government intervention alone would not offer a solution to its problems, launched a citywide marketing campaign in 1983. An image of Mr. Happy was paired with the slogan “Glasgow’s Miles Better” (a play on “Glasgow smiles better”) and supported by sustained investment in culture and entertainment. The program is generally considered a suc- cess (Fretter 1993; Holcomb 1993; Ward 2006); due in great part to this campaign, Glasgow was named the 1990 European City of Culture by the European Union; however, other economic sectors have not improved as greatly as tourism (Ward 2006).
Although marketing campaigns may succeed in reconstructing the image of a city, they do not necessarily address the issues that plague aging post-industrial cities—unemployment, poverty, and the loss of young residents to name a few (Holcomb 1993). It is clear that a multi-faceted approach is needed to address the issues faced by aging and shrinking post-industrial cities.
Many cities opt to utilize federal programs in tandem with community-level approaches.
18 Figure 3. Community responses to urban decline
Source: Goodwin 1993; Holcomb 1993; Morrision 2006; Oswalt 2006; Pallagst 2005; Rybczynski 1995; Starr 1976; Ward 2006
Federal Responses to Urban Decline
The federal government initiated many programs in the twentieth century to assist declining cities through inner city revitalization and economic development. The focus of these programs was the revitalization of deteriorated and blighted inner city neighborhoods through demolition and reconstruction of the physical fabric; encouragement of private investment through sig- nificant public investment; and encouraging renewed economic and social activity in the urban core.
Urban Renewal
The modernization of cities has often been synonymous with wiping the slate clean and replac- ing the old with the new, from Haussmann’s Paris to Le Corbusier’s Radiant City (Jacobs 1961;
Le Corbusier 1971; Starr 1967). This approach was implemented in the United States by the federal urban renewal programs of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s with limited success.
Contemporary programs for urban renewal were initiated by the Housing Act of 1937. The Act encouraged public housing construction by providing federal funding for projects owned and operated by local housing authorities, and offered funding for slum clearance and reconstruction
19 of housing (Mitchell 1985; O’Conner 1999). Urban renewal experts believed that by creating an attractive physical environment, the social and economic ills of the inner city would be mini- mized.
The Housing Act of 1949 combined public housing with slum clearance. The urban redevelop- ment program was initially introduced as a district re-planning program to rebuild areas that were determined to be economic liabilities—in other words, urban renewal was an economic tool rather than a direct slum removal tool (Mitchell 1985). Local housing authorities demolished entire neighborhoods with the assistance of federal funds, replacing low-income housing with moderate-income communities (O’Conner 1999). Where there was insufficient demand the land remained vacant. Although the focus of Figure 6. Clearing an urban renewal area the 1949 Act was primarily on residential
slums in large urban areas, it resulted in
widespread clearance of the urban physi-
cal fabric and changed the character of
many cities forever.
The primary goal of urban renewal was
to make inner cities competitive with the
growing suburbs by creating more open Source: http://www.urbanphoto.net/blog/wp-content/ uloads/2006/12/centralartery-boston.jpg spaces, parks, and other amenities that the suburbs provided; however, post-1949 urban renewal has been widely criticized (Jackson
1985; Jacobs 1961; Moe and Wilkie 1997; O’Conner 1999). Due to the top-down nature of the federal program, many poor and minority urban residents were displaced by slum clearance, highway construction, and other public works projects. The middle-classes continued to flee to the suburbs, leaving behind ever-increasing urban decay and ever-decreasing tax bases.
20 Community Development Block Grants
The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program was created by the Housing and
Community Development Act of 1974 to “develop viable urban communities by providing decent housing and a suitable living environment, and by expanding economic opportunities, principally for low- and moderate-income persons” (HUD web site 2008). The program focuses on physi- cal redevelopment and economic growth as a path to revitalization.
CDBG funds can be used for property acquisition; relocation and demolition; construction of public facilities and improvements, such as water and sewer facilities, streets, neighborhood centers, and the conversion of school buildings for eligible purposes; public services, within certain limits; activities relating to energy conservation and renewable energy resources; and provision of assistance to profit-motivated businesses to carry out economic development and job creation/retention activities (HUD web site 2008). Politicians and public officials in shrink- ing cities fear losing CDBG funds—they are only available to cities with populations of 50,000 or more, or qualified urban counties with populations of 200,000 or more. This underlines the focus of federal programs on growth and expansion, and the challenges and stigma associated with a city that is trying to use federal funds to shrink gracefully.
The CDBG program differs from urban renewal in its emphasis on citizen and local govern- ment involvement. Cities that receive CDBG funds must provide a detailed plan that encourages citizen participation, particularly among residents of low- and moderate-income communities, including “slums or blighted areas” (HUD web site 2008). The CDBG program is still available today, and most urban areas in the United States utilize CDBG funds to battle urban decline.
Urban Development Action Grant
The Urban Development Action Grant (UDAG) program was created in 1977 by an amendment to the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. The purpose of the program was to
21 “revitalize severely distressed urban places through the encouragement of private sector invest- ment” (Reed 1989). The focus was on the physical and economic revitalization of high-poverty areas through the encouragement of private development.
The UDAG program was designed to enhance the CDBG program by providing funds for unique development opportunities and providing additional funding that would allow communities to leverage significant private investments. UDAG fundes provided the difference between an unprofitable and profitable private project that “but for” UDAG funds would not be built (HUD
1985, 2; Smith 1989). The funds were designed to support public-private partnerships and could be used for clearance, site improvements, provision of infrastructure, and rehabilitation or construction of commercial, industrial and mixed-use developments (HUD 1985, 2). In a nod to the economic strain of the late 1970s, ommunities had to meet various criteria to receive UDAG funds, including the reduction of American dependence on foreign oil by utilizing energy-saving measures in new developments (HUD 1985).
The program encouraged development in distressed areas, including “pockets of poverty” where the poverty level was higher than the national poverty level, and required that the development provide employment opportunities, services and physical improvements, and job opportunities for low-income persons, among other things (HUD 1985). The UDAG program awarded $4.6 billion to assist about 3,000 economic development projects in more than 1,200 cities during its
12 years of operation (Reed 1989; Rich 1992), and is generally recognized for shifting the em- phasis of federal redevelopment programs from a “donor mentality that emphasized tax abate- ments and infrastructure improvements” (Rich 1992, 150) to a model that encouraged (in fact, required) public-private partnerships and a more entrepreneurial approach. The UDAG program was also unique in its emphasis on a recapture of the federal funds invested (Smith 1989; Rich
1992).
22 Although UDAG was generally considered a successful program with significant impact in declin- ing cities, it did not have support in the Reagan administration, which emphasized private-sector development and the reduction of government assistance to communities. UDAG was de-funded and discontinued in 1988.
Renewal Communities/Empowerment Zones/Enterprise Communities
The U.S. Renewal Communities, Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities (RC/EZ/EC) program was created in 1993, and is administered by HUD. The program was designed to as- sist local communities with attracting economic and community development. The Community
Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000 created the Renewal Community (RC) designation and allowed for an expansion of the EZ program. The RC/EZ/EC program is administered as part of the
CDBG program.
The Enterprise Zone program began in the early 1980s as an exclusively local and state-directed economic development strategy; the federal government entered the Enterprise Zone arena with the Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Community Act of 1993. State and local Enterprise
Zone programs focused on a reduction in taxes and deregulation in urban areas in order to at- tract primarily industrial development (Peters and Fisher 2002).
Early Enterprise Zones followed on the heels of urban renewal, which many urban politicians had come to see as a destructive force (Peters and Fisher 2002). The emphasis on connecting economic and community development was appealing after the single-minded physical develop- ment focus of urban renewal. State Enterprise Zone programs generally include some combina- tion of tax breaks, property tax abatement, job tax credits, and other economic incentives (Pe- ters and Fisher 2002). Like federal RC/EZ/EC programs, state incentives are targeted specifically at distressed areas, generally older inner-city neighborhoods, which are identified by the local or state recipient in accordance with a set of guidelines.
23 The Interim Assessment of the Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities (EZ/EC)
Program commissioned by HUD in 2001 studied eighteen EZ and EC communities and “how successfully they had implemented the four key EZ/EC principles: assessing the creation of jobs and economic opportunity for zone residents; developing community-based partnerships; sus- taining community development; and developing a strategic vision for change” (Hebert, Vidal,
Mills, James, and Gruenstein 2001; iii). The report shows that the results of the EZ/EC program have been mixed. The majority of the first-round EZ recipient areas showed an employment increase and a faster employment growth rate than surrounding areas; all of the study areas showed an increase in the number of residents employed, along with resident and minority business ownership; however, very few businesses located in EZs utilize the incentives available
(Hebert, Vidal, Mills, James, and Gruenstein 2001). The study also found that EZ communities provide a great deal of resident representation on governing committees; sustained community development has been difficult to maintain in EZ communities; and those EZ communities with focused strategic plans and strong leadership were more successful than those without, al- though it did not identify how many of the study communities were utilizing successful strategic plans.
The results of HUD’s report were generally inconclusive, and another report has not been com- pleted. The program’s focus on public-private redevelopment of distressed urban areas has not been fully positive, and in some respects has been neutral. The RC/EZ/EC program continues to receive federal funding.
HOPE VI
In 1993 HUD launched the HOPE VI (Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere) program to demolish and rebuild the 86,000 public housing units that were deemed in need of revitalization or demolition at the time (Bennett et al 2006; Schwartz 2006). Since its implementation, the
HOPE VI program has funded the demolition and redevelopment of over 150,000 units of public
24 housing (Schwartz 2006). The focus of the program is on physical revitalization along with economic and community development. HOPE VI developments are generally mixed-tenure and mixed-income and follow New Urbanist design principles.
The HOPE VI program differs from the earlier urban renewal program in its focus on not only physical structures, but also resident empowerment and community development (Mitchell
1985, Schwartz 2006). HOPE VI aims to create attractive, mixed-income, and lower-density public housing developments in order to provide a healthier living environment for public hous- ing residents (Schwartz 2006). Some criticisms of HOPE VI relate to the fact that public hous- ing units are often not replaced one-for-one and that the ability of local housing authorities to implement increased security checks and restrictions for tenants results in few residents being able to return to the new development (Popkin et al 2004). Those residents who cannot return and are in good standing are offered rental vouchers or accommodation in other public housing developments.
Despite these criticisms, the federal government continues to fund the HOPE VI program, and there are numerous successful mixed-income, mixed-tenure lower-density HOPE VI develop- ments throughout the country.
Summary
The literature review shows that the growth-oriented model of urban planning has retained a position of primacy for decades, long after it has become certain that some aging post-indus- trial cities will not continue to grow. Declining communities have addressed community decline in numerous ways that focus on reducing infrastructure and buildings: Roger Starr’s planned shrinkage was roundly criticized but points to the negative economic impact that excess build- ings and infrastructure can have; Witold Rybczynksi’s downsizing proposal suggests looking at the city like a business and making it leaner and meaner to compete in a more competitive
25 market; Creative Shrinkage suggests that the way to reduce the negative economic impact of excess physical development, along with creating a more competitive urban environment, is to reduce infrastructure and development in areas of the city deemed unviable; and many aging post-industrial cities in the United States and abroad have turned to urban image marketing as a means to promote a new version of their community.
Federal responses to urban decline (with the exception of RC/EZ/EC, which often focuses on former industrial areas outside of the center city) have focused on economic, physical and social redevelopment in distressed inner-city neighborhoods with the hopes of rebuilding the former vibrancy and economic health aging post-industrial cities—often in the very neighborhoods Cre- ative Shrinkage suggests clearing out and replacing with green infrastructure.
In order to evaluate the impact of community responses to shrinkage and federal redevelop- ment programs, the next sections will focus on case studies of Youngstown, Ohio and Pitts- burgh, Pennsylvania, as well as a modified print media content analysis to determine whether these cities are utilizing image marketing and if so, does it appear to be effective?
Figure 5. Summary of federal government programs
Source: HUD 1985; HUD 2008
26 Methodology
In order further explore the questions raised in the literature review I will evaluate the respons- es to decline put forth by Youngstown, Ohio, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As part of this evalu- ation, I will use two primary analytical methods to interpret data: case studies of Youngstown and Pittsburgh and content analysis of the primary local print media of each city. I will conduct the case studies according to the methodology put forth in Bruce Berg’s Qualitative Research
Methods for the Social Sciences—6th Edition (2007), and the content analysis according to the methodology put forth in Budd, Thorp and Donohew’s Content Analysis of Communications
(1967).
Case studies are used in many academic disciplines to gather and analyze data which pro- vide an in-depth view of a certain concept or issue (Berg 2007). My purpose for conducting case studies is to gain a better understanding of the causes of urban growth and decline in
Youngstown and Pittsburgh, as well as the methods they have used to address urban decline and population loss. Youngstown has adopted a Creative Shrinkage approach, while Pittsburgh has utilized conventional economic development and physical revitalization activities. This type of case study is appropriate because it “allows a better understanding, insight, or perhaps improved ability to theorize about a broader context” (Berg 2007, 292), such as revitalization or shrinkage strategies in declining post-industrial cities.
The case studies will compare each city’s growth, decline, and response to population and job loss. The response section will be broken down into the physical, economic and marketing re- sponses to decline. I will look at the following questions: First, who are the actors in each city?
Second, what have they done? Third, what programs have been implemented? Finally, do they seem to be working?
As stated earlier, marketing can play a significant role in the revitalization strategies of ag- ing post-industrial cities. I will conduct a content analysis of the primary local print media in
27 Youngstown and Pittsburgh for two reasons: to determine the success of any marketing efforts in changing the local view of the two cities, and to determine the role that marketing and image management play in the revitalization plans of each city. Like case studies, content analysis is used in many disciplines. It combines the “hard” data of the natural sciences with the qualita- tive data of the social sciences, and in the process provides a more nuanced view of communi- cations than simple word counts can provide. Content analysis is “fundamentally empirical in orientation, exploratory, concerned with real phenomena, and predictive in intent” (Krippendorff
1980, 9). The purpose of content analysis in this study is to empirically evaluate the messages being disseminated to the communities of Youngstown and Pittsburgh; exploring the issues of importance in those communities; evaluating the impact of community redevelopment efforts on the messages being relayed; and determining whether those messages are trending in a posi- tive or negative direction.
Newspaper coverage of a city is an important source of information about local politics, con- flicts, and achievements. Local newspapers often act as boosters for the locality they serve. Ac- cording to Molotch (1976), the strength of a newspaper is related to the population of the com- munity where it is located, and one of the sources of a newspaper’s power is its commitment to city growth. I will utilize a modified content analysis of the primary newspapers in Youngstown and Pittsburgh to evaluate each city’s attitude regarding population loss or gain. Youngstown and its environs receive their news from the Youngstown Vindicator, while Pittsburgh is served by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. I will search each newspaper between the dates of January 1,
2004 to December 31, 2004 and January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007. The year 2004 was chosen because that is the year before the Youngstown 2010 Plan was adopted in Youngstown and also the year before the Allegheny County comprehensive planning process began (Pitts- burgh is the largest metropolitan area in Allegheny County); the year 2007 was chosen because it is the most recent completed calendar year.
28 In addition to the primary newspaper sources for Youngstown and Pittsburgh, I will conduct a search of the New York Times archives for articles regarding each city for the time frame of
1997 to 2007. This portrayal of trends for each city over the past ten years will show how na- tional coverage of each city has shifted in a positive or negative direction, as well as the primary causes of that shift.
29 Case Studies
Youngstown and Pittsburgh have been chosen for these case studies due to their similar his- tories and proximity to each other, as well as the fact that each city has lost almost half of its population since 1950. Together, these cities were once the center of steel production in the
United States and perhaps the world. They both experienced marked declines in population, employment and wealth that mirrored that of the United States steel industry as a whole.
Pittsburgh has long been home to a number of educational and cultural institutions, and at its height was more than twice as large as Youngstown. Perhaps because Pittsburgh has more resources to draw upon, its leaders have implemented fairly conventional redevelopment strat- egies. In contrast, Youngstown boasts more educational and cultural institutions than many comparably sized cities, but has less industrial diversity and fewer resources to draw upon. The city has turned to unconventional redevelopment strategies in its Youngstown 2010 plan.
Figure 7. Population decline in Youngstown and Pittsburgh since 1950
Source: U.S. Census 1950-2000
Youngstown
Growth
Youngstown was founded in the early 1800s by John Young, who chose the site for its pros- pects as farmland and purchased more than 15,000 acres of land (Linkon and Russo 2002). The
Mahoning Valley also boasted a number of natural resources, including timber, bog iron, and limestone (Linkon and Russo 2002).
The discovery of “Brier Hill Black” coal, named after the Youngstown estate where it was lo- cated in 1844, revolutionized the iron industry and propelled its expansion (Linkon and Russo
30 2002). By 1872, eleven blast furnaces were built in Youngstown, and another ten were built in the surrounding area. The population reached 44,000 by 1900; by 1920, it had almost tripled to 132,358 (U.S. Census Bureau 1920). The city came to be known as “Steeltown, U.S.A.” The early population growth was diverse, and included the arrival of many immigrants and African-
Americans along with the political fractures that continue today (Linkon and Russo 2002). In the early 1900s there was also an increase in organized crime families, who saw in the wealth and immigrant population of Youngstown their own “Little Chicago” (Grann 2000).
During the Great Depression, Youngstown was hard hit. The unemployment rate was about 23 percent, and unions began to recruit the unemployed steel workers. Conditions improved with the outbreak of World War II, and Youngstown’s steel mills were busy once again (Linkon and
Russo 2002). The increase in employment and the wages negotiated by the unions allowed steel workers to move to the suburbs, and the process of suburbanization started in earnest in the mid-1940s.
Decline
In the 1950s and 1960s, Youngstown experienced many social and physical changes. The popu- lation of Youngstown reached its height of 168,340 in 1950. During this period, local organized crime battled with crime families from larger cities for control of the area (Grann 2000). This led to a 1963 cover story in the Saturday Evening Post which coined Youngtown’s newest nickname,
“Crime Town, U.S.A.” (Grann 2000; Linkon and Russo 2002).
As in many other cities, the 1960s brought urban renewal and freeway construction. The I-680 beltway provided increased mobility and exacerbated the suburbanization of the city (Linkon and Russo 2002). The center city lost population even as the suburbs expanded, and Steeltown
U.S.A. began its precipitous decline. Youngstown also began to face a locational disadvantage.
Its position on the Mahoning River and access to the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal, as well as
31 access to rail transportation, had once made it a prime location; however, as steel mills began to locate near large bodies of water to reduce transportation costs, Youngstown lost some of its competitive edge (City Planning Associates, Inc. 1968; Linkon and Russo 2002).
The city’s dependency on steel production was highlighted in a 1968 City Planning Associates,
Inc. economic study, which warned against reliance on the steel industry and recommended diversifying. This report predicted a net loss of 8,000 jobs by 1985—a number that proved to be extremely conservative (City Planning Associates, Inc. 1968). In fact, Youngstown Sheet and Tube, U.S. Steel, and Republic Steel closed down plants in Youngstown between 1977 and
1982, resulting in the loss of about 50,000 jobs in the steel industry and an unemployment rate of 24.9 percent in 1983, higher than the Great Depression rate (Linkon and Russo 2002).
The closing of the major steel mills in Youngstown impacted the social and economic landscape of the city. Many former steel workers left the region in search of work, and the income level of those who remained declined significantly (Linkon and Russo 2002). A spike in foreclosures led to declining real estate values, and much of the vacant housing stock was destroyed by demoli- tion or arson (Linkon and Russo 2002). During the 1990s, the murder rate in Youngstown was eight times the national average, compounding the image of the community as Crime Town
U.S.A. (Russo and Linkon 2003).
Today, Youngstown’s population is about 80,000—less than half of the population of its heyday.
Population loss continues, though the decline has slowed since 2000 (U.S. Census 2006). In search of employment and investment, the city has turned to various types of economic de- velopment. Four prisons were built in the Youngstown area between 1992 and 1997, providing over a thousand jobs and millions of dollars in payroll and economic activity (Russo and Linkon
2003).
32 Responses
Early Responses
The city of Youngstown was not quick to respond to its changing fortunes. In 1968, Mayor
Anthony Flask oversaw the preparation of a regional economic study. The study indicated that
Youngstown’s primary weakness was a dependence on the steel industry, followed closely by an image problem created by stories of racial tension, organized crime activity, and economic decline (City Planning Associates, Inc. 1968). The report also noted the proliferation of special interest community groups focusing on employment, promotion, and lobbying; there was a pronounced lack of coordination between the various groups, which prevented the creation of a focused agenda (Buss 1993; City Planning Associates, Inc. 1968)
When the steel industry collapsed in the late 1970s, Youngstown did not have a safety net.
The city’s Comprehensive Plan had been adopted in 1950 and updated in 1974, and the plan’s focus on growth and expansion had become obsolete in the face of job loss and population loss.
Youngstown mill workers lobbied for many years to restart steel production in the city, despite the fact that steel production was no longer a viable industry (Buss 1993). This was likely due in part to the fact that the stalemate created by the large number of civic organizations with competing interests prevented Youngstown from moving forward with a comprehensive redevel- opment strategy until 1990 (Buss 1993)—more than a decade after the majority of the steel mill closings.
Economic Development Strategies
In 1978, the Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corporation (MVEDC) prepared a Com- prehensive Economic Development Strategy for the Mahoning County region (which includes
Youngstown). This strategy suggested targeting specific industries for relocation to Youngstown, but was not implemented due to lack of interest and expertise among city leaders (Buss
1993). Soon afterwards, the Ecumenical Coalition acquired funding for study of the feasibil-
33 ity of reopening the steel mills. The amount of government subsidy required to reopen the mills was prohibitive, and the plan was not adopted (Buss 1993). After these two plans failed, the Youngstown Department of Development, the Youngstown Revitalization Foundation, the
Youngstown State University Business School, Kent State University, and two architecture firms were each publicly funded to create separate plans for the downtown area; the plans had many similarities but none have been adopted (Buss 1993). In the early 1980s, Youngstown State
University prepared a development plan for the city (Buss 1993); like earlier plans, this strategy was not implemented.
Youngstown attempted to replace the steel industry with aviation, which was unsuccessful. The state of Ohio obtained funds from Congress to study the feasibility of linking Lake Erie with the
Ohio River via a canal; the study was not completed and the canal was not built (Buss 1993). In the 1980s, Youngstown created an Enterprise Zone in an area of former steel mills. However, in its first decade, the zone attracted only one tenant, North Star Steel (Buss 1993).
This inertia on the part of the city’s leaders may have been due in part to the fact that many people in charge of economic development and city planning lacked the necessary skills and expertise to create and implement a plan; attempts to hire experts from outside of the city failed due to candidate perceptions of local politics, low wages and a lack of resources (Buss
1993, 160). It is not difficult to imagine that with such a long history of strategies and plans that went nowhere, the residents of Youngstown would grow weary of discussions about the
“next best thing” to regenerate the city’s industry and population. That makes the creation of the Youngstown 2010 Plan even more striking.
Marketing the City
Realizing that the city desperately needed a strategy for the future, the city of Youngstown and
Youngstown State University (YSU) drafted the Youngstown 2010 Plan. The partnership was
34 headed by a number of academic and political figures: former Youngstown Mayor George McK- elvey; Youngstown State University President Dr. David Sweet; Youngstown Planning Depart- ment Deputy Director William D’Avignon; YSU professor and Director of the Center for Urban and Regional Studies Hunter Morrison; Community Development Agency Director Jay Williams; and Chief City Planner Anthony Kobak.
It is notable that four of the people involved in drafting the plan are young, outsiders, or both.
Jay Williams (who was elected Mayor in 2005 on a platform of implementing Youngstown 2010) is just 35 years old, and was a child when the mills closed down. Chief City Planner Anthony
Kobak was 29 years old when he moved to Youngstown in 2000; YSU President David Sweet also moved to Youngstown in 2000, bringing with him 22 years of expertise in urban policy and analysis from Cleveland State University.
Due to their recent arrivals, these participants in the Youngstown 2010 plan were not burdened by Youngstown’s history of the steel mills and the apathy of seeing many previous plans come to nothing. The willingness of these civic leaders to break with tradition, or what Hunter Mor- rison calls “the dead hand of the past” (Morrison 2006), and look firmly to the future is unique in government, and particularly unique in Youngstown. The plan itself notes that, “this planning process is nothing less than a paradigm shift… a proactive approach toward the future is the last chance for sustainability, perhaps even survival” (City of Youngstown 2005, 18).
The Youngstown 2010 planning process began in 2002 with a series of public visioning meet- ings which drew 1,200 people. The visioning resulted in four Major Vision Principles:
1. Accepting that Youngstown is a small city
2. Defining Youngstown’s role in the new regional economy
3. Improving Youngstown’s image and enhancing quality of life
4. A call to action to residents of the city (City of Youngstown 2005)
35 The Youngstown 2010 Plan is unique in several respects: the university/city partnership that gave rise to the plan is an unusual collaboration that is seldom seen in the United States, and has expanded the appeal of the plan into academia. Most notably, recognizing that Youngstown is a small city entails reducing its physical infrastructure—vacant and abandoned properties will be demolished, green spaces will be enlarged, development funding will be focused in spe- cific areas. The right-sizing of cities has been proposed in the past, but no city until now has adopted that strategy as part of a comprehensive plan (see Appendix 2 for proposed changes to the city). The plan was adopted unanimously by City Council on February 9, 2003 (City of
Youngstown 2005).
A unique component of the plan is its strong emphasis on marketing and image. The third
Vision Principle combines the improvement of the city image with improved quality of life for residents. The city officials of Youngstown view the media—local newspapers and television—as
“a vital link to the public” (City of Youngstown 2005, 21). The local newspaper, the Youngstown
Vindicator, ran a number of front-page articles about the visioning process and the plan, and television and radio stations promoted and broadcast the public meetings. Additionally, the city hired a private firm to assist with the visioning and public engagement process, and another private firm to manage the Youngstown 2010 marketing strategy.
The plan has achieved some success in terms of shifting the urban image. Since its adoption in 2005, newspaper articles about Youngstown are more likely to focus on its unusual and innovative comprehensive plan than the labor disputes and organized crime of the past; the
Youngstown 2010 Plan has been covered in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA
Today, and even in the French business magazine Challenge. The Youngstown 2010 web site speaks of visits from Japanese government officials and professors, awards, and presentations at conferences (City of Youngstown 2004). The Mayor, Jay Williams, has been quoted saying that government officials from all over the United States have contacted him for information
36 about the Youngstown 2010 Plan (Lanks 2006).
There is also a dark side to this media attention. Despite claims by Mayor Williams that the city has demolished 925 abandoned and decrepit buildings in the past two years, some feel that progress is moving too slowly and “the gulf runs wide between 2010 believers and cynics”
(Schmitt 2008). A Youngstown Vindicator poll shows that as of April 24, 2008, 53 percent of readers feel the plan has not lived up to its promises, while 46 percent feel that it has (www. vindy.com). Visitors to forums such as www.city-data.com discuss new downtown developments with excitement, but express mixed feelings about the Youngstown 2010 plan’s focus on demol- ishing buildings and infrastructure rather than increasing employment opportunities and the tax base of the city.
Despite these mixed responses to the plan, one fact appears to reflect some level of success.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that Youngstown lost just one percent of its population between 2000 and 2006, which is a significant reduction from the 15 percent population loss between 1990 and 2000. It is unclear what role the Youngstown 2010 plan has played in this stabilization; however, immigration and new residents do not appear to be the cause (U.S. Cen- sus 2006). Though stemming the population loss is positive, much work is ahead for city lead- ers, and it remains to be seen if the excitement about Youngstown 2010 can be sustained and if its full implementation will be successful.
Pittsburgh
Growth
Pittsburgh was first established as Fort Duquesne in 1754 in the area now known as the Point.
It was taken by the English in 1758 and renamed Fort Pitt in honor of William Pitt, the head of the British government at the time (Baldwin 1937; Longini 1961). “Fort Pitt” was almost im- mediately surrounded by the community of Pittsburgh. The site of the city, at the confluence of
37 the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers, made it very appealing first as a trading post and later as a center of steel production.
Adding to Pittsburgh’s appeal was the Pittsburgh coal it sat on, which provided steam power for the city and coke for iron smelting (Graham 1998). By 1788 the population of Pittsburgh had grown large enough that it became the seat of Allegheny County (Baldwin 1937). In 1790
William Turnbull built the first iron furnace in western Pennsylvania,and by1792, Pittsburgh’s shipbuilding industry was born (Baldwin 1937).
Even though Pittsburgh remained a somewhat small community, it had no shortage of cultural amenities. The first newspaper west of the Alleghenies, the Pittsburgh Gazette, began publish- ing in 1786; the Pittsburgh Academy, which later became the University of Pittsburgh, was es- tablished in 1787 (Graham 1998). Today, both the newspaper and the university have a power- ful influence on the city.
By 1814 the city’s population had grown to somewhere between six and eight thousand; by
1860 the population was about 130,000 (Baldwin 1937). Many of these new residents were im- migrants, primarily from eastern and southern Europe (Graham 1998; Baldwin 1937). Like other industrial cities, many African-Americans also immigrated to Pittsburgh, but their numbers re- mained fairly small. A Scottish immigrant, Andrew Carnegie, would exert an incredible influence on the development of Pittsburgh as an industrial and cultural center. The first blast furnace in the region had been constructed in 1859, but the “era of steel” in Pittsburgh began when he opened his first steel mill in 1875 (Lubove 1969).
After 1880, Pittsburgh became a center of iron and steel production due in no small part to the ready supply of coal and timber and a steady supply of coke from the nearby Connellsville coke fields (Lubove 1969). With the increase in heavy manufacturing and population, Pittsburgh’s ur-
38 ban conditions deteriorated. Visitors compared Pittsburgh to a “hell” or “inferno” (Lubove 1969), and Pittsburgh acquired the name “Smoky City”, due to the haze of dark smoke that hung over the city as a result of its many smelting and coking operations.
The year 1892 was important in Pittsburgh’s history. The Homestead Steel Strike of 1892 shifted labor relations in the steel industry forever. The strike was a response to wage cuts at the Homestead plant, which was owned by Andrew Carnegie and his partner Henry Clay Frick.
Carnegie and Frick correlated the wage cuts to a reduction in the prices of steel, but they were also an attempt to suppress unionism in the mills (Baldwin 1937; Graham 1998; Lubove 1969).
When negotiations between Carnegie, Frick and the union broke down, the mill was closed. The strike became violent and the National Guard was brought in two months later to overcome the strikers. The ultimate result was that unionism lost its foothold in Pittsburgh steel industry
(Baldwin 1937; Graham 1998; Lubove 1969).
On a larger scale, the continuing dominance of “big steel” led to the pollution of the environ- ment and a disregard for basic social requirements such as health care, sanitation and appro- priate housing for laborers. The Pittsburgh Survey of 1907-1908 surveyed the social, labor and political conditions of the city, which had been chosen due its “representative qualities” (Lubove
1969). The survey highlighted issues of overwork, low civic cohesion, and the fact that “the steel companies were ‘commonly understood’ to be the dominant political force” in the commu- nity (Lubove 1969, 12).
Adding to the social and economic separation was the cultural separation between native-born
Pittsburgh residents, largely of Western European descent, and foreign immigrants of mostly
Eastern European descent, who made up more than 50 percent of the working population in
1907 (Lubove 1969). Like Youngstown, these social, economic and cultural forces created a fragmented society that was ill-equipped to work cohesively to deal with the problems of the
39 city (Lubove 1969). During World War II, Pittsburgh’s steel mills were once again humming, and the city’s dependence on steel production and related industries had reached its height.
Decline
After World War II, Pittsburgh began experiencing decline in heavy industry, production, em- ployment and population. The city’s population growth slowed almost to a stop in the 1940s
(Lubove 1969; U.S. Census Bureau 1940), when Pittsburgh was being heavily affected by the recession. High unemployment rates and out-migration caused the population of Pittsburgh to fall from 676,806 in 1950 to 597,745 in 1960, a loss of more than 11 percent. The 1963 Eco- nomic Study of the Pittsburgh Region suggested that Pittsburgh’s economy had failed to change with the times, and the Pittsburgh region was suffering from “slow population growth, a lag in employment opportunities compared to other metropolitan areas, above-average unemploy- ment, under representation of small firms, and an excess of population in non-productive age groups” (Lubove 1996, 3).
With the decline of industry came the loss of population. From the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s,
Pittsburgh shifted from “the most industrialized to the least industrialized city when compared to Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati” (Lubove 1996). The national recession of the 1980s led to the closure of many steel plants in the Pittsburgh area, and continuing population loss (Gra- ham 1998; Lubove 1996). Today, Pittsburgh’s population continues to decline, although the loss has slowed to about one percent per year (U.S. Census 2006). In 2006, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city’s population at 312,819.
Responses
Early Responses
Pittsburgh first began to address its physical decline in the 1940s. The first period of physical redevelopment, called Renaissance I, occurred between 1945 and 1970 and involved the recon-
40 struction of the central business district, urban renewal projects in the central business district, and improvements in environmental quality. Renaissance I proposed the creation of a cultural center in downtown Pittsburgh; however, most of the energy and funding went to larger con- cerns such as air quality and urban renewal projects.
During the Renaissance I period, there were many social and cultural shifts. The civil rights movement, increasing disillusionment toward the urban renewal programs of the 1950s and
1960s, and an increased focus on historic preservation in Pittsburgh changed the political and economic climate of the city (Lubove 1996). The two mayors serving during this time, David
Lawrence and Joseph Barr, continued Renaissance I‘s commitment to the redevelopment of the central business district and the Golden Triangle. In the 1970s, Mayor Peter Flaherty did not support many of the Renaissance I project, and development slowed significantly.
Renaissance II began in 1977 with the tenure of Mayor Richard Caliguiri. It involved the devel- opment of the Golden Triangle, an area of office buildings downtown, as well as neighborhood revitalization and a focus on culture and tourism—in short, quality of life (Graham 1998; Lubove
1996). Renaissance II was “an effort to reconstruct Pittsburgh’s economy, its system of neigh- borhood citizen organizations, and its cultural image”, and was also unique due to the large role of non-profit organizations and foundations (Lubove 1996, viii). The city saw a surge in private investment in the downtown area in the form of numerous new office buildings and cultural facilities and hotels.
Renaissance II’s focus on quality of life issues provoked an increased interest in cultural and historic amenities (Lubove 1996). An emerging focus on neighborhood empowerment, driven by the backlash to earlier urban renewal projects, created a new network of development agencies—community development corporations (CDCs)—which became important partners in
Renaissance II development (Lubove 1996).
41 Economic Development Strategies
Pittsburgh is unique due to the large number of agencies dedicated to economic development in the region. The Allegheny Conference was incorporated in 1944 as the outgrowth of an effort to coordinate improvements in transportation and environmental conditions (Allegheny Confer- ence 2008). The Allegheny Conference brought together government officials with private sec- tor professional and civic organizations, and gave a shared voice to the goals of improving the business climate through the improvement of regional transportation networks and air quality
(Lubove 1996).
Two years later, the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh (URA) was incorporated as the city’s economic development agency. It was one of the first URAs in Pennsylvania, and un- dertook the first privately financed downtown redevelopment in the United States—the Gateway
Center (Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh 2003). Today, the URA offers business development loans, residential home ownership loans, and residential development financing.
The URA emerged as the key public agency in the Renaissance I period.
In the 1970s the Allegheny Conference lost some of its power and many public works programs, such as a downtown light rail line, shuddered to a halt (Lubove 1996). When Mayor Richard
Caliguiri came into office in 1977, however, the focus of the city government again shifted to the central business district. He created the Mayor’s Development Council to coordinate develop- ment activities in the city.
In 1981, The Allegheny Conference convened an Economic Development Task Force to study
“advanced technology, manufacturing, services, corporate headquarters, international trade, infrastructure, human resources, business climate, and quality of life” (Lubove 1996, 27-28).
The Allegheny Conference economic development strategy of the 1980s focused on increasing regional amenities, improving quality of life, and “overcoming…the longstanding negative image
42 of Pittsburgh as a smoky inferno populated by philistines and drones” (Lubove 1996, 31).
The focus on cultural preservation as an economic development tool was fairly popular in the
1980s. Many post-industrial cities focused their development activities on the creation of ameni- ties and quality of life issues in the hope of drawing new economy employers and employees.
Pittsburgh’s collection of prestigious universities and cultural institutions gave it an advantage over other shrinking post-industrial cities, and the availability of private foundation funding provided the support for cultural development activities. In support of this new economic focus, the Allegheny Conference incorporated the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust in 1984 to create both a cultural district and a central economic corridor (Lubove 1996).
By the late 1980s, Pittsburgh had begun its transformation from industrial center to technology and service hub. New cultural centers had emerged and the city had come some way in shed- ding its negative image. Its focus on cultural and historic preservation, along with recruitment of
“clean” technology industries was having a positive effect. In fact, in 1985 it was named “Most
Livable Community in the Nation” by the Rand McNally Places Rated Almanac (Boyer and Sav- ageau 1985).
In 2005, Allegheny County launched a comprehensive planning process called “Allegheny Plac- es.” The plan focuses on the areas of agriculture; community facilities (public and private com- munity facilities and cultural resources); demographics; economic development; energy conser- vation; equity and diversity; future land use; historic resources; housing; parks, open space and greenways (including a plan to propose a greenways network to expand and link existing urban infrastructure); resource extraction plan; transportation; and utilities. Notably, the plan does not include any type of marketing or media component, aside from the Allegheny Places web site
(www.alleghenyplaces.com).
43 Locally, Philadelphia is experiencing many changes. Like Youngstown, Pittsburgh has recently elected a young Mayor. Twenty-seven year old Luke Ravenstahl was elected to office in late
2006, after the death of the popular Mayor Bob O’Conner. His agenda focuses on economic development and strategies to retain the students that come to Pittsburgh to attend college.
He has also chosen to focus on the “greening” of the city, both with vegetation and sustain- able building practices. In keeping with the idea of green infrastructure, Mayor Ravenstahl has created a “Green Team” within the Department of Public Works. This team is responsible for beautifying vacant lots to encourage redevelopment. They will primarily work on sites that have been razed; the city expects to demolish 600 abandoned homes during 2008. The Green Team is a continuation of a beautification program that has included clean-ups, tree plantings, and new gardens (Lord 2008).
Despite these strides, Pittsburgh still suffers from an aging population and out migration; while many declining post-industrial cities have replaced lost population with immigrants, Pittsburgh has lagged behind in attracting immigrant residents and labor. The 2000 U.S. Census shows that six percent of Pittsburgh residents are foreign-born; deaths since 2000 outnumber births by more than 25,000 (Roberts and Hamill 2008).
Marketing the City
As discussed earlier, the three audiences of interest in a marketing campaign are potential investors and employers, potential consumers, and current residents. Pittsburgh has a long his- tory of self promotion—the Chamber of Commerce was chartered in 1876. Today, the focus of marketing efforts are investors and consumers, and current residents to a lesser extent.
Pittsburgh has a great deal of marketing power directed toward potential investors--the Pitts- burgh Regional Authority, the Greater Pittsburgh Region Chamber of Commerce, the Pennsylva- nia Economy League of Southwestern Pennsylvania, LLC, and the Pittsburgh Urban Redevelop-
44 ment Authority to name a few. Many agencies contribute to promoting Pittsburgh to potential investors and potential consumers, particularly potential employees of new businesses. In 1995, the Pittsburgh Regional Authority (PRA) was created for the purpose of marketing the economic and business advantages of the Pittsburgh region.
In 2000, the PRA along with the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce and the Pennsylva- nia Economy League of Southwestern Pennsylvania (PELSP) entered a strategic affiliation with the Allegheny Conference to promote the economic and quality of life advantages of the region.
These marketing campaigns focus on the positive business climate, local affordability and high quality of life, in the hopes of attracting new economy industries that value employee satisfac- tion and that could locate anywhere.
In order to appeal to another potential consumer group, immigrants, the Global Pittsburgh web site (www.globalpittsburgh.com) was launched in 2005 by the World Affairs Council of Pitts- burgh and became part of a broad range of initiatives sponsored by the World Affairs Council and the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance. The site is focused on providing linkages for the interna- tional communities residing in Pittsburgh, while encouraging local businesses to hire internation- al employees. The hope is that additional immigration and internationally-focused businesses will increase population and contribute to a more metropolitan urban area.
Young professionals and other potential residents are courted with web sites such as Pop City
Pittsburgh, which promotes the cultural and development opportunities available in the area.
The Pittsburgh Perspectives web site provides a guide to the “whole person”—self, community, recreation and career, with links to various agencies and activities in the area. The Allegheny
Conference launched a “Pittsburgh 250” campaign to celebrate Pittsburgh’s 250th year; the campaign focuses on Pittsburgh’s two-time designation as “America’s Most Livable City” by the
Places Rated Almanac (in 1985 and 2007) and highlights the advantages of doing business and
45 living in the region, along with Pittsburgh’s strengths in innovation and technology (Imagine
Pittsburgh 2008).
Today, it appears that Pittsburgh has made considerable improvement in the shift of its image from industrial wasteland to cultural and architectural jewel. The thriving technology industries have created more employment, and tourism has become an important economic stimulus industry. It remains to be seen if Pittsburgh’s marketing and promotion strategies will result in population growth or retention of its young professionals. Recent newspaper articles suggest that lack of immigration and the loss of young professionals remain problems; however, it ap- pears that the leadership and institutions of the city are committed and collaborating on making the city the best it can be.
46 Content Analysis
Newspaper coverage is a powerful indicator of what the public is exposed to—either as an influ- ence or a reflection of its priorities. As stated earlier, local and national newspaper coverage can have a significant effect on the perceptions and image of a city and that is equally true in
Youngstown and Pittsburgh.
In order to conduct the content analysis, I searched the online archives of the Youngstown
Vindicator and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via the EBSCOHost Newspaper Source electronic search database, using the term “population”. For the city of Youngstown, I used the term
“Youngstown 2010”; for the city of Pittsburgh, I used the term “Allegheny Places.” I evaluated the context to verify that the terms refer to physical city as opposed to other subjects such as sports or food.
This data was synthesized to determine who provided the information for the articles, which was determined by the sources quoted in the articles; the opinion of the author—neutral, posi- tive, or negative; and the subject of the article. With this analysis, I intend to provide a picture of changes in community sentiment between the years of 2004 and 2007 and evaluate whether any change can be attributed to revitalization efforts on the part of Youngstown or Pittsburgh.
Additionally, I searched the New York Times for the key words of “Youngstown” and “Pitts- burgh”, and evaluated the subject and tone of the article as described above. As the nation’s paper of record, coverage in the NYT can provide a view into the national impression of these cities.
Youngstown
For the year 2004, neither the search term “population” nor the search term “Youngstown
2010” returned any articles. This indicates that the issue of population loss either was not on the public agenda, or had become so common-place so as to not be mentioned. The
47 Figure 8. Coverage of Youngstown in the local paper in 2007
Population Youngstown 2010
Source: Youngstown Vindicator
Youngstown 2010 Plan was well underway in 2004 (the process began in 2002). Therefore, the lack of attention paid it may reflect skepticism within the community due to the large number of unsuccessful plans prepared in the past.
For the year 2007, the search term “population” returned five articles. Of the five articles, three were neutral and two were positive. These articles discussed the possibility of census errors regarding Youngstown population (two articles); the fact that population loss continued but had greatly slowed; that areas of the city had high redevelopment potential; and funding shortages in the city that meant the possibility of increased taxes or decreased public funding.
The people most frequently quoted in these articles are William D’Avignon, Director of the Com- munity Development Agency (two articles); Thomas Finnerty of the Thomas Center for Urban and Regional Studies at Youngstown State University (two articles); Mayor Jay Williams (one ar- ticle); and Chief Planner Anthony Kobak (one article). The fact that a government agency official
48 and an academic are the most often quoted reinforces earlier statements about the Youngstown
2010 plan and the controlled shrinkage strategy it espouses. That is, that it is a unique partner- ship between government and academia.
In the year 2007, the search term “Youngstown 2010” returned two articles. Of the two articles, both were positive. The articles discussed the national attention being paid the Youngstown
2010 plan and do not quote any local sources.
A search of the term “Youngstown, Ohio” (there is also a Youngstown, New York) in the New
York Times archives between January 1997 and December 2007 returned 287 articles. Most of the articles were found in the U.S. Section (20 percent) followed by Sports (17 percent), Busi- ness (11 percent), New York and Region (nine percent) and the Arts (six percent). The rest of the categories contained five percent or less of the articles.
Of the 287 articles returned for the search term “Youngstown Ohio,” 17 focused primarily on
Youngstown; the remaining articles mentioned Youngstown briefly in overviews of national trends, such as housing prices or census numbers, academic research by Youngstown State
University professors, and sports teams. Of
Figure 9. Coverage of Youngstown in the New the 17 Youngstown-focused articles, ten York Times (59 percent) were negative, four (23 per-
cent) were neutral, and three (18 percent)
were positive.
The negative articles primarily focused on
Congressman James Traficant, who was
indicted on counts of corruption and brib-
ery in 2002; the number of private federal
prisons in Youngstown; population loss; Source: New York Times
49 and economic depression that has led to Youngstown boasting the lowest median house price in the nation. The neutral articles discussed organized crime; bribery; and Congressman James
Traficant and the community he left behind. Despite the negative subjects of these articles, they were classified as neutral because they provided a balanced view of the community and noted both negative and positive trends. The positive articles focused on Youngstown 2010 and the community’s battle against organized crime.
Pittsburgh
I evaluated newspaper articles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via the EBSCOHost Newspaper
Source electronic database for the dates of January 1 to December 31, 2004 and January 1 to
December 31, 2007. I searched for the terms “population” and “Allegheny Places” and evaluated the message (positive, neutral or negative) as well as the people most frequently interviewed.
For the year 2004, the search term “population” returned five articles. Of the five articles, two were negative, one was neutral, and two were positive. These articles discuss the discontinua- tion of continuing education classes at the University of Pittsburgh; the discontinuation of the
Allegheny County Executive Fellows program; suggestions to consider immigration as a source of population growth; suggestions to focus on encouraging local small businesses and entrepre- neurs as a means of encouraging economic development; and arguments for and against a new racetrack development.
For the year 2007, the search term “population” returned six articles. Of the six articles, four were neutral and two were positive, reflecting a 100 percent decrease in negative coverage, a 43 percent increase in neutral coverage, and a seven percent decrease in positive coverage.
These articles included suggestions for an increased focus on the arts as an economic develop- ment tool; the naming of Pittsburgh as one of America’s top ten “Cities of the Future”; a reduc- tion in the Allegheny Conference’s job growth and employment goals for the future; discussions
50 about development opportunities in Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods (two articles); and a call for im- migration as a source of population growth—a subject that appears to have some staying power in the area.
Figure 10. Coverage of Pittsburgh term “population” in the local paper
2004 2007
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The search term “Allegheny Places” did not return any articles for either 2004 or 2007; despite claims on the “Allegheny Places” web site that over 6,000 citizens have participated in the plan- ning process, it does not yet seem to be part of the community consciousness. This could speak to a lack of marketing on the part of the county or a general sense of skepticism or disinterest among city and county residents.
A search of the term “Pittsburgh” in the New York Times between January 1997 and December
2007 returned 16,514 articles. Most of the articles were found in the Sports section (44 percent) followed by Business (nine percent), Arts (seven percent), U.S. (six percent), and New York and
Region (six percent). The rest of the categories represent five percent or less of the articles.
Due to time constraints, I restricted my analysis to those articles listed in the U.S. Section
51 Figure 11. Coverage of Pittsburgh with the word “Pittsburgh” in the title. My in the New York Times analysis produced nine articles fitting those
criteria; of those articles, 45 percent were
positive, 33 percent were negative, and 22
percent were neutral. The positive articles
focused primarily on Pittsburgh’s shift from
steel city to technology hub and its vibrant
culture; its progressive police force boast-
ing the highest percentage of female of-
ficers in the nation; and the revitalization of
a historically African-American community. Source: New York Times (www.nytimes.com) The negative articles focused primarily on the declining number of officers on the police force; crisis within the public school system; and an unpopular plan to redevelop Market Square. The neutral articles focused primarily on Mayor
Luke Ravenstahl, the youngest mayor of any major city in the country and a politician who has learned his trade in the public eye; the article points out his relative political immaturity and the hurdles he will face in the future.
Summary
Overall, there was a shift in both Youngstown and Pittsburgh toward more positive coverage of the community between 2004 and 2007. In the case of Youngstown, movement from no cover- age to some coverage of the terms “population” and “Youngstown 2010” appears to indicate increased hopefulness and hometown pride. In the case of Pittsburgh, the decreased negative and decreased positive coverage of the term “population” between 2004 and 2007 suggests an incremental increase in resident pride as well as attempts on the part of county and city leader- ship to implement new programs that have drawn mixed responses. The complete lack of cover- age of the term “Allegheny Places”, the county’s new comprehensive plan, reflects the paper
52 editor’s belief that such a story would not generate much interest.
New York Times coverage of Youngstown focused on the trial of Congressman James Traficant and his connections to organized crime and bribery; however, the paper also provided coverage of the Youngstown 2010 Plan and the community’s efforts to rid itself of organized crime. New
York Times coverage of Pittsburgh focused on Mayor Ravenstahl, as well as economic challeng- es being faced by the city and its recovery from the decline of the steel industry.
The majority of coverage of Youngstown in the New York Times was negative while the major- ity of coverage of Pittsburgh was positive; there was no negative or positive trend evident in coverage of either city from 1997 to 2007. This stands in stark contrast to local coverage of both cities, which suggests that Youngstown’s marketing campaigns have been successful locally but have not yet reached a national audience and that nation feels more positively toward Pitts- burgh than do the local residents.
53 Evaluation and Recommendations
Evaluation
Current federal programs focus on social, physical and economic development of distressed urban areas. Some of these programs, such as urban renewal, Community Development Block
Grants (CDBG), and the HOPE VI program seek to address urban decline through physical in- tervention. Other programs, such as the Urban Development Action Grant (UDAG—now discon- tinued) and the Renewal Communities/Enterprise Zones/Enterprise Communities (RC/EZ/EC) program rely on infusions of government funds to encourage private investment in distressed communities. One component all of these programs share is a focus on redevelopment as a solution to the issue of urban decline and its symptoms of job loss, population loss, and physi- cal deterioration. As a result, declining post-industrial cities such as Youngstown and Pittsburgh face a conundrum: federal funds are available for redevelopment and revitalization projects, but only to cities with populations greater than 50,000 (in the case of the CDBG program) and only to replace distressed urban fabric with new development or investment. What is a shrinking ur- ban area like Youngstown to do if it is not feasible or realistic to replace the urban fabric being removed with development?
The four questions guiding this study are: First, what is Creative Shrinkage? Second, how does it work? Third, what role does marketing play? Finally, what components should existing govern- ment programs integrate to provide a blueprint for downsizing cities rather than growing cities?
In order to answer the these questions, I will evaluate current government programs in place and determine whether these programs can address or assist with Creative Shrinkage; identify the ingredients necessary for a successful government strategy to address Creative Shrinkage; and utilize the findings to suggest a new model to guide shrinkage in post-industrial cities.
Research Question 1: What is Creative Shrinkage?
Creative Shrinkage calls for planning proactively for the possible or likely shrinkage of a city by adjusting its physical size to its reduced population (Von Borries and Prigge 2006). As discussed
54 earlier, it is both a physical and social concept; it requires the acceptance of a new, smaller population and the recognition that “right-sizing” the city to its population will result in a higher quality of life for remaining residents—and future residents as well.
Research Question 2: How does it work?
The components of a Creative Shrinkage as demonstrated in the Youngstown 2019 plan are:
•Component A: Reduction of physical structures via demolition
•Component B: Expansion of “green infrastructure”, which is generally defined as
a network of side yards, parks, recreational trails, urban agriculture, community
gardens, and open space (Axel-Lute 2007)
•Component C: Targeted investment in neighborhoods deemed viable
•Component D: Focus on “quality of life” issues to retain current residents and per-
haps lure new investment
•Component E: Aggressive and sophisticated marketing campaign utilizing local and
national media, focused on current residents, potential investors/employers,
and potential consumers
•Component F: Lower-density residential development in the inner city
Creative Shrinkage has not yet been implemented fully in any community, but many shrinking post-industrial cities are utilizing various components: urban farms in Detroit and Cleveland; large-scale demolition programs in Buffalo; targeted investment in Detroit and Youngstown.
While these components correspond to the physical, social and economic goals of federal re- development programs, they represent a new approach. Rather than continuing to build, why not take away? Rather than constructing housing in areas with more vacant than occupied buildings, why not focus investment in the neighborhoods where people already live? Creative
Shrinkage provides a framework within which to address these questions.
55 Research Question 3: What role does marketing play and what is its impact?
Many declining post-industrial cities face the issue of image; a formerly vibrant and success- ful town comes to be known as a place of depression and crime (as in Youngstown), or a place that is reinventing itself (as in Pittsburgh). Urban image marketing is a powerful tool for cities implementing Creative Shrinkage, both as a means of promoting the community to the three target markets (potential investors, potential consumers and current residents) and as a means of replacing negative media coverage with positive coverage.
Glasgow used the marketing and the media to shift its image from a sad, depressed city to the
“European City of Culture”; New York State, and particularly New York City, shifted its image from a crime-ridden and economically distressed place to a center of culture, entertainment and fashion. Youngstown utilized the media as a partner in the Youngstown 2010 plan, and the marketing message seems to be having a positive effect on local and national media coverage.
Pittsburgh has launched a number of marketing efforts but they are fragmented and do not seem to be reflected in the local or national media coverage of the city. While it is clear that marketing is a vital component of any Creative Shrinkage plan, its impacts in aging post-indus- trial cities remains to be seen.
Research Question 4: What components should existing government programs integrate to pro- vide a blueprint for downsizing cities?
Federal programs of the past and present share a focus on the removal of blighted or obsolete structures and replacement with structures or complexes that are deemed more appealing.
Although the urban renewal programs of the 1950s and 1960s have faded away, the philosophy behind them remains—in order to improve a city, build new structures. However, for shrinking cities, new construction may be unnecessary at best, and a pointless exercise at worst.
Due to the fact that urban renewal programs and the Urban Development Action Grant have
56 been discontinued, these recommendations will focus on the Community Development Block
Grant (CDBG), the Renewal Communities, Enterprise Zones and Enterprise Communities Pro- gram (RC/EZ/EC), and HOPE VI.
Currently, the CDBG program is utilized by most urban areas in the United States. CDBG funds must be used for the improvement of conditions for low- and moderate-income persons “which aid in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight,” including the acquisition of property, de- molition or rehabilitation of existing structures, installation of infrastructure or other community amenities, and provision of assistance to businesses for the purpose of increasing or retaining employment (HUD 2008).
Currently, the CDBG program supports Component A of the Creative Shrinkage concept. In order to be effectively utilized in declining post-industrial cities, the CDBG program should be amended in the following ways:
•Component B: Permitted uses of CDBG funds should include development of
“green infrastructure” in place of, or in tandem with, demolition or rehabilitation of
existing structures. The Creative Shrinkage concept calls for the replacement
of deteriorated structures in severely distressed neighborhoods with
green spaces and infrastructure rather than piecemeal redevelopment.
•Component C: Permit investment in neighborhoods that do not meet the blighted
or distressed criteria in order to support viability; the Creative Shrink-
age concept calls for targeted investment in viable neighborhoods rather than
those that are blighted or severely distressed.
•Component D: Permit the use of funds to support general quality of life issues.
Additional uses of CDBG funds should be permitted, such as beautification (plantings,
streetscaping, etc.) and retail business development (such as restaurants, cafes,etc.)
57 The RC/EZ/EC program provides economic incentives designed to encourage businesses to locate in designated Enterprise Zones. This program is administered under the CDBG program and shares many of its requirements. In its current form, the RC/EZ/EC program favors commu- nities that exhibit symptoms of distress, and can meet the needs of declining post-industrial cit- ies when paired with other programs such as CDBG; however, in order to be effectively utilized in declining post-industrial cities, the RC/EZ/EC program should be amended in the following ways:
•Component E: Permitted uses of RC/EZ/EC funds should include general community
marketing strategies; improving the public image of the community
will increase potential investor interest, as well as the willingness of potential
residents and employees to relocate to the area.
The HOPE VI program provides funding for the demolition and redevelopment of aging or blighted public housing projects. Often, HOPE VI funding is utilized to demolish and rebuilt projects that were built with urban renewal funding in the 1950s and 1960s. Many of these
“modern” structures were constructed as super-blocks, which isolated residents and created large, barren landscapes. In many shrinking post-industrial cities, public housing projects have become an eyesore; due to their often large size, a blighted public housing project can have negative impact throughout a community. The HOPE VI program’s focus on decreased residen- tial density satisfies Component F: Lower-density residential development in the inner city; no further adjustments are suggested.
Recommendations
Although all three of these programs are currently effective, small changes will make them more useful to shrinking post-industrial cities. As shown in the literature review, numerous federal programs have been introduced to address the issue of decline and population loss in aging post-industrial cities. These programs focus on the redevelopment of economically distressed
58 and physically blighted areas; encourage increased private investment through incentives such as tax abatements; and attempt to attract employers and residents through a redeveloped physical environment that closely corresponds to the existing density and development patterns of the community.
Attempting to recommend a new federal program to address urban decline and shrinkage is a difficult task; there is no precedent to follow; the planning profession and the federal govern- ment lack experience with the processes of Creative Shrinkage; and the case studies discussed in this study provide information but do not provide final outcomes. The primary question facing shrinking cities is that of what to do with vacant and blighted land, which addresses the physical impacts of urban decline but does not address more substantial dynamics like unemployment and the problem of negative urban image.
What are the ingredients necessary for a successful government strategy to guide shrinkage?
The federal programs reviewed focus on growth; attempting to integrate Creative Shrinkage components poses several political and policy challenges because they oppose the fundamental purpose of existing federal programs. While existing programs could address Creative Shrinkage incrementally, a new federal program needs to be created to address the needs of communities that are pursuing Creative Shrinkage strategies.
The purpose of a new federal program would be to provide shrinking cities with resources to guide physical shrinkage. The program goals would be to encourage comprehensive redevelop- ment in viable city neighborhoods, promote economic opportunities for residents, and maintain existing population levels city-wide. This program would focus on the city as a whole, rather than sub-areas of the city. This program would include:
• A legal definition of “blight” as related to Creative Shrinkage and a process for
designating a structure or neighborhood as blighted; this process draws a
59 parallel to urban renewal, so the definition should be very clear in order to
avoid abuse
•Qualification guidelines including significant population loss in the preceding de-
cade and overall community income and employment; current programs re-
quire only blighted or economically distressed status and generally focus on
specific neighborhoods or census tracts
•Flexibility to use funding in neighborhoods that are not deemed blighted, in keep-
ing with the Creative Shrinkage concept of targeting funds to neighborhoods
considered viable; current programs require investment in the most
distressed communities in a city
•Funding for the demolition of blighted and abandoned properties and replacement
with green infrastructure; current programs require redevelopment of cleared
sites
•Funding for “quality of life” improvements such as streetscaping, cultural activi-
ties, and beautification; current programs do not generally cover these
improvements
•Guidelines for relocation of residents in neighborhoods that are not considered vi-
able; cities must be very sensitive to the needs of the vulnerable populations
in areas slated for clearance and pay close attention to issues of equity
•Requirement for a local comprehensive plan drafted with significant citizen input;
in order for a Creative Shrinkage strategy to succeed, citizens must be highly
involved in decisions regarding demolition of structures and determination of
neighborhood viability
•Funding for a marketing campaign utilizing local and national media; no existing
federal program provides funding for this purpose
A federal program with these ingredients and an emphasis on local citizen involvement in
60 preparing a comprehensive plan would be able to address the unique issues of shrinking cities while providing the means to improve the physical, social and economic environment. At the lo- cal level, an agency should be designated to enforce the guidelines of the program, particularly the citizen involvement and comprehensive plan component, as well as to identify and guide the application of federal funding. An organized and focused local organization is important to the success of a program, as well as a unified vision for the future of the community (Hebert, Vidal,
Mills, James, and Gruenstein 2001).
What is a new model to guide shrinkage in post-industrial cities?
The growth-oriented planning models currently being used to guide urban development are outmoded when dealing with a declining urban area. However, the planning profession has not yet responded to the need for a new way of looking at urban development. One significant bar- rier to the creation of new model is the lack of theory describing urban shrinkage and its effect on the city and the concept of the city as a whole. Current growth-oriented planning models address development and redevelopment and provide specific solutions to urban problems.
As a profession, urban planners will need to reevaluate the assumption that intervention and development are the answers to decline; alternatively, planners could accept urban decline as a process of aging gracefully as suggested by Rybczynski and Linneman (1999).
Modern planning methods and practice are designed to harness and guide growth and are at odds with the needs of shrinking cities. Zoning is one of the most powerful tools available to planners, and also the policy most responsible for city form. Generally, center cities are zoned for high density, residential neighborhoods are zoned for lower density, and industrial uses are separated from the others. In cities like Youngstown, where agriculture and other rural uses are being re-introduced to the center city, it may make more sense to shift to a performance zon- ing model rather than the Euclidian zoning used in many cities today. A “green infrastructure” zoning component may be necessary to allow for connection of green spaces in shrinking cities.
61 Planners may need to rethink the land use classifications currently utilized for vacant land and consider alternative terms such as “undeveloped” or “development-ready”.
Additionally, cities utilizing Creative Shrinkage will require a revised comprehensive plan with ex- tensive citizen involvement. Citizens need to support the concept of Creative Shrinkage in order for the process to succeed and become “citizen planners” with an understanding of the need for a shrinkage strategy. Citizens are the most valuable source of support, and should be fully involved in the ranking of neighborhoods for investment or clearance.
Perhaps the biggest challenge Creative Shrinkage poses to the planning profession is that it requires a shift in the very understanding of the way cities work. The growth-oriented model in planning reflects a reality that was once the primary mode of urban development, and is now just one of several. As aging post-industrial cities grapple with the issues of declining popula- tions and excess infrastructure and housing, planners will need to create solutions to those problems. To modern planners, “urban” means dense, vibrant, and most of all, growing. The low-density inner city or “New Suburbanist” areas being created in Detroit and proposed in
Youngstown and Cleveland may turn the concept of what “urban” means on its ear, and a new model for Creative Shrinkage will recognize these new forms and processes. Planning education, specifically the methods and skills being taught, will need to be adjusted for the changing needs of shrinking cities.
A shrinkage-oriented planning model will need to follow an organic cycle that identifies and includes the growth, stability, and decline phases of the natural (and urban) world. In this model, the city can be seen as a flexible organism that retains the ability to develop if needed, but turns development activities inward, toward the center city, rather than outward, toward the suburbs. This planning model will look both to the present and the future—to create a func- tional and appealing environment for today’s residents while preparing the fabric of the city to
62 accept future growth if needed.
63 Conclusions
This study set out to answer the question of whether Creative Shrinkage is a primarily academic movement that describes a set of urban conditions, or a shrinkage strategy that can be utilized by aging post-industrial cities. Current planning models and practice assume a growth factor.
Where Youngstown has opted to reduce its built environment and infrastructure, Pittsburgh is pursuing the more conventional revitalization strategies of federal redevelopment funding and business recruitment.
The research shows that Creative Shrinkage has emerged as a coherent strategy with a set of components designed to reduce the governmental cost of maintaining vacant and abandoned structures and excess infrastructure; improving quality of life through the creation of green infrastructure and focus on educational and cultural amenities; marketing campaigns aimed at both potential and current residents and investors; and integrate rural uses into the center city where appropriate.
Although Creative Shrinkage enjoys academic support, it also appeals to many urban leaders in areas that are facing population loss, growing numbers of vacant and abandoned homes, and financial pressures due to the maintenance of vacant buildings and excess infrastructure.
Although the success of Creative Shrinkage in Youngstown is still debatable, it is clear that the planning process and the vision for the city’s future has stirred the imagination of city leaders and residents internationally.
Many questions have been raised for further exploration. In the examples of Youngstown, De- troit, and Cleveland, the inner city is becoming a very different place. The city center is being repositioned from its role of primary employment and entertainment center to a lower-density, and possibly lower-energy environment. What impacts will the changing role and structure of the center city have on urban planning practice and theory?
64 The Youngstown 2010 plan has been adopted and supported by city leaders, but many others
(such as Cleveland’s Mayor Jackson) recognize the political costs inherent in Creative Shrinkage; how do you tell a neighborhood that it is no longer viable? Although piecemeal investment is ineffective when a community is largely deteriorated, that has been the approach taken by past federal programs. Today, cities like Youngstown are shifting toward more focused investment with the hope of having a greater impact on those communities that still have a chance to suc- ceed. These questions raise political and social issues outside of the scope of this thesis, but will guide the future of Creative Shrinkage.
As planners and researchers alike become more interested in the subject of urban shrinkage and the Creative Shrinkage strategy, these questions and many others will arise. In the mean- time, cities like Youngstown and Pittsburgh will continue to find their own way in the post-indus- trial landscape.
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72 Appendix 1. Shrinking Cities
Shrinking cities in the United States are primarily located in the “Rust Belt” of the Great Lakes
region.
Source: Project Office Philipp Oswalt, Berlin/Researcher Tim Rieniets, Tanja Wesse 2006 http://www.shrinkingcities.com/fotos.0.html © Project Office Philipp Oswalt
73 Appendix 2. Youngstown 2010 Maps
Figure 12. Youngstown Current Zoning
Source: City of Youngstown 2004, http://www.youngstown2010.com/plan/final_plan/Ytown2010_chapter3.pdf
74 Figure 13. Youngstown Future Land Use
Source: City of Youngstown 2004, http://www.youngstown2010.com/plan/final_plan/Ytown2010_chapter6.pdf
75 Figure 14. Youngstown Future Recreational/Open Space/Agricultural Land Use
Source: City of Youngstown 2004, http://www.youngstown2010.com/plan/final_plan/Ytown2010_chapter6.pdf
76 Figure 15. Youngstown Future Industrial Land Use
Source: City of Youngstown 2004, http://www.youngstown2010.com/plan/final_plan/Ytown2010_chapter6.pdf
77 Figure 16. Youngstown Future Residential Land Use
Source: City of Youngstown 2004, http://www.youngstown2010.com/plan/final_plan/Ytown2010_chapter6.pdf
78 Figure 17. Youngstown Future Business Land Use
Source: City of Youngstown 2004, http://www.youngstown2010.com/plan/final_plan/Ytown2010_chapter6.pdf
79 Appendix 3: Content Analysis Data
Youngstown Vindicator
Search term: “population”
Search term: Population
Year 2004 Author Key subjects Bias Who Summary None
Year 2007 Census rank may be wrong, Ytown David Skolnick median income; census Neutral William D'Avignon, Ytown is among the lowest MFI among officials Dulberger (COC) midsized cities, city's economic base is experiencing growth,
Poorest midsize U.S. city? David Skolnick median income; census Neutral Thomas Finnerty (YSU) Ytown has lowest MFI among mid-sized Youngstown's position worsened this cities in the US year Number of people in Valley declines David Skolnick population loss; Positive Thomas Finnerty (YSU), Youngstown lost 1000 people, but it is a Youngstown 2010 Anthony Kobak (city much smaller loss than in years past; planner) Youngstown 2010 plan mentioned
Community Development Agency David Skolnick CDA; funding shortage Neutral William D'Avignon William D'Avignon, CDA director, director urges cuts to projects presented his recommendations Wednesday to city council's CDA committee as to how the city should spend the $5.01 million allocated to the city by the federal government.
Wall Street Journal story features David Skolnick Wall Street Journal; Positive Jay Williams Youngstown 2010 was on front page of Youngstown plan Youngstown 2010 Wall Street Journal; latest in a series of national publications
Smoky Hollow area ideal for David Skolnick renaissance; Positive Jay Williams Wicks District-Smoky Hollow area is renaissance redevelopment ripe for redevelopment; bringing middle- income people back to the city; priority for Youngstown administration
High crime rate makes renewal Peter Milliken sales tax; jail closing; Negative Anthony Traficanti Mahoning county put a permanent .5% necessary, official says crime; bond rating sales tax on ballot; auditor says it's necessary; no other county with same crime rate has less than 1% tax rate; could help with unfavorable Moody's bond rating
Search term: “Youngstown 2010”
Search term: Youngstown 2010
Year 2004 None
Year 2007 Edwards called city's 2010 plan David Skolnick Youngstown 2010; Positive John Edwards; Hunter Edwards says that Youngstown 2010 is 'visionary' visionary Morrison visionary and other Rust Belt cities should follow it Wall Street Journal story features David Skolnick econonic revitalization Positive Youngstown 2010 plan featured in Youngstown plan many national and international publications
Source: Youngstown Vindicator via EBSCOHost
80 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Search term: “population” (2004)
Search term: Population
Year 2004 Author Key subjects Bias Who Summary
Young Allegheny County, Pa., Alana Semuels Allegheny County Negative Jim Roddey; Eric Dalton Allegheny County Executive Fellows leaders have less opportunity as Executive Fellows; Jim (former fellow); Heinz program has been discontinued; provided program ends Roddey; youth; Heinz; Endowments; Sprout Fund; an opportunity for youth without government Sprout Fund Alex Lackner (former connections to get involved with fellow); Dan Onorato government in non-partisan way; considered a loss to the youth and the government of PIttsburgh
Young professionals need some Alana Semuels continuing education; Negative None University of Pittsburgh has discontinued reasons to stay, Pittsburgh leaders young professionals; continuing education programs to focus on say brain drain adults 65 and older; leaves young professionals with very few reasonable educational options; Pittsburgh needs to focus on retaining youth rather than reducing opportunities
Pittsburgh's Redevelopment Board Jeffrey Cohan population loss; taxes; Neutral Charles Betters (developer) URA analysis indicated that racetrack would Expects $19 Million Boost from Urban Redevelopment bring much income to the city; perhaps help Racetrack Plan Authority stem population loss; income estimates based on unrealistic assumptions
Pittsburgh Leaders Turn to Alana Semuels Allegheny Conference Positive None Pittsburgh should take cues from former Minneapolis-St. Paul for Growth on Community industrial cities of Mpls/St. Paul and Inspiration Development; population consider immigration as a source of loss; industry; population growth; Allegheny Conference immigrants; population and 84 leaders who attended are a good growth; start Pittsburgh Can Take Steps to Boost Don Hammonds local business; Positive John Roseman (Roseman Pittsburgh can reduce population loss by Economic Growth, Local Experts Say population loss; job loss; Institute); John R. Thorne encouraging small businesses and Downtown (Professor); Court Gould entrpreneurs, focusing on current residents (ED Sustainable and then looking further afield Pittsburgh); Mariann Geyer (Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership)
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via EBSCOHost
81 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Search term: “population” (2007)
Search term: population
Year 2007 Author Key subjects Bias Who Summary
Study: Arts mean $341 million for Timothy McNulty quality of life; arts; Neutral Mitch Swain (Greater Pittsburgh Pittsburgh area spends less on the economy cultural tourism Art Council); Chris Briem arts than similar areas; arts can be (economist); Kevin Stolarick an economic development tool but (professor and consultant) data must be considered pragmatically City approves tax break for new Mark Belko Downtown; tax Positive Mayor Luke Ravenstahl; Council approved a measure to housing in 29 areas abatement Fairywood Citizens Council; waive the first $2700 in city property Councilman William Peduto; taxes for 10 years for housing built Councilman Daniel Deasy; Lucas in Downtown and 28 other Piatt, Millcraft Industries; County neighborhoods Chief Executive Dan Onarato; Neighbors in the Strip
Study says Downtown Pittsburgh Mark Belko Downtown; Golden Positive Patty Burk, Pittsburgh Downtown Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership can't support full grocery Triangle; grocery Partnership study found that downtown Pittsburgh can not support a full grocery store, but can support a hybrid store Region's future looks bright through Anya Sostek infrastructure; future Neutral Allegheny County Chief Executive Pittsburgh was named one of North partial lens Don Onarato America's top three "Cities of the Future" Basics, not grand strategy, may be Dan Fitzpatrick Allegheny Conference ; Neutral Katherine Klaber, ACCD; James Allegheny Conference on best route to growth business development; Rohr, PNC Financial Services Community Development has Regional Economic Group/ACCD; Tim Parks, scaled back aspirational goals for Revitalization Initiative; Pittsburgh Regional Alliance; job growth and business crisis Harold Miller, ACCD and Future recruitment;critics say Pittsburgh Strategies LLC needs big ideas and aspirational goals Lack of immigrants fuels population Gary Rotstein population loss; Neutral Christopher Briem, University of Pittsburgh area population decline immigration Pittsburgh regional economist continues to decline because death rates are higher than birth rates, people keep moving out, and there is not as much immigration as other parts of the country
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via EBSCOHost
82 New York Times 1997-2007
Search term: “Youngstown, Ohio”
Search term: Youngstown, Ohio 287 articles total
Year Title Author Key subjects Bias Summary
2006 6th Annual Year In Ideas: Creative Shrinkage (NYT Belinda Lanks Youngstown 2010; creative shrinkage Positive Youngstown's plan is visionary Magazine) 2006 Across Nation, Housing Costs Rise as Burden Staff Affordable homes Negative Youngstown has the lowest median home value in the country 2005 America's Last True Bargains Patrick O'Guilfoil Affordable homes Negative Youngstown has low housing values Healy 2004 Ohio Charities to Promote Economic Growth Stephanie Strom Economic growth Negative Youngstown ranked 199th of 200 cities in economic vitality 2002 Ohio Congressman Guilty In Bribery and Kickbacks Francis X. Clines Traficant; conviction Neutral Traficant convicted on charges
2002 Lawmaker Is Cautioned on Trial Behavior Francis X. Clines Traficant Neutral Traficant is cautioned to watch his step
2002 Blue-Collar Legend Braces for New Trial Francis X. Clines Traficant; bribery/corruption Negative Region "infested with organized crime"
2002 Congressman's Trial Begins With Testimony of Francis X. Clines Traficant; bribery/corruption Negative Youngstown government/business Kickbacks community corrupt
2002 National Briefing | Midwest: Ohio: A Muckraker's Francis X. Clines corruption; mob Positive James Callen awarded grant to fight Reward corruption in Youngstown 2002 Corruption Case Against Ohio Congressman Goes to Francis X. Clines Traficant; bribery/corruption Negative Traficant trial begins Jury 2002 Notes From Youngstown; The Angry Voice of a City Mark Peyko Traficant; bribery/corruption Neutral Traficant is being indicted ; retains a Left Behind 50% approval rating in Youngstown
2001 Field Trip to Sicily Helps Youngstown Face Latest Francis X. Clines Traficant; organized crime; Citizen's Positive Traficant indicted; CLGY has been Indictment League of Greater Youngstown inspired by trip to Palermo 2001 Census Finds 5 Big Cities in Ohio Smaller Staff census; population loss Negative Youngstown lost more population than any other big city in Ohio during the 1990s 2000 Youngstown Reformers Seek Mob-Fighting Tips in Francis X. Clines organized crime; corruption; Citizen's Neutral CLGY is visiting Palermo Italy to learn Sicily League of Greater Youngstown how to battle organized crime; Ytown mayor declined invitation
2000 Imprisoned Fathers Tell Their Children: Don't Follow in Francis X. Clines Prison Negative Youngstown as prison capital of the Our Footsteps US 2000 Fighting to Help an Ohio City Shed Its Image as Francis X. Clines Traficant; organized crime Negative Callen trying to help Youngstown shed 'Crimetown U.S.A.' image 1999 As More Prisons Go Private, States Seek Tighter Pam Belluck Prison Negative Youngstown desparate for jobs and Controls investments
Source: New York Times (www.nytimes.com)
83 New York Times 1997-2007
Search term: “Pittsburgh”
Search term: Pittsburgh 16,514 articles total
Year Title Author Key subjects Bias Summary U.S. 2007 In Media’s Eye, Young Mayor Says He’s Ian Urbina politics; Ravenstahl Neutral new mayor is making progress, high Learning approval rating; interview with resident says city is safer 2006 Baby-Faced Mayor Takes Over an Ian Urbina politics; Ravenstahl Neutral new mayor has been elected in the wake Aging Pittsburgh of very popular former mayor; very young
2004 LETTER FROM PITTSBURGH; Years James Dao decline in steel; financial distress Positive city is broke, but much discussion about After Big Steel's Demise, a City Lost in how pittsburgh is dynamic and coming Transition back--"mismanaged"; pittsburgh as recovering from its past 2004 As Cities Struggle, Police Get By With Fox Butterfield reduced police force; budget cuts Negative Pittsburgh has lost 25% of its police force Less in the last three years 2002 Revival for Black Enclave in Pittsburgh Lynette Clemetson The Hill; revitalization Positive The Hill is becoming a vibrant African American community after decades of decline; federal and local gov't assistance
2002 Private Groups in Pittsburgh Halt Stephanie Strom public schools; funding crisis Negative Pittsburgh school system is in crisis; Millions in School Aid private foundations have pulled funding until management issues can be resolved.
2000 In Pittsburgh, a Redevelopment Too Francis X. Cline Revitalization; historic preservation; Negative Mayor wants to demolish and redevelop a Far? demolition section of downtown; preservationists are very unhappy; citizens and business owners don't like plan
1998 Pittsburgh Is Showcase For Women In Michael Janofsky police Positive pittsburgh has highest percentage of Policing female police in the country; pittsburgh referred to as a major city 1997 Pittsburgh at Progress Crossroads Michael Janofsky technology; pittsburgh progress; Positive Pittsburgh is shifting from steel town to stadiums; convention center technological hub; referendum for new stadium may not pass
Source: New York Times (www.nytimes.com)
84 Appendix 4. Census 2000 Demographics
Source: U.S. Census 2000
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