Undevelopment: Is Shrinking Pittsburgh the Answer?

Burgh Diaspora and Pittsblog are all over a fascinating redevelopment story in Youngstown, Ohio. Or make that an "undevelopment" story.

The city's elderly mayor (OK. He's 35. But that is extremely old compared to Mr. Ravenstahl.) is making headlines, not by dreaming up cockamamie schemes aimed at making Youngstown the "new Silicon Valley" or something equally preposterous, but by coming to terms with reality. The city is probably never going to be as large or as dense as it was in its industrial heyday. This guy accepts that, and is trying to make it the best city that it can be. The plan has even drawn attention from the New York Times, which recently ran a story about the plan. It's headlined Creative Shrinkage:

For decades, depopulated Rust Belt cities have tried to grow their way back to prosperity. Youngstown, Ohio, has a new approach: shrinking its way into a new identity.

At its peak, Youngstown supported 170,000 residents. Now, with less than half that number living amid shuttered steel factories, the city and Youngstown State University are implementing a blueprint for a smaller town that retains the best features of the metropolis Youngstown used to be. Few communities of 80,000 boast a symphony orchestra, two respected art museums, a university, a generously laid-out downtown and an urban park larger than Central Park. “Other cities that were never the center of steel production don’t have these assets,” says Jay Williams, the city’s newly elected 35-year-old mayor, who advocated a downsized Youngstown when he ran for office.

Williams’s strategy calls for razing derelict buildings, eventually cutting off the sewage and electric services to fully abandoned tracts of the city and transforming vacant lots into pocket parks. The city and county are now turning abandoned lots over to neighboring landowners and excusing back taxes on the land, provided that they act as stewards of the open spaces. The city has also placed a moratorium on the (often haphazard) construction of new dwellings financed by low-income-housing tax credits and encouraged the rehabilitation of existing homes. Instead of trying to recapture its industrial past, Youngstown hopes to capitalize on its high vacancy rates and underused public spaces; it could become a culturally rich bedroom community serving Cleveland and Pittsburgh, both of which are 70 miles away.

This does not strike me as defeatist or cynical. In many ways, it sounds about right. I think this is especially worth attention: The city has also placed a moratorium on the (often haphazard) construction of new dwellings financed by low-income-housing tax credits and encouraged the rehabilitation of existing homes. Instead of trying to recapture its industrial past, Youngstown hopes to capitalize on its high vacancy rates and underused public spaces.

So this guy is saying that a city that has lost half its residents might do something other than encourage the construction of new housing? That it might make sense to rehabilitate existing housing stock? That it might make sense to build on strengths (affordability) rather than try to compete with Manhattan for residents? Go figure.

I am not saying that Pittsburgh is Youngstown. Or that it should try to be. But I do think it is interesting to see someone come up with different ideas. And this does appear to be different than the "upscale condo" solution that is currently all the rage. This "solution" requires a different take on urbanity and density and other ideas driving the planning process in a lot of places. And who knows--some people might be trying to take downtown Youngstown upscale as part of this plan. But the whole "creative shrinkage" thing is intriguing.

Comments

[sean mcdaniel]

maybe the mayor of youngstown's heard me bitching that pittsburgh's never going to be the density population capital of the world. and that it's never going to be home to 650,000 residents again. man, i've been pounding the work with what you got theory ever since my first appearances here.