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German Students Offer Fresh Perspective on Redevelopment
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The regions might be thousands of miles apart in both distance and culture, but the Mahoning Valley and the Ruhr Valley in western Germany have more in common than most people would think.
Both are reeling from similar consequences brought on by industrial retrenchment and declining populations. But each also shares a determination to address these issues by applying innovative thinking to redevelop their communities and set a new course for their future.
"I think Youngstown has a lot of potential, mostly the downtown," said Franziska Zibell, a student at the Technical University of Dortmund, Germany. "I like the idea of redeveloping the river."
Zibell is one of 13 students from the university who toured the city and nearby regions for two weeks and put together an assessment of the community and its possibilities, and offered examples of how creative planning has transformed their own communities in Germany.
The thrust of their presentation was evident in its title, "STAY YOUNGstown," emphasizing the need to retain and attract new young talent into the city and giving them a reason to stay.
"Youngstown has the potential to become a city where you can have a lot of time for recreation," Zibell said.
The students were part of a program called Policies and Strategies in Shrinking Cities: The Case of Youngstown, Ohio, sponsored by the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
During the event, students presented a redevelopment wish list related to sites across the city, most notably along the downtown riverfront area stretching from the Covelli Centre to the B&O Station.
"A real important part is making the river more accessible. It's the most important landmark you have here," Zibell said. "When we first got here, you wouldn't know there is a river, you don't see it when you get into the city. It's an important point to see the river and then, someday, it would be revitalized."
She emphasized that redevelopment efforts along the Emsche River in the Ruhr region have literally transformed the area around Dortmund. "It was a sewer," Zibell noted. "Now, it's a place where you can cycle and walk and have a good time. Youngstown has this potential as well."
Among the students' suggestions were:
- Transforming the dilapidated Wean United building into an indoor recreational spot featuring basketball and tennis courts, and a BMX bike path outside.
- An art gallery and café to complement the park-like atmosphere in front of the B&O Station.
- A new bike and pedestrian path that connects Youngstown State University with the riverfront and Mill Creek Park.
- An outdoor movie theater for Crab Creek.
- Converting an abandoned industrial site on Albert Street into a skate and paintball park.
- Transforming and rehabilitating an abandoned railroad bridge to support a restaurant, café and small retail shops.
- An industrial heritage park on land east of the Covelli Centre, and an urban market, café and park on open land west of the arena.
Such ambitions are not far-fetched, these students say, since they've seen a similar transformation in regions where they live.
The Ruhr River region is not unlike the Mahoning Valley, said student Nils Diederechs. Since the 1960s, the population in this once-heavily industrialized area of Germany has declined by 400,000. By 2030, the region expects to lose another 400,000 people.
Planners and industrial redevelopers in the region have hatched several creative projects that have successfully integrated the region's industrial heritage into modern-day use, he told guests.
Century Hall in Bochum, for example, was once used as a machine facility to support blast furnaces. Today, the building is used as a cultural arts and events center.
In downtown Dortmund, Diederechs said, a brewery in the heart of the city abandoned for 10 years was recently transformed into a multi-entertainment complex, including a movie theater. And a former steel mill site in Dortmund was razed with the empty land converted into a man-made lake, which now is a focal point for recreation in the city.
A portion of another industrial site once used for coal mining in another town was converted into a skate park and, remarkably, a public pool smack in the middle of an abandoned mining operation, still surrounded by large industrial buildings.
"This is how we handled it," Diederechs said.
Alan Mallach, a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said that some of the ideas presented made sense, especially the objective to concentrate on areas near the downtown and build from there.
"I remember being here eight years ago and downtown, for all intense purposes, was dead," he recalled. "It isn't anymore. New restaurants, new companies opening up here and some housing -- it's really very positive. One thing Youngstown should be thinking about is how can it build on that."
Also key to the city's future is the stabilization and redevelopment of its neighborhoods.
Lavea Brachman, executive director of the Greater Ohio Policy Center, said the city is pursuing the right course in its neighborhoods through organizations such as the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp., targeting those areas that stand the best chance of turning around in the near-term.
"It's important to look at our redevelopment strategy," Brachman said. "One of the things we're talking about is a master plan for certain key neighborhoods, such as Wick Park, that provides a plan for the future and some comfort for investors."
Much of the redevelopment in the Ruhr Valley, Brachman noted, emphasizes the region's industrial heritage while at the same time brings to life new cultural amenities. "They used these old coal and mining facilities and they're now beautiful cultural designations."
It's an example from which cities such as Youngstown can benefit.
"That goes back to building on our assets," Brachman said, citing a tour of industrial sites she took just that morning. "They have fantastic beauty, and Youngstown should be capitalizing on that."
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.