"By Dennis LaRueYOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The Hub, the informal restaurant across from the Mahoning County Courthouse that regularly served scores of politicians and aspiring politicians, hundreds of lawyers and a quite few downtown businessmen as well, closes its doors today."Economic conditions," is the cryptic explanation repeated by Denise Danko, who with her husband, Jim, bought the establishment two years ago. Mrs. Danko said they painted and remodeled the business."I know it's been a struggle for Jim since Day 1," said county Auditor George Tablack, yesterday as he ate a plate of spaghetti and meatballs. Tablack, a regular, likes the convenience the Hub offers and that he can simply walk across Market Street and get a quick bite or cup of coffee. "Convenience is what's been important to me," he said.It was 12:30 p.m. and only three tables had patrons.The frustration, even bitterness, in Mrs. Danko's voice underscored her unhappiness with the factors that led to her and her husband's decision to close. "The income tax," Mrs. Danko begins. "When the city raised it [to 2.75%], a dozen attorneys moved out of town."Parking's an issue," she continued, with the city offering and then taking away free parking in the central business district. She claimed that the meters allow only a half-hour time limit before a parked car is in violation.As she was being interviewed, a lawyer from Cleveland, Dennis G. Terez, stopped in to order take-out. Terez, a public defender in federal courts, exclaimed, "I'm crushed. It's really too bad," upon learning the news. "This restaurant is a gem."It was the only place you could go during a trial," he observed, and make it back within an hour when court resumed. "I came here for breakfast to interview clients." Commuting from Cleveland, Terez continued, he found The Hub the best place to interview his clients before their court appearances.Having been interviewed by other reporters this morning, Jim Danko was wary about why he and his wife can no longer keep its doors open. "Everybody's trying to make something else out of this," he said. "It's economics," not, as some former patrons suggested, the revamped menu and rearranged tables.More than that, the Dankos said, they could no longer wait for the improvements promised by the city. True, work has begun to reopen Federal Street and it looks as though the long-awaited convocation center will soon come about. "I've been waiting for that for two years," Mrs. Danko said. "It's a little late now."Mayor George McKelvey, Danko said, never stopped in their restaurant. "The mayor walks by once a month, goes upstairs and gets a haircut," he offered.What's happened to The Hub, while sad, is part of a national trend, Terez lamented. The inexpensive restaurants in downtown Cleveland continue to shut their doors, he said. And, having just returned from downtown Atlanta and Savannah, Ga., Terez found many small restaurants in those downtowns "boarded up."Those politicians who did support The Hub, such as county commissioners Ed Reese and Dave Ludt, were too few in number to make up for the lawyers leaving downtown, Mrs. Danko said. "They would order party trays for their staff," she said.Attorney John F. Shultz said he moved his offices from downtown to northern Boardman, just outside city limits, when the city's income tax became the highest in the state. "That was the straw that broke the camel's back for me," he said. Shultz, whose offices were two blocks from the courthouse, was a Hub regular."It's an unfortunate development," he said. "It's one less place for [legal and political] community members to gather. It's very limited where you can meet downtown."The downtown has become less and less attractive, with the panhandlers, with the litter. I had a hard time bringing people downtown. [With the closing of The Hub], I suppose we'll drive back to suburbia for lunch."Echoing the theme of one less meeting place is David Sabine, senior vice president and head of Sky Bank's trust department in the Mahoning Valley. Sabine, another regular, said, "It's one of the friendliest places I've ever eaten. There were a lot of really nice people and you could exchange ideas.It's a blow for the old downtown."The Hub employs three in addition to the Dankos."