By Edward P. Noga
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Does the headline sound like a hardware store manager looking at depleted shelves in the “home goods” department? Maybe.
Does it sound like a creative coach or manager who wants to put a team monogram on something for a fundraiser? Maybe.
Does it sound like a resort manager looking to put the final touches on a new, multistory vacation site before an opening day ribbon cutting ceremony? Maybe.
Although the above three scenarios are possible, let’s save the answer to our questions for a little later in this article.
There is a regional bank in the Midwest whose tellers always greet customers who walk through the door with a friendly smile and an engaging “Welcome! We’ll be right with you.”
I recently had a discussion with two individuals from Ashtabula who are working with their city and county land bank and the Welcome Home Ohio state grant program to help individuals purchase homes within the Ashtabula city limits. Their initiatives are modeled after a similar effort in Sandusky. I was told that many of those participating in the Ashtabula program are renters who then become first-time homebuyers.
Besides the financial component, other community building partners provide mandatory sessions on credit building and financial planning as part of the total package. For sure, purchasing a home is a dream come true, but the wraparound support network in Ashtabula also builds competence in credit and budgeting as well as in the very practical nuts-and-bolts skills of house and yard maintenance.
The city of Struthers has built a relationship with the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation in bringing new home construction within the city limits of Struthers. When ground was broken for the first installment of homes, Mayor Catherine Cercone Miller spoke of the major collaboration that promoted new housing in the city.
Salem has the Hickory Lane Project, which proposes to annex some land to the city so that new home construction on a newer city street can be extended.
How about Warren’s Peninsula Project, which envisions a new neighborhood built near the downtown?
With the above as a backdrop, we can now answer the question at the beginning of this article. In Youngstown, with the allocation of $5 million from the American Rescue Plan, the At Home in Youngstown program provided down payment and home ownership assistance help for qualified applicants who were able to move into newly constructed homes or existing housing stock through these steps: 1) procuring a home loan from approved home lending partners; 2) moving through an intensive home buyer educational component that covered areas such as budgeting, building credit capacity and understanding the ramifications of owning a home.
In addition, the Residential Façade Program provided funding for exterior upgrades for those who own their homes in the city. Bonded and licensed contractors were required in this initiative.
As the At Home in Youngstown program winds down, staff members of the Community Development Division are providing residents with a welcome mat for their newly purchased homes. This creative outreach has also been a way to say thank you to those who made the decision and commitment to be homeowners in the city. And now you know the answer to our original question.
All of these examples of providing new or upgraded housing within city limits have been win-win situations for all involved. It might bear mentioning that these programs use existing infrastructure.
Don’t we sometimes wonder why we keep extending infrastructure that eventually adds to a community’s ongoing maintenance costs for roads, sidewalks and sewers, as well as seasonal costs, especially in winter? One might say that the projects mentioned here (and many more like them) are a sort of creative reuse or recycling of what is already available and needed for residential living.
The snapshot accompanying this article can be further understood in the context of the brochures, websites and media coverage as communities use the tools provided by municipalities, land banks, state incentives and lending institutions working together with neighbors to enhance their properties and their value. Obviously, not everyone wants to live in a city, but creative initiatives provide those who want to be city dwellers an opportunity to be part of historical neighborhoods with some classic buildings and institutions.
Welcome!
