The real cost of construction

Businesses in downtown Youngstown are speaking up

By Cassandra Williams

Federal Street, Commerce Street, Rayen Avenue and many other roads in downtown
Youngstown have been blocked from public use due to a two-year long construction
project. Businesses in the area and students of Youngstown State University have
spoken out.

Anne Massullo-Sabella, Avalon Downtown Pizzeria owner, said she has reached out to
the city about her concerns.

“A lot of times it falls on deaf ears. I don’t mean to be negative in that sense, but this
mess was created by the city, by very poor planning and not orchestrating it,”
Massullo-Sabella said. “If you’re going to do a project of this magnitude, you need to
take a lot of other factors into play.”

Other businesses in the area have dealt with similar treatment from the city. Will
Happney, general manager of West 34, said he attended a meeting with the city and
other businesses in the area over the summer.

“They were kind of, I don’t want to say dismissive, but they told us it was already
happening,” Happney said. “The city itself is not branding or advertising what it’s gonna
look like afterwards. They’re kind of forcing the businesses to figure it out.”

YSU students have also been impacted by construction downtown, due to the
university's location. Helen Lafferty, YSU’s interim president, said it’s affecting all
students.

“Commuters have to drive through it and the on-campus students have to walk through
it,” Lafferty said. “When you see construction being done at that level and so many
areas being under construction at the same time, it is quite disconcerting.”

Construction does not seem to be slowing down anytime soon. The Youngstown Public
Works website reports several projects are underway.

Many are on Federal Street, which houses most of the city’s small businesses. There
are plans for sidewalk improvements, landscaping, street lighting and replacing slant
parking with parallel parking spots.
Massullo-Sabella, said she and other business owners have concerns about parking.

“When this project is going to be completed, there is going to be, I was told, in the
neighborhood of either 72 or 74 parking spaces taken away from the street,”
Massullo-Sabella said. “Which as a business owner is very alarming because street
parking in any downtown is a commodity.”

Businesses are not only inconvenienced by the construction, some — like West 34 —
have lost business amidst the projects.

“We still get a lot of people who work downtown. The courthouse, the offices, they’re still
able to come in for lunch, but our afternoons are strenuous when there is not that forced
crowd down there, “ Happney said. “So, 25%, if not 30 [%], have been gone. We’re just
not getting those casual diners.”

Massullo-Sabella’s business has lost about 30% of customers too, but she said others
in the area have lost over half.

There are many people who love the city of Youngstown. Derrick McDowell, owner of
the Youngstown Flea, said he loves the city and wants to do everything in his power to
help those who need it during this time of need.

“I’ve spearheaded this initiative called ‘We are a generation.’ I call it a CEO, community
engagement or community empowerment organization,” McDowell said.

The organization focuses on going around to different businesses downtown and asking
how the community can best support them.

“We’re gonna put together a promo video,” McDowell said. “That asks for folks who love
the city of Youngstown, who support the city and the downtown, to push through a little
bit of the challenging chaos and just support the businesses who need them the most at
this time.”

McDowell’s organization is still in the beginning stages of reaching out to all businesses
downtown, encouraging them to speak up and use their voice.

There are efforts in place already to engage the community and support businesses.
Such as, the YO app and businesses attempts at promotional deals.
The current construction dilemma is not a new occurrence for Youngstown. The
Mahoning County Historical Society reported there were a number of construction
projects in the 20th century, the largest being the widening of Federal Street to a 100
foot right-of-way. Others include the creation of the downtown traffic loop, construction
of Federal plaza and the removal of the plaza.

Youngstown’s current construction is larger than anything seen previously. Multiple

streets have been dug up at once for various reasons. Youngstown City Public Works
website stated that three out of eight streets have been finished.

The goal of the most recent construction is to improve the overall aesthetic and safety of
Youngstown for all modes of transportation. However, Massullo-Sabella said residents
and businesses of Youngstown were not consulted before the project began.

“What’s really sad about all this is that the city administration, our government, does not
even understand this,” Massullo-Sabella said. “They’re going to do all of this and they’re
literally destroying the livelihoods of the businesses that have been down here.”

McDowell said there have been some efforts to reach out to the city since construction
has started.

“There are conversations happening now between stakeholders downtown and the
administration to try and resolve what they can,” McDowell said. “There are folks who
are unfortunately considering bringing legal action against the city in this scenario
because they’ve had such a loss of business revenue.”

Although the construction has been a downfall for businesses, many people are still
looking forward to seeing the results. Lafferty said she is excited to see the new streets,
despite the current inconvenience.

“I think the payoff is going to be quite worth the anxiety we might be going through now,”
Lafferty said. “I happened to ride on a few streets that are finished and they’re
beautiful.”

Business owners are eager to see the new downtown too. Happney said he believes it’s
for the betterment of Youngstown to draw more people in.

For construction results that continue to be pushed to later dates, Lafferty said patience
is required to get through sane.
“When you’re driving or even walking, there are so many things you need to consider. I
think that’s where patience runs very thin, and it’s hard to think of what it’s going to look
like,” Lafferty said. “So, I really do think patience is the name of the game.”

To be involved in We are a generation, contact Derrick McDowell at 330-565-5483 or to

see the construction plans for the city, visit https://youngstownohio.gov/.

Contact Info-
Helen Lafferty: President@ysu.edu
Anne Massullo-Sabella: 330-740-0000
Will Happney: 330-941-9925
Derrick McDowell: 330-565-5483
Public works page: https://youngstownohio.gov/news-Public%20Works
Mahoning county historical society: hwlawson@mahoninghistory.org

Cutline: Construction blocking restaurants on Federal Street located in downtown

Youngstown. The city is planning on turning the original slant parking spaces into
parallel parking.