| North Heights is a comprised of mostly modest and large single family, wood frame homes built up in the 1920s & 1930s. The neighborhood was built up in response to middle-class housing demand fueled by Youngstown’s growing industrial base. Ethnic make up of the residents include African Americans, Italian Americans, Irish Americans, and Jewish Americans . Mansions with large set backs line 5th Avenue. East of here is a more blighted lower income neighborhood. West of 5th Avenue is a solid middle class district. Commercial corridors are either auto centric or blighted but some auto centric retail. Other than having sidewalks and good street grid, North Heights functions more effectively like a moderately dense post WWII suburb. But that could change if the commercial districts are ever urbanized and more residential in-fill occurs. Unfortunately given Youngstown’s economy, I don’t anticipate that happening in my life time. |
URBAN STRENGTHS:
| * Great tree canopy. * Very convenient access to Dwtn with just an 8 minute drive. * Great racial and economic diversity in North Heights * Park amenities consist of Crandall Park and several cemeteries. Crandall Park is a good one, centrally located, diverse amenities and runs several blocks along a stream. * Consistent sidewalk infrastructure but very few ADA compliant curb cuts. |
URBAN WEAKNESSES:
| * Very low density. More like a suburb. * Poor Public transit and no bike infrastructure. * Housing is still very cheap but some diversity. East of Ohio is mostly under 50K. West of Ohio street between 50K-100K. Larger mansions along 5th Ave generally selling in the 100Ks. Top of the market in in the low 200Ks. * As this is a SF dominant neighborhood, rentals are very limited. * Cultural amenities limited to a handful of restaurants and bars. * Commercial corridors generally both blighted and auto centric. Not much positive to say here. * Some retail amenities but all auto centric including a supermarket, drug store, a couple dollar stores, a post office and other low income stores. * Schools include a public elementary and a catholic school just west of the neighborhood boundaries. |
Evaluating our Urban Communities [with a focus on America] 