Revitalizing the neighborhood: the practices and politics of rightsizing in Idora, Youngstown

ABSTRACT

In recent years, growing academic attention has been placed upon the varied strategies of rightsizing employed by cities to address the interrelated dynamics of economic and urban decline and depopulation. Within this body of work, the focus has primarily been placed on the city-level. By focusing on the practices and politics of urban revitalization within the Idora neighborhood in Youngstown – a neighborhood widely heralded as a success story – this paper deepens understandings of how rightsizing is enacted within more micro-contexts. Drawing on demographic data, documentary analysis, and observation, it reveals the process to be complex in its manifestations. Placing the critical gaze upon the neighborhood level exposes actualities of urban reconfiguration in the context of stark deindustrialization, decline, and depopulation, elucidating the actors and practices involved, in addition to its politically charged and contested nature. It concludes with a discussion of the wider implications of this case study both in terms of the possibilities and pitfalls of rightsizing.

KEYWORDS:

• Rightsizing
• shrinking cities
• urban decline
• urban redevelopment

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Manuel Aalbers and Matthias Bernt for putting together this special issue and for their advice on the paper. Thanks also to Joshua Akers, David Evans and the four anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier draft.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Selected Housing Characteristics: 2006–2010 American Community Survey Five-Year Estimates.

2. Selected Economic Characteristics: 2006–2010, American Community Survey Five-Year Estimates.

3. Food Stamps/SNAP: 2005–2009 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.

4. Households and Families: 2006–2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates; Households and Families: 2010–2014 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. 2010–2014 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.

5. Financial Characteristics: 2006–2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates; Financial Characteristics: 2010–2014 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.

6. Detailed Race: Universe: Total population, 2006–2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates; Detailed Race: Universe: Total population, 2010–2014 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.