Youngstown News, Tax liens, foreclosures and vacancies plague Youngstown

Youngstown News, Tax liens, foreclosures and vacancies plague Youngstown: "The city plans more demolitions.

The city is receiving $1.1 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development this year for programs to stabilize neighborhoods. City officials have asked for a waiver to a HUD restriction that no more than 10 percent of the grant can be used for demolition.

“Demolition activity alone is not enough to face the housing problems,” said Sybil West, a member of the Bennington Block Watch on the city’s East Side, at Thursday’s MVOC press conference.


Without a strategy to stabilize neighborhoods, many of them are in jeopardy, the report reads. They include Crandall Park North, Lincoln Knolls, Cornersburg, Kirkmere, Belle Vista and Rocky Ridge.

MVOC officials listed four recommendations that should be implemented this year to tackle the city’s vacant-property problems."