Warren Ohio Decay To Growth?
First I want to thank Rod for sending me his new YouTube video on Warren, Ohio.
Rod knows the “spiritual” connection I have to my adoptive hometown.
Growing up in Warren during the 1960’s; attending High School; going off to the service from the “ole” train station; coming back in the 70’s and briefly in the 80’s; having a business for a little over ten years and losing it; then moving away again, I feel my heart and soul is involved with this “gem” of the Mahoning Valley as if I was born there.
Rod’s new video shows the plight and the beauty of this small mid-west town and then makes a very deep statement as to its future.
I will take this opportunity to again stress the need for an “Entertainment District” that has an “ECONOMIC IMPACT” on the downtown “historic” area, a “Parks and Recreation Board” that utilizes the wonderful facilities the City has to offer and the “Shepherding” of empty store fronts, vacant lots and parks, all of which have been discussed on DTD.
Dare To Dream 
Just wanted to leave a quick comment to say thanks for the video and thanks to Tristan for posting it. It took me a minute to understand the video, but once I did, I saw that it was exceptionally well done even to the choice of music. Unfortunately, the video of Warren, near and dear to many of our hearts, could be nearly any one of those “Northern Towns” and had I the talent to produce such a video, I might have chosen “Life In A Northern Town” for the background music. Let’s hope the film is widely seen and the message is heard. I’ll put a link on my blog.
At this point, I would settle for properly marketing downtown and taking the Tremont, Cleveland approach of just carving out a few blocks of dining, art, boutique shops and interesting bars (the kinds that don’t hedge their bets by catering only to the sports crowd) and saying to hell with the everything else.
But, as a wise man once told me, about 12 people (from the political spectrum to some choice property owners) need to die before anything gets ‘fixed’ in this town.
Josh, you’re preaching to the choir. This IS the right tactic and Tremont is a prime example. When I first proposed the Entertainment District in 2000/2001 it was with the “economic impact” of the Downtown I had in mind. The proposal was 23 “contiguous acres” which would be the “historic” business area of the Square. Keep on fighting for that concept Josh, you have the right approach.