{"id":1237,"date":"2011-06-28T16:48:54","date_gmt":"2011-06-28T20:48:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/?p=1237"},"modified":"2011-06-29T11:55:25","modified_gmt":"2011-06-29T15:55:25","slug":"video-in-youngstown-it-takes-a-village-to-shrink-a-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/uncategorized\/video-in-youngstown-it-takes-a-village-to-shrink-a-city\/1237\/","title":{"rendered":"[VIDEO] In Youngstown, it takes a village to shrink a city"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tom McNamara, Blueprint America<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In May as part of our \u201cShrinking Cities\u201d series, the Blueprint America team traveled to Youngstown, Ohio<\/a>, where a grand experiment in urban renewal is underway.<\/p>\n

Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams is leading a closely watched effort to \u201cshrink\u201d this blighted rustbelt city back to health.<\/p>\n

Over half a century ago, Youngstown was a steel town and at its peak was home to nearly 170,000 people. Most lived in tidy middle class homes. But in the late 1970s the steel mills started shutting down. And in a story all too common throughout the Midwest and Northeast, Youngstown fell into a slow, steady economic decline.<\/p>\n

Today, fewer than 60,000 people live amid the ruins of closed factories and abandoned homes. On some streets, more homes are vacant than occupied. The tax base has been decimated. Still, Mayor Williams has rallied a surprising amount of local support for his plan to remake Youngstown into a place worth staying in.<\/p>\n

Linda Jenkins is Youngstown born and raised. We met her as we filmed the demolition of the house across the street from where she lives.<\/p>\n