Transcription
I am in Youngstown, Ohio. Once one of the most prosperous cities in the United States, it was the heart of the country. It was sometimes called that because it was one of the top steel producers, not only in the United States but in the world. And so many things that we use were built with steel produced here.
This was a place that you could get a job that would last a lifetime, that paid well, enough to support a family, including a wife who wouldn't have to work. She could stay home and raise the kids. You could afford a home, a nice home, live comfortably, and retire with money in the bank. The very definition of the American dream.
But alas, this town put all its eggs in one basket, and that's never good. It was wholly dependent on the steel industry, and when the mills packed up, left for China, left for Mexico, the town collapsed. It's uh no secret what happened here. When the steel mills collapsed, the people left and left their houses here just sitting empty. Businesses closed because there's no one to sell product to. And then with the decline in sales tax, infrastructure, city services all suffered. At one time, the street was lined with homes. Uh, they're all gone now.
Now, you can really see evidence of this in the population history. Uh, peak population was 1930. There were 170,000 people here, and the town held pretty well up until 1970. It was down to about 140,000 people, but then it really started to decline, and today there are less than 60,000. Steel had been slowly declining here since the 1950s, but it really accelerated in 1977 when Youngstown Sheet and Tube, one of the top producers here, suddenly without warning, closed one of its mills, and uh, 5,000 people lost their jobs that day. A day they call Black Monday here. And over the next 10 to 15 years, somewhere around 30,000 people lost their jobs producing steel as these steel companies closed up shop and moved their operations to foreign shores.
Now, this uh neighborhood I'm driving in is actually in Campbell, which is right next to Youngstown, but I came out here to show you these houses in this neighborhood. These are historical and are all on the National Register. Yeah, there is a sign here. Let me just go to the sign. It will explain it. Okay. Yeah, here it is. Youngstown Sheet and Tube Housing and National Historic Site. First prefab concrete estate in the world, built between 1918 and 1920. Got some pictures here. You can see them when they were in really good condition. And uh, there's the back of some right there. There's a few more here. Uh, as you can see, people still live in them. Some of them, if you can see them in the trees there. Got some abandoned ones over on this side. That's really interesting, isn't it?
Uh, now, one time there were about 27,000 empty houses and businesses here in town, which per capita was the highest in the nation, even higher than Detroit. But for the past 20 years or so, the city has been tearing them down. And what you have now is a lot of urban prairie, empty lots. It's really interesting to see all over this town. You'll see a couple houses, and you'll see three or four lots sitting empty. Interesting mural here along one of the main streets. Thought I'd give you a look-see. I haven't shown you a map yet. So, how about if I do that now as I make my way into downtown? We'll uh park the car and take a look around. There is some pretty interesting architecture here.
[Music]
It took me about 30 minutes to find a parking spot, so things can't be that bad for Youngstown. I fully expected there to not be anybody down here, but it's uh kind of busy. A lot of cars, anyway. Some people walking around. I guess I should start giving you some numbers while I'm here in downtown. Median age is 38, a little lower than the US of 39. Youngstown State University is here. Uh, right this direction from downtown, 15,000 students. That is the number one employer of the city. I would suggest to the good people of Youngstown that you can call yourself a college town now. Yeah. It's got a good ring to it.
As I make my way to their magnificent county courthouse, let me give you the ethnic breakdown. 41% white, 40% black, 11% Hispanic, 1% Asian. Last 7% is mixed or other. And uh, here's the median household income. $34,746 a year. That is $670 a week. That is very low income. I was reading some of the message boards for the town, various websites, though they say the cost of living is very low. Um, what I read mostly is that you can get a pretty decent house here for $100,000. And the numbers may support that. Here's the median home value for Youngstown, $58,400. And then here's the cost of living. It's an 82. Much lower than the state of Ohio. You can see it's a 92. Utilities are high though, 125. Maybe because of winter, but you can see housing is only a 38.
Youngstown is the county seat for Mahoning County. This is the county courthouse, built in 1911. This is Renaissance Revival, 15th century Italy. It's where it takes its cues. This building is stupendous. Am I right? Wow, there's some noise. I better get out of here. Go to a quieter place.
I'm on Federal Street right now. I I read that this was once um a pedestrian street and they built a road on it. I don't know. I kind of don't like that. I like pedestrian streets in cities. But it looks real nice, doesn't it? The whole street does. Let's see. Let's uh dig into poverty. You saw the incomes very low. Poverty is probably pretty high. It is 36.2 overall. Really bad for kids, 51%. So half the kids that live here live in poverty. 65 and older, it's 18%.
And then we'll go ahead and talk about crime. Now, uh, Youngstown used to be, now this is the 50s and 60s, uh, used to have quite an organized crime presence and it was very high. The mob was here, and the reputation for that kind of plagues the city to this day, kind of unfairly, because crime here, while not great, it's not that bad either. Uh, crime 3828 per 100k. USA is 2281. So yeah, it's a little higher than the US overall, but compared to other cities, I mean, let me show you Oakland, California. 13758 per 100k. Wow, that is almost 14 people per 100 in Oakland have been victims of crime. How about a city that's about the same size as Youngstown? Burlington, Vermont, 69.94 per 100k. Twice higher than Youngstown. It's a little bit unexpected, isn't it? I mean, Burlington, Vermont. Yeah, crime is higher there. Much higher than Youngstown. So my message to you good people of Youngstown is it's not that bad. A little high, but not that bad.
I am at what is arguably the crown jewel of the city, Mill Creek Park. Uh, this is Lanterman's Mill, one of the highlights of the park. It is considered one of the top parks in the United States. It is a hiker's paradise. There's 45 miles of hiking trails here in Mill Creek Park. How about if I give you a closer look at these falls side of the mill?
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It's great, huh? I think I'm going to hang out here for a few minutes, turn the camera off, and just enjoy this beautiful, peaceful site. Another highlight, this beautiful covered bridge. I think you used to could drive on it. It's pedestrian only now. And here's a good shot of this bridge over here. Let's take a look. There it comes into frame.
[Applause]
These huge houses. That one's boarded up. I'm in the Wick Park area. I knew there were big houses here. These were magnificent at one time though, weren't they? Some of these are really amazing though. We've got a few mixed in like this one. Well, all right, guys. Um, let's head to the next small city.
Can you see that? That is a spectacular building. Sun is in the wrong spot though. Hopefully you can see it. That is the Trumbull County Courthouse. I am in Warren, Ohio. And Warren is the county seat. This was built in 1897. And it is Romanesque, uh, yeah, Romanesque architecture, actually. So that's medieval era Europe. That is a beautiful building.
Well, let's take a look at Warren, shall we? I checked at various message boards like on Reddit and real estate sites and YouTube videos, and pretty much all of them, the residents anyway, didn't have very many good things to say about Warren. But so far for me, it's really nice. Let's go over here to the downtown. Let me show you a map. About 15 miles northwest of Youngstown.
Warren in the 1800s manufactured everything: appliances, furniture, clothing, carriages, horse-drawn carriages, and automobiles. Packard Automobile was founded here, and the first Packards were built here. In fact, they built them all the way into the 1970s. Then in the early 1900s, it shifted to steel, and this town suffered much the same fate as Youngstown. Here's population history. Peak population 1970, 63,494, and then that's when steel really started to decline. Last census, 39,201. Uh, here's 2024, 39,057. So about another 150 people gone.
To be honest though, I will tell you this, downtown Warren is quite nice. A lot of fascinating old buildings here, including City Hall, which I will show you here in a bit. Let me give you some of the numbers, though. Um, ethnic breakdown: 61% white, 28% black, 4% Hispanic, 1% Asian, last 6% mixed or other. Uh, poverty 32.9. School-age children, 52. Again, just like Youngstown, half the kids are in poverty. 65 and older, 16%. And in cost of living is an 81. Utilities a little bit better here at 103. Housing is 46.
All right. Well, let's see. Let me go show you the City Hall. All right, there it is. Warren City Hall, built in 1871. That is Italian architecture, 16th century Italy. It wasn't built to be a city hall. It was actually a private residence, and they made it into the city hall. See what it says here. The Perkins House, ornate Victorian Italianate house, was uh constructed in 1871 as the home of Henry Bishop Perkins, civic, business, political leader of the Western Reserve. During the 19th century, early 20th century, as well, political figures such as U.S. Grant, James Garfield, Rutherford Hayes, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley were visitors to this house. Charity Baptist Church. You think it's holding services? Doesn't look like it, does it?
Well, let's see. Cruising around some of the neighborhoods just outside of downtown. Been to quite a few streets, and uh, this is, well, this is pretty much what you see here. Pretty cool looking old houses, huh? Uh, median home value here, $80,100. Do that real quick. I checked crime, 29.89 per 100k compared to 2281 for the US. Crime's just a little high.
All right. Well, uh, yeah, I just going to give you a quick look at Warren. Up next, uh, Nicole and I will be together. We're heading to Akron. Actually, we're staying in Akron, and we will, uh, check out some sites in Akron and of course have dinner at a local restaurant.
I am in downtown Akron, Ohio. I'm in the heart of downtown. But before I start showing it to you, here is a map so you can see where I'm at. And then here's the population history. It's really interesting. Look at 1910's population, 69,067. 10 years later, it had ballooned to 208,435. During that decade, Akron was the fastest-growing city in the United States. It grew to 290,000 a little over in 1960, but it began declining. As you well know, a lot of the uh industry packed up and left this part of Ohio. And 2024, 189,664. And here's a quick shot from the air.
And now I will show you downtown. And it may surprise you how beautiful it is. Here's a shot of some of the taller buildings. This is a beautiful little area here in downtown Akron. It's a restaurant over there. We're going to eat there later today. That very restaurant. Anyway, yeah. Here's some more. It's nice, isn't it? I bet you didn't expect Akron, Ohio, to look this quite frankly beautiful. Uh, there's a huge mural right here. I almost didn't show you before I exit this area. Go see the rest of downtown.
Akron is called the rubber capital of the world, and it could be called the tire capital of the world as well. At least it used to could in the early 1900s. Uh, Goodyear, B.F. Goodrich, Firestone, General Tire all were founded and had their corporate headquarters here in Akron, Akron, Ohio. So late 1800s into the well into the 1900s, the steel would be made in Pittsburgh and Youngstown. The cars were built in Detroit, and Akron would supply the tires. Something like 90% of all tires at that time were produced here in Akron. Yeah, that was definitely the golden age for this uh area of the country. Today, only Goodyear is here in Akron. The other three have moved away. Firestone is in Nashville. B.F. Goodrich is simply called Goodrich now and is in Charlotte, North Carolina, and General Tire is in Fort Mill, South Carolina.
Now, all that water that you're hearing is coming from here. This is a canal, part of the historic Ohio and Erie Canal. It was a canal that was built in the 1830s, and it connected Lake Erie to the Ohio River. And all that water you see is called Lock 3. And this is where the boats would be able to change elevations, you know, so they could uh actually go to a lower part of the canal.
Akron suffered a decline in manufacturing just like most of the other cities in this area of Ohio. Didn't get hit quite as hard because Akron's a little bit more diversified. It is a leader in polymers production of and research into, and they still make a lot of rubber here. Uh, Goodyear is still has their world headquarters here and still producing tires. Healthcare is one of the biggest industries here. Now, uh, here is the top 10 employers, and you can see Summit Health is number one, and Akron Children's Hospital is number three. Goodyear's all the way down to number eight.
Let's give you another shot of downtown and of this beautiful old Art Deco skyscraper and a closer look at this Huntington Tower, built in 1931. Again, like I said, that is Art Deco. That is gorgeous, isn't it? In the shadow of the Huntington Tower is a statue. See what it says here. Akron Rubber Worker Statue. Put it here in 2021. Obviously, it celebrates Akron, City of Rubber, and well, City of Tires.
Now, here in downtown is the Civic Theater, built in 1929, designed by a guy named John Eberson. He was a master architect for movie palaces back in the day. Uh, this is one of the few of his theaters left in the United States. I am walking up to the Summit County Courthouse. Akron is the county seat. It's known for several things, including these two lions that guard the entrance. And here's the uh courthouse itself, built in 1908. That is Second Empire Italian Renaissance. So that's uh a blend of 14th century Italy and France. Anyway, there's a couple cool statues up there. Let's go take a look. Well, they've got the stairway blocked off. I guess they don't want you entering the courthouse from this direction. But the two statues up here, one is Justice, the other is Law. If you can see that. So, here's the other one. And I just don't want you going up there right now.
Akron is a Greek word. It translates into high point or summit. Akron is known as Summit City. And I would guess that's the reason for the name of the county, Summit County.
I am back in downtown Akron, and I've got Nicole with me. Hi. Checking out this uh canal park. Lock 3 Park. Please stay on walkway. What'd you say? Please stay on walkway. Yes. Please stay on walkway. It's a big mural there, huh? Yeah, it's really nice. They have a pavilion there, I guess, for concerts and stuff. And it looks like they're setting up for something, doesn't it? Yes, it does. Huh. Today is a Tuesday. I wouldn't have thought anything would be happening, but apparently something is.
We are at this amazing old theater that I showed you earlier. I'm going to see if we can go inside. Why don't you try the door? I will do so. Yeah. See what the inside of this place looks like. Or they kick us out, I guess. It's pretty cool, huh? The theater seats 3,000. That's a big theater. You said production. Mhm. Wonder if we can actually see the inside of it. It's all old-school looking. I love it. Oh my goodness. I'll go see. Oh my gosh. Look how grand it is. This is amazing. I guess we'll just kind of take a quick look and don't let that Let's see if someone don't bring attention to us. See if they kick us out. This is quite the place, isn't it? It's daisy. It is. It says the balcony's closed. You can see the ceiling of the theater. It looks like a starry sky. Look how pretty it is. It's beautiful. It's beautiful. I didn't notice the starry sky on the lower level. I didn't notice it was up here. This is something, isn't it? It's gorgeous. I want to see a show here. Look at Akron. Akron, Ohio with a theater like this. This is what you see coming out of the theater after the show. Look at the ceiling. You see Nicole there? Gives you a sense of how grand it is. This is just like a waiting room before you go in. Statues. Look on the other side here. Wow. This is one of the most awesome theaters I've ever seen, quite frankly. Ever. Quite something. I'm glad I got to see it.
While Nicole looks around, let me give you some numbers for the town. Some numbers. Yeah, I haven't said the numbers yet. Uh, let's start with ethnic. 53% white, 28% black, 5% Hispanic, 5% Asian, 9% mixed or other. Um, median household income $50,025 a year, $962 a week. Is that low? It is low. Yeah. Ohio is $67,769. You can see that on the chart there. The US is $77,720. Okay. I knew that sounded low. Yeah. Incomes here are a bit low, but cost of living real low, too. It's only 94. Utilities the highest, 103, I guess. Maybe a little high cuz of winter. I'm sorry. You guess what? A little high because of winter. And uh, housing's a 57. That's really low. I like that. Poverty 22.8. School-age children's 37. 65 and older, 18. Those numbers are all really high or pretty high. Twice higher than the US. Anyway, so what do you think of all this? Pretty nice here, huh? Yeah, it is. I like it. You know, it's a nice area to walk around. It is definitely some of the residents of the canal. Yeah. Uh, let's see. Crime 37.80 per 100k. US 2281. So crime's a little high. Yeah.
One more thing. Uh, median home value $131,600. That sounds low, right? Well, it's higher than the last two cities in the video, but yeah, for the United States. Yes. Yeah, that's that's low home value. Yeah, that's you get a house here pretty cheap, I would guess.
There's not a lot of stores and shops downtown Akron, but they do have something called the Peanut Shop. If it's a peanut shop, why does it show a thing of popcorn? I don't know. Let's go check it out. Maybe they sell popcorn. All right. Maybe they do. What's today? Oh, today's Tuesday. Yeah, they're open. Sorry. It smells like popcorn in here. Cooking something right there. Lots of candy. Yes. That I don't need, but I'll probably buy a little bit of, and popcorn. Yeah, they sell popcorn. All right. Well, let's uh cinnamon roasted pecans. Let's see what we want to buy.
We are at the uh baseball stadium. They have a minor league team here called the Akron Rubber Ducks. Rubber Ducks. Looks like maybe the game looks has just ended. Uh, yeah, looks like the game may have ended or is ending. Well, that must be some big angry duck because he had a really long stride. Yeah. So, anyway, uh, lots of people here downtown for that.
All right, for a late lunch, early dinner, we're going to eat at Crave. It's right here downtown. Right. So, uh, let's go see.
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Looks like there's going to be plenty of room in the bar. Yes. So, want to sit there? I'm having a local hazy IPA. Can't remember the name of it. And we're going to order baked goat cheese for an appetizer, as well as house meatballs. Yeah. Our appetizers are here. This is the goat cheese with a tomato sauce and toast. Mhm. And then the meatballs. Meatballs look good. Nice and cheesy. Yeah, they smell good, too. Yeah. All right. So, this is really good mixed with the goat cheese. Goat cheese is nice and warm and creamy. I love goat cheese. Mixes well with the tomato sauce. This bread, buttered bread is awesome. But these are fantastic. This pork and beef blend, right? Yes, they are pork and beef. That's the way I like my meatballs. Yeah, they're really good. Huh. Yes. I always love meatballs. You can't go wrong with me. I can't go wrong with meatballs. But yes, they are pork and beef. I think that's the best way to have meatballs. And they're cooked perfectly. Oh, yes. Definitely. Yeah. It's really good.
All right, we're going to order entrees. I'm having pork tenderloin, jerk rubbed manego, bacon mashers, Korean barbecue, West Indies, hot pepper slaw. Sounds interesting and different. And what are you having? I'm going to have the filet with that English cheddar scallop potatoes, broccolini, whole grain mustard, balsamic demiglace, and pickled shallots. Our entrees are here. Here's my pork tenderloin. Hey, how you doing? Mashed potatoes. Pretty good. And my filet mignon. Yeah. With my broccolini and my scalloped potatoes. Now, I thought these are going to I guess they are round. It's just cheese on top of them. I don't know. Okay. But yes, and it has the onion. It has the demiglace underneath. That looks amazing. It does. Yes, it does. Wow. All right. Can't wait to dig in. Thoughts on the food? My pork tenderloin is really good, but there's not much jerk flavor. Uh, you know, I've been to Jamaica. I've had jerk chicken, that kind of thing. And it's a very powerful seasoning. You can barely taste it, but other than that, it's really good. And the mashed potatoes are fantastic. And you have to dip it in this sauce here. It's really good. The uh pork again. Excellent. Mashed potatoes. Slaw is okay. Oh, okay. I forgot what that was. That's why I was looking at it. Okay. Well, my filet is really, really good. It's very tender. Uh, there's demiglace underneath it. The demiglace is amazing, too. However, you really don't you don't need it with the steak, but it does add something because it's it's an amazing demiglace. And the broccolini, actually, I like the broccolini in the demiglace. The broccolini is cooked is cooked well. And the scallop potatoes, they're apparently they're very, very good. Yeah, because I've been eating them. I love scallop potatoes. I didn't know if she hasn't been eating them anyway. Yeah, they're both pretty good. They're actually real good. My my plate's very good. Yeah.
Uh, for dessert, we're going to have brownie. It's a chocolate brownie with banana espresso cream, hazelnut praline, caramelized bananas, and I'm going to add a scoop of butter pecan cashew ice cream. Butter pecan cashew. It's even better now. Yes. Yum. That sounds really good. The dessert is here. And boy, is it ever spectacular. It is. Look at it. Even even the ice cream itself. Look at it. The walnuts. Butter pecan ice cream. And the banana espresso on top of the brownie. Caramelized bananas. Caramelized bananas. Yep. What kind of nuts are these? They're hazelnut. Oh, okay. Yeah. Wow. That looks pretty uh amazing, doesn't it? Yes, it does. All right. So, this dessert is pretty spectacular. Really warm brownie. Tastes excellent. Ice cream is amazing. Those uh bananas, those caramelized bananas were amazing. So, so yummy. Yeah, it's all really good. It's one of the best desserts I've ever ordered. Plus the presentation. I thought the presentation was amazing, too. It was. Yeah. Very pretty. Really good presentation.
All right, everyone. You want to see the tab? Here it is. $124.48. That's for beer and a water, two appetizers, two entrees, and some dessert. Not too bad with an extra scoop of ice cream. Not too bad for the kind of restaurant it is. It's a nicer restaurant, so the the tab is not bad at all. Look, I got a dollar off for happy hour, too. You see that? Woohoo. Oh, yeah. You should dollar off. Yeah. For both of the appetizers. Oh, well, there you go.
All right, everyone. That's going to be the end of this one. Up next, we're heading to Michigan. All right. Going to check out some towns there as well as one of its biggest cities. Which one? You will see when we get there. Oh, okay. All right. Yeah, we will see you then.
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