In terms of a city  made up of people, that ship has sailed for the city of Youngstown. The population has shifted  from the time some 60 years ago Youngstown ranked as the 57th most populous city in the nation. Today it ranks 521 and quickly losing ground.

Youngstown had the biggest loss of people in the past year in terms of percentage loss followed closely by Flint Michigan. Cleveland and Lakewood are hot on our heels. 

What to do? Maybe nothing except knock down more blight. Youngstown will likely shrink even more as much of the housing and lifestyle are from a bygone era when people lived on postage stamp plats of land. 

With suburbs around Youngstown thriving, people are opting for wide open space and security. Even if Youngstown was a city with well kept streets and neighborhoods the evolutionary process of emulating the suburbs would draw people from the city.

Some people want to live in a city, but they want to live in a city that offers services such as food and culture. Youngstown misses the mark here too. It's hard to find a gas station or grocery store, although you can find a symphony orchrestra. 

You can't force development, you can only retake neighborhoods by subtracting blight and building your city back from the successful inter-core you have established over the past 10 years. 

The downtown businesses and the university are something to build on. Wide open spaces need to be created where their are decrepit buildings and remnants of the steel industry.

The question then becomes, who will mow all that grass?

Write me DanRivers@ClearChannel.com  

Have you noticed when you are in friendly conversation people tell you nearly un-believable happenings? For example yesterday a friend told me their is a new scheme out there. Students can opt for on line education, they are given a computer to connect from home. They never attend, had no intention of attending, and they pawn the computer and you pick it up for cents on the dollar at the Pawn Shoppe. Gee that's better than E Bay.

Oh, and you'll love this but it takes bit of setting up. You can purchase a pre-paid phone for $ 19  and a 3 month phone card for $ 24. Thus 3 month cell service, if you are judicious in your use, for $ 43 dollars. That price is within reach of most of America. However this is the land of the freebee, many who can afford their own cell phone opt for the Government phone as a backup. Why not, it's free, the lemmings who pay the bills tax themselves a dollar a month so people other than them can have a free phone.

But wait theirs more. One of the issues with working is that public transportation is non existent in some areas. I was told about this woman who had that issue. She had a job but no transportation. Public assistance found her a car. Now were talking. One hitch she didn't like the job, so she quit, but look at the bright side she got a free car. Now that's America.

Write me DanRivers@ClearChannel.com