December 19, 2006

'Youngstown 2010' Plan Honored with Award for Public Outreach

WASHINGTON, DC — At a public meeting in 2002, Jay Williams, who was then the director of Youngstown, Ohio's Community Development Department, called on more than 1,200 residents to embrace and own the city's new vision for the future: Youngtown 2010. It could very well be the city's last chance, he said, to begin reversing decades of population losses, economic declines, and increases in crime.

The message was heard. Three years later, Williams had become mayor of Youngstown and residents had gone from supporting the Youngstown 2010 vision and developing the Youngstown 2010 comprehensive plan to embarking upon a city- and region-wide action and implementation plan.

Building public support for the Youngstown 2010 vision and comprehensive plan involved a far-reaching marketing and public education campaign. For this effort, Youngstown has been named recipient of the American Planning Association (APA) 2007 National Planning Excellence Award for Public Outreach.

"Youngstown has shown how to use the planning process to galvanize citizens to heed a call to action and take concrete steps towards saving their future," said Carol Rhea, AICP, chair of the APA Awards Committee. "From radio, newspaper and television coverage, to billboards, t-shirts and balloons, city officials left no stone unturned in their public outreach campaign," Rhea said.

The city's public outreach efforts involving Youngstown 2010 will be recognized at APA's National Planning Conference during a luncheon ceremony on April 17, 2007, in Philadelphia. A 30-minute video about all of APA's 2007 National Planning Excellence, Achievement, and Leadership Awards recipients will be shown at the luncheon. Also, the accomplishments of Youngstown and the 13 other 2007 awardees will be highlighted in the April 2007 issue of Planning magazine and on the APA website.

"For a successful planning process it's essential to maintain a marketing strategy with an educational component," said Anthony Kobak, chief planner with Youngstown's Planning Department and Project Manager for Youngstown 2010.

The city's outreach efforts, in partnership with Youngstown State University, have been highly effective, attracting more than 5,000 people to participate in the city visioning and planning process since 2002. For example, 1,400 people attended the Youngstown 2010 kick-off vision meeting in 2002, and 1,300 people attended the Youngstown 2010 plan meeting in 2005.

To maintain momentum for its public outreach efforts, the city is calling on residents to get involved with implementing the plan at the same time it is launching a national advertising campaign to encourage new residents and businesses to move to Youngstown.

Contacts

Denny Johnson, APA Public Affairs, 202-349-1006; djohnson@planning.org