protest art

2008 really was still at the dawn of social media. Even though facebook was launched in 2004 and twitter in 2006, the vast majority of people hadn't embraced them yet. So how did someone express frustration do back in the stone age of social media? If that someone owned a building on a prominent street near an entrance/exit of an expressway what they did was protest art. I've been wanting to get pictures of this place for years, but like I said, the street is busy and not exactly pedestrian friendly. But luckily the last trip back to Youngstown in February on a cool Saturday morning I was finally able to stop.
Back when I still lived in Youngstown I would have thought this guy was a wacko, and maybe he is. But fast forward a millennia in social media where we've seen people shot for not have a front license plate or for any real reason at all and the guy doesn't seem so crazy anymore.
Frustrated for sure though.
And an accidental artist.




I'm not trespassing, I'm a photographer




[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
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who drives 306 miles for a coffee?

I don't know how othr people do it, but I can't be the only person that makes a list from what they see on social media. At the end of December Dave Hart instagramed a coffee shop in Columbiana, Ohio. This won't mean anything to anyone here in Cincinnati but I flipped out because Columbiana was the next "big" town away from New Springfield where I grew up. Columbiana had a movie theater so we were there every weekend at least for years. At any rate I knew I was heading back to Youngstown and was determined to drop down and check out Generations Coffee.
Rolling into Youngstown we weren't in any big hurry yet and cut through Mill Creek Park. The Metro Park is one of the few gems Youngstown has left and cuts north to south through the entire city.

Generations Coffee was legit, the coffee was amazing. But it was pretty cool talking to them when I was ordering, all the sudden I was asked, "hey, what is that pin on your jacket?" Oh that's for the Cincinnati Streetcar. Man you should have seen their faces, Ben? I think that was his name got all excited. OH WOW, there was just a guy in here last week from Cincinnati! I know, I said, that's why I'm here LOL. Somewhere along the line of gabbing about Cincinnati and Columbiana and my surprise the theater was still operating he mentioned a small restaurant across the street serving all natural food. That was pretty awesome considering my next question was going to be for a recommendation for somewhere to eat.
And in case you couldn't tell it was 9°f out there.






I was admiring the whole back wall of this place, it was a bread oven that operated up until the 1970's. My brother in law remarked on how the metal work was from Cincinnati. That's crazy! I was looking at it but I see that kind of stuff every single day so it didn't sink in until he said something.

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The Youngstown Flea

It just so happened I was home in Youngstown the same day they held The Youngstown Flea. I thought it would be a good opportunity to see what the scene is and maybe compare and contrast where Cincinnati's Flea is and has been.
Its easy to forget just where OTR was back in 2011, a few buildings away from losing 50% of its historic building stock, Japp's had just reopened and Vine St was still a long ways from where it is today. OTR and the Flea have come a long way since then.
Now, the Youngstown Flea is only in its first year and second event and still have growing to do. They had a healthy mix of vendors, food trucks and attendees. The two things they could probably address right away would be finding a grass lot, and a beer truck to loosen up wallets.
The other glaring issue, which is a Youngstown problem city wide is there are no businesses near the lot the flea was held. At it's core, a flea is about place making, and that place is important, it should feed foot traffic to existing businesses. But if there is no there there, some effort is wasted. I'm just trying to offer some constructive criticism. Everything else I saw I liked, everyone was super friendly and engaging. And for only the second event I would think the organizers have to like where they are.

One nice thing about Youngstown is how far your money goes, all this for $7.50, you get way less for a lot more in Cincy.
In Cincinnati the Flea is one more thing on a long list of events competing for your attention. In Youngstown the flea is news worthy.



Oh yeah, Harry Arroyo and Ray BOOM BOOM Mancini!

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Fellows Riverside Gardens

Youngstown has its problems but I'm glad they've been able to maintain Fellows Riverside Gardens in Mill Creek Park. Fellows could be one of the prettiest gardens anywhere. I remember when we would stop in on Saturday afternoons. One wedding party after another would roll through and line up to get photos in the rose garden or the overlook. It was exciting to see not only had they maintained the gardens but had also improved upon them. They've added a creative interactive children's garden with an Alice in Wonderland theme since we had been there last.







[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
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once upon a time in Youngstown

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
~ T.S. Eliot The Four Quartets



Funny when you haven't been to your home town in awhile how fast you can get turned around. All my familiar landmarks were gone. And the ones that were weren't quite how I remembered them. But I was happy to see our coffee shop was still there even if everything else on the street was gone. W. Federal is undergoing a revival. Among the dozen new bars and restaurants was Ryes, a whiskey and craft beer bar that would be at home in OTR. Interesting thing about eating and drinking in a place with no jobs, the food and drinks all have a 20% discount on what you expect to pay. Some things don't change, while I was geeking out over finding Flower Power, one person after another walked in and asked for Miller Lite and were disappointed to find Ryes didn't stock it. It reminded me of the time at the Lackman, the bartender bitterly popping the caps off bottles of Bud for some yahoos who thought they were in Caddy Ranch or something.





We lived a couple miles from the Golden Dawn for ten years and had never been there. We fixed that omission.



And as luck would have it, it was dollar cone day at Handel's, Christmas and your birthday all rolled into one.
We got there at the tail end of one rush and finished up at the beginning of another. Sometimes things just work out.


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Youngstown

Mob town, boom town, bomb town

I thought maybe it had out grown all this but I still hear it, mostly from people not from Youngstown. But its coming around, slowly. I went back last weekend, a cold cloudy blustery day for what used to be a gritty town. I didn't get much time to look around, downtown is still on an upswing it felt like. It looks and feels really small town now after living in Cincinnati for years.
On the way in drove past this little outdoor museum surrounded by No Trespassing signs.

Some of the specialized equipment used in the steel mills, hot ore or slag?

0-4-0 Davenport Gas Mechanical Engine

Youngstown Sheet & Tube 0-4-0 Plymouth EL Engine #320

0-4-0 N. G. Steam Engine

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pizza infinity

Don't know if I've ever had Chicago style pizza so I can't comment on how critical everyone is of Chi-nnati's, besides the strange spelling of the name. I didn't think the pizza was any better or worse than any other Cincinnati pizza except for Dewey's, my favorite Cincinnati pizza.

I've always told everyone the best pizza in the world was pizza from the Ave, Avalon Gardens, Youngstown Ohio. The last trip through Youngstown meeting up with former neighbors I had to find out if it was still true of if I was blowing nostalgia colored smoke out my ass. Walking in, the place was kind of empty which had me worried. This could have shaped up to be a pizza cage match show down of the century.




But no, it wasn't to be, Avalon still has the greatest pizza on earth. Had a discussion with Kate the Great's dad, who's also from Ytown, even the restaurants they don't call Italian in Ytown are still Italian, you just can't find food here like you do in Northeast Ohio, its one of the things I miss from back home.



[where: 45202]best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
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