Friday, November 4, 2011

Youngstown, shame of the nation.

Former Ohioan here, born and raised a Youngstown suburbanite. There's a reason I bolted out of that state to the other side of the country as soon as I could. Corrupt, crime-ridden, dirty, no jobs, no hope — these have always been the sad themes of that city. Now it appears that the former center of steel production has reached a new pathetic low, despite its "best" efforts to recover:

Youngstown leads nation with poverty rate of 49.7%

Youngstown has the highest concentrated poverty rate among core cities in the United States’ 100 largest metropolitan areas.

Further, the metropolitan statistical area of which Youngstown is a part — consisting of Mahoning, Trumbull and Mercer counties — is ranked just 16 from the bottom of the poverty barrel.

I do feel a little bad for Y-town, but it's only because of the people who are still stuck living there. If ever there was an example of "devoid of hope," I think that city would take the cake. Well, what can I really say? I gave up on it. Love to be proven wrong, though.

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