Though I have lived in the Columbus area for almost 40 years, I was born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio. I am a Buckeye born and bred. Well, actually, I was born in Youngstown but raised in Austintown, a suburb on the west side of Youngstown (Proud graduate of Austintown Fitch High School Class ...
Restless, in search of adventure, and attracted by the bright lights and the promising prospects of the big city, I joined the great migration that left Youngstown in the mid-1980s for Columbus, the capital city. Needless to say, this was ironic given Columbus was then widely known as a “cow town.” Regardless, my twenty year old self reasoned, aside from family, that it had more to offer than Youngstown.At the time, irony upon ironies, it seemed everyone I met in Columbus was from somewhere else, especially from Northeast Ohio. In fact, the Youngstown transplants numbered so many that an annual gathering, the so named “Y-Town is My Town Party,” convened to, of all things, connect with each other and celebrate the town we had all deserted.Bruce Springsteen, my favorite balladeer, tells the sad story of Youngstown… ... A boom town gone bust after the steel mills closed, Youngstown, scrappy as ever, takes its punches, too many landing below the belt, but it doesn’t pull any either: even when it is seemingly down for the count, it always finds a way to get back on its feet.Sometimes wobbly. Other times punch drunk. Or slap happy. Gasping and groggy. Often on the ropes. Still, however, standing. The boxing metaphor is particularly apt considering Y-Town is the home of world champion pugilists with title belts forged in the fiery furnaces of the rust belt.
