How do you know where you live is a good place to live? One of the best and most objective methods is to consider the
Livability Score which takes into consideration a town's amenities, cost of living, crime, education, employment, housing and weather. The good news is that Steubenville, OH is not last in Ohio or the United States with regard to the Livability Score. The bad news is that Steubenville, OH has a long way to go to be in the same ballpark of a "Most Livable City." In Ohio, Steubenville ranks #431 and across the United States, Steubenville comes in at #7594 (http://www.areavibes.com/steubenville-oh/livability/).
There comes a time when we all have to take a stand. For Smitty of Steubenville, OH, that moment occurred when he realized the opportunity with the old Catholic Community Center. Smitty understood that Steubenville and the neighboring areas in the Ohio Valley have continually gone down the wrong road for too many years. Smitty isn't an Economist but having lived in the community all his life, owning Smitty's Floors (www.smittysfloors.com) since 1997, coaching/mentoring over 10,000 wrestlers and simply paying attention, he increasingly believed that he was uniquely positioned to be a force of positive change within Steubenville, OH/Ohio Valley.
It's true that businesses have dropped in large part to the economic tailspin ignited in 2007 but the reality is that too many years of not doing enough have turned things from bad to worse.
This is not an indictment on Steubenville, it's people or leaders but more of a "it just is what it is" mindset. There's zero reason to blame one group or another. In fact, it's impossible to even try because a community is comprised of a diverse and integrated citizenship, which as a group possess strengths and weaknesses. Our effort here is to focus on the strengths and find ways to deploy those strengths in ways which will raise downtown Steubenville/area from the almost-ashes to an amazing destination place for tourists, meaningful spot for locals (sports, activities, events) and a groundbreaking area for industry (e.g. manufacturing, technology, oil and gas).
Success is a choice and in Steubenville/Ohio Valley, we stand at a crossroads. Down one road, we have the "same-old-same-old" (e.g. close to 18% poverty) and probably even worse. This bleak road travels the same path as many other towns within similar situations. We need look no further than McKeesport, PA; once a booming town but with no steel, no jobs, it's fast emerged into a city of no hope (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/randy-fox/mckeesport-pennsylvania-powerhouse_b_2331973.html?). Hundreds of homes boarded up around McKeesport, including old Churches...does this sound at all familiar as our "City of Murals" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steubenville,_Ohio). The other road we can choose to go up is filled with hope, joy and jobs. A stop on this road leads to the Sportatorium but to much more as well. On this path, we find the Sportatorium, along with the The Grand Movie Theater (http://www.historicsteubenville.org/), new restaurants, awesome retail stores and cutting edge downtown lofts for tons of new workers within the high tech industry and manufacturing companies. This is the "If We Build It, People Will Come" Mentality (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SB16il97yw). In fact, when an area begins to rejuvenate, it tends to occur in groups. This means that groups or clusters can emerge, like an Industry Cluster comprised of multiple businesses in the same industrial grouping igniting other clusters and all of which benefit Steubenville and the Ohio Valley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_cluster).
All this being said, the sad truth is that we're looking at a town/area that has a high probability to become "Last in Line" on the Livability Score, with even more crime, more bars and more kids lost in the streets. The chances of our town/area bouncing back, while not the highest, remain a possibility. We can have renewed hope, positive growth and meaningful development in the form of the Sportatorium.
Here's a reality check...excessive bars symbolize a negative vibe which produce a criminal element. The other day our lead Sportatorium guy, Dana, stopped by a place he thought was a restaurant at 2:30pm on a Tuesday. While this place served food, it clearly was more of a drinking establishment with around 5 people seated at the bar drinking heavily. What about work? What about their families? What contributions could these folks be making to our community if they were not boozing it up on a weekday afternoon? We need to ask questions, inspire answers and take action on solutions. We need firmly put a stake in the ground, stand tall and proclaim "We Are All In" to bring the Sportatorium to life for the next 100 years and more!
Each of us needs to make a decision on the road to choose. I hope you'll join me on the Super Positive Highway of the Sportatorium. I want everyone in our town/area to be "All In" on the Sportatorium, which symbolizes a beacon of hope for all of us. We can be #1 when we pull together to make a positive and meaningful difference in our community. These are not just words, they are the truth. It's like we're in a boxing match and it's the 15th round. We've been knocked down but we've gotten up 2 times before in the match. If we go down again, it's likely that we'll be counted out. I don't want Steubenville/Ohio Valley to be counted out.
My goal is for us to win together for each other, our kids and generations ahead who will call Steuvenville, our town, The Most Livable City in America.
And if you choose to journey down a bad road for our community, there are plenty of resources to help you (https://www.unitedway-jc.org/). Please access those resources, get better and join our growing network of Sportatorium Friends.
Smitty, smitty43952@gmail.com
Dana Jarvis, djarv4@gmail.com
