Two years ago I left Ohio for Japan, where I taught English in junior high and elementary schools in a rural district outside of the suburbs of Tokyo. When I left Youngstown, the city was at its worst. Upon returning this past summer, though, I've found the city has changed in many ways that made it almost unrecognizable to me at first sight. The Downtown of the city has gone through a major overhaul, and many new businesses have opened up in the once dead business district of the city.

What was once a cluster of governmental offices and dilapidated buildings is undergoing a face-lift. Road repairs and restoration of historical buildings are only part of what's occurring in the Downtown. New businesses have opened up shop in the once abandoned commercial buildings, featuring new clubs, cafes and clothing stores, signaling that the once upon a time industrial city is perhaps moving towards reshaping itself as a college town in the future.

Some of the businesses, old and new, that you'll find in the downtown are: Imbibe, a martini bar that features New York lounge interior stylings as well as a menu of over a hundred different martinis; The Core, a nightclub that rivals the looks of the hippest clubs in the biggest American cities; The Lemon Grove, a cafe opening in January of 2007, which features a juice bar, hookahs, and will stay open until four in the morning; and Cedars, an old favorite of downtown socialites, functioning both as a restaurant specializing in barbeque and Mediterranean food, and as a bar that hosts local open mic nights and features the best area bands around.

So if you're in the area, don't drive past, drive into Downtown Youngstown and check out what's happening in a city that's refusing to let its past hold it down.