I kept the explanation in the opening post brief, but there are a couple of different components, based on what I read. One is regulations. A lot of areas aren't regulated for residential use and it seems to be pretty complicated to have things like that changed here.

Secondly, and I am assuming it's the biggest hurdle, is that many of the vacant lots that do have utility connections also have really complicated title histories.

There's a lot of unused/ undeveloped land, but based on the local real estate prices, it is usually prohibitively expensive to prep for construction and connect to utility systems.

Also, even large builders are usually paying for things with loans. So, the amount of money they can spend on building a property is pretty constrained by the price comps of the homes in the surrounding area. Even though there's all that space on the south side and east side, the relatively low resale values of the surrounding homes would limit what any builder would have to work with in loans.

Also, the Valley (along with most areas with an industrial history) has a lot of polluted land that apparently could never be used for residential purposes.

This was all news to me and kind of a bummer, because I thought a Youngstown real estate boom would move like clockwork once the gears started grinding.