Off the Wagon, a toy store in Acorn Alley founded in 2009, is “for the young at heart,” according to its slogan. Only a short walk away from the Kent State campus, the shop sells merchandise geared...

The alleyways were dirty. Roadways were crumbling, and buildings were falling apart in downtown Kent.For 30 years, the city of Kent and the university made plan after plan to try to revitalize Kent’s...