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Flint's solution: Tear it down
Flint, Michigan has to be one of the saddest towns in America. But instead of wallowing in misery, the New York Times says some leaders in Flint are proposing a radical solution: Start over. Demolish entire blocks and perhaps entire neighborhoods.
From the Times article:
The population would be condensed into a few viable areas. So would stores and services. A city built to manufacture cars would be returned in large measure to the forest primeval.
"Decline in Flint is like gravity, a fact of life," said Dan Kildee, the Genesee County treasurer and chief spokesman for the movement to shrink Flint. "We need to control it instead of letting it control us."
The control mechanism Flint would use is a Michigan law that allows communities to seize foreclosed properties, which they can put into a county "land bank." They can move people out of homes before they are abandoned. In the past year, Genesee County has acquired 900 homes in Flint, some of them in healthy neighborhoods:
While the shrinkage debate has been simmering in Flint for several years, it suddenly gained prominence last month with a blunt comment by the acting mayor, Michael K. Brown, who talked at a Rotary Club lunch about "shutting down quadrants of the city."
Flint has about 75 neighborhoods spread out over 34 square miles. It will be a delicate process to decide which to favor, Mr. Kildee (head of the land bank) acknowledged from the driver's seat of his Grand Cherokee...
"Not everyone's going to win," he said. "But now, everyone's losing."
Flint's population, 110,000, is half what it was in 1965. A third of those people live in poverty. So, would this strategy amount to wholesale gentrification? Or is it possible to do this and get a majority of people into a better living situation? I don't know where the money's going to come from either.
But shrinking cities does make sense. On some streets in Flint, there's only one bag of garbage to pick up per week. If those stops were eliminated, Kildee says the city could save $100,000 a year. Of course, fewer homes means less property tax revenue, but the taxes on the foreclosed homes aren't being paid anyway.
The Times says Indianapolis and Little Rock have recently set up land banks and that other cities are considering the strategy of "shrinkage."
What do you think of the idea?
Scott, I will run against the grain and second Flint's label of "saddest town around". While there are definitely some bright spots to Flint, as there are bright spots to all cities, Flint's problems are severe. To ignore this fact, and to only want to talk about what is going well, does a disservice to a city that needs help.
It seems none of the other commentors live in the hard neighborhoods where things are slated to be demolished. If they did, as I do, maybe they would consider "saddest town around" a label that puts it lightly.
I agree that Flint could very well become a model for medium-sized cities in the U.S. that need to downsize. It's going to be a necessary thing for a lot of cities in the future. A smaller, tighter city that isn't chained to auto manufacturing is a good dream, one that I openly support.
Scott, you can cross one of the concerns you mention off your list. Trust me, gentrification is not a big concern in Flint. A 20-minute drive around town would confirm this.
Flint once had the highest per capita income in the U.S. It's been dealing with a catastrophic economic blow as the U.S. has shifted away from industrial production. It's a proud city that has struggled heroically to deal with this reality. It's natural that it took a long time for everyone to realize Flint won't come back and be what it once was. I think the plans to calmly and rationally shrink the city are a good sign.
The big question now is how you pay for it. Tearing down houses ain't cheap.
Scott, you need to do your homework.
Aside from the problems that Flint has, they have plenty of pluses too. It certainly isn't the "saddest" around as you contend.
They have some great schools like Kettering (in the top 5 of engineering schools), a University of Michigan satellite campus, Mott Community College, and Baker College. Their downtown is revitalizing and has a financial district and a corporate headquarters (Citizens Bank) not to mention the nationally known Mott Foundation.
Their cultural center has world class science and art museums and nationally known Flint Youth Theatre. Their Institute of Music includes a symphony, youth symphony, and Mid-States Ballet Association/Regional Dance America, and many other programs.
I lived there in a gorgeous historic neighborhood for 6 years that was safe, welcoming, and filled with professionals and their families.
This plan that you write about sounds like a logical plan that will be helpful to the residents and the city as a whole.
The Lank Bank has done outstanding work and has received national recognition for their results. That is why other communities are using their work as a benchmark and example for their own towns.
It sounds like a good plan and a smart plan to me. Go Flint!
Pblack, thanks for your perspective. I hope Flint does rebound, and of course it has pluses. But the guy who is doing this project said: "Decline in Flint is like gravity, a fact of life," and that now, "everyone's losing." That's sad to me. I'm originally from Buffalo, NY and as much as I love it and the people and the pluses, it's also sad to see what's happened there.
I moved here for a professional job last August, and I really love Flint. The bones of this city are beautiful: neighborhoods planned around parks and elementary schools, an interesting and eclectic downtown, incredible amounts of green space for a once-thriving manufacturing town.
And pblack02 is absolutely correct. This is not one of the saddest cities. In fact, the people who remain -- and who remain dedicated to reinventing Flint -- are warm, kind, intelligent, spirited, proud, dedicated, funny, resilient, committed. The arts scene here is very good, there's an excellent farmer's market, festivals in the summer, and cultural events that other cities of this size would envy. UM-Flint is doing much to revitalize downtown, and Mott Community College is a great partner for the City of Flint.
I interviewed in several different cities with Flint last on the list, and after I came to Flint I knew that this city is where I want to live. Seriously.
The city was built to house 250,000 people. With only a little over 100,000 people remaining, it makes sense to consolodate everything -- including neighborhoods. There are whole neighborhoods that are already in such states of disrepair that they should be razed. It will be difficult and heartbreaking to move the few people in those neighborhoods who keep up their properties, but they are very few and they are in danger.
Scott, I went to school near Buffalo, so I know you'll know what I mean when I say that Flint is like a mini-Buffalo, without major-league sports. A key difference is its size and population. Unlike bigger cities, Flint is small enough to manage a downsize.
I can envision a Flint that is smaller, more efficient, even greener than it is, all within the next 20 years. This city could be a model for other American cities that have weathered similar fates.
I visited Flint several times in the late 80s and early 90s when a friend of mine was attending GMI there. As difficult as the process is, I think it's a great idea. They can plan a modern, forward-thinking city that may attract modern, forward-thinking people who will create new businesses.
I still remember the segment in Michael Moore's Movie "Bowling for Columbine" where he follows the busload of people who get up at 5 AM to go work in the malls in suburban Detroit.
