Flint to Downsize Itself

[DetroitDad]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/22/bu...t.html?_r=1&hp

FLINT, Mich. — Dozens of proposals have been floated over the years to slow this city’s endless decline. Now another idea is gaining support: speed it up.

Instead of waiting for houses to become abandoned and then pulling them down, local leaders are talking about demolishing entire blocks and even whole neighborhoods.

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.�

[ccbatson]

Thank you liberal socialist union happy Michigan.

[Gannon]

Thank you wisdom and logic for showing these leaders in this down-and-out city a way to a manageable future.

You are such a one-note fear-monger, Cc, that you are unbelievable to the extreme!


I've been saying that Detroit needs to do this too, for years. Get the population close to the support services...make it so the police, fire, and oversight don't have such a wide coverage area.

It only makes sense.

[raptor56]

So you move people out of their homes into a more centralized area. Sounds like the formation of ghettos.

[ccbatson]

Come on now Raptor...PC liberals call it "combating sprawl"

[Detroitej72]

So you move people out of their homes into a more centralized area. Sounds like the formation of ghettos.

Not if they pay them fair market value for the houses they vacate. Since Flint is so depressed, it shouldn't cost much.

[vivadetroit]

They are tearing down a 6-block area of historic homes near Hurley Hospital to build a "park". My sister-in-law's family owned a gorgeous 3-story home, built in 1895, across the street from Hurley. Hurley bought it for less than $60K. They are tearing it down in 6 weeks. Sad since this house was amazing.

[Andrew in Windsor]

An idea that Youngstown first brought up a few years back...

http://www.youngstown2010.com/

However, cities that look at this option should be prepared to spare historic buildings IMO.

What good is a city if it wipes out its own past?

[Mama Jackson]

Hurley Hospital, for those who don't know, is Flint's city hospital. They are rated quite high for their exceptional emergency, neonatal, and burn center care. They work with U of M offering organ transplants. They have a heli-pad. It's a full service, excellent care, LARGE and bustling hospital.

There are houses built right next to it. It's noisy. We used to live directly west about four blocks away from Hurley and the emergency vehicles really destroyed our quality of life when we lived there. The noise was the reason we moved. All hours of the day and night, sirens from police and ambulances. I think it's a good idea to redevelop the area with a park. They really should develop the whole area about 10 blocks around the hospital into a park. Then the houses that are left will be much more desirable to own and live in, due to the buffer zone of a park.

I understand, there should be more conservation of the historial homes in Flint. Unless someone famous built or lived in the home, it doesn't get too much consideration for conservation/restoration. Most of the houses could be moved. They all need work, so the action of moving these homes wouldn't generate that much extra repair.

There is an arts and crafts home downtown that is so wonderful. I wanted to purchase it, restore and live in. Husband said it was too much of a project, but the floor plan and possiblities of this home set my heart singing. I drive by it often, and I just sigh. So sad to see this beauty fall apart. It's on the list for demo because the cost of repair would be greater than the home would be worth after restoration. Such a strange way to determine which home stays and which are destroyed.

[ccbatson]

Hurley is not at all bad. Can't imagine what residents would do without it.

[vivadetroit]

MamaJackson, which street did you live on? My sis-in-law's house is on Begole, right on the corner of 5th, I think.

[Mama Jackson]

We lived on Sloan Street, right on top of Ballenger Park.

[cheddar bob]

Hurley Hospital, for those who don't know, is Flint's city hospital. They are rated quite high for their exceptional emergency, neonatal, and burn center care. They work with U of M offering organ transplants. They have a heli-pad. It's a full service, excellent care, LARGE and bustling hospital.

There are houses built right next to it. It's noisy. We used to live directly west about four blocks away from Hurley and the emergency vehicles really destroyed our quality of life when we lived there. The noise was the reason we moved. All hours of the day and night, sirens from police and ambulances. I think it's a good idea to redevelop the area with a park. They really should develop the whole area about 10 blocks around the hospital into a park. Then the houses that are left will be much more desirable to own and live in, due to the buffer zone of a park.

I understand, there should be more conservation of the historial homes in Flint. Unless someone famous built or lived in the home, it doesn't get too much consideration for conservation/restoration. Most of the houses could be moved. They all need work, so the action of moving these homes wouldn't generate that much extra repair.

There is an arts and crafts home downtown that is so wonderful. I wanted to purchase it, restore and live in. Husband said it was too much of a project, but the floor plan and possiblities of this home set my heart singing. I drive by it often, and I just sigh. So sad to see this beauty fall apart. It's on the list for demo because the cost of repair would be greater than the home would be worth after restoration. Such a strange way to determine which home stays and which are destroyed.

When I was there last week, I waited four hours just to get into a room and it was on a Monday night. We had great care once we finally got into a room, but I learned a lesson...Unless you are bleeding profusely and on the verge of death, go to the other hospital.

[ccbatson]

What "the other hospital" are you referring to?

[oladub]

“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.�

"We need to control IT instead of letting IT destroy US"? That statement might be saying a lot about the problem in Flint. At first read, Dan Kildee seems to be speaking for all the people in Flint. A different read is that Mr. Kildee is speaking of the government's ability to control its subjects. Somehow, if the same subjects who laid waste to Flint were just herded into a smaller area, they will be more controllable by the same people who previously ran their factories and government. Think prisons. Without jobs though, how are all these newly confined people going to have money to shop at the newly condensed stores? Maybe they could spend the fair market value that they were offered until it runs out.

After the residents had been condensed and received "fair market value" so they could be better managed elsewhere, some huge profits could be made. The vacated and cleansed neighborhoods could be put up for sale to developers. Since the old neighborhoods already have grids of water lines, sewage lines, and streets, and the infrastructure to support them, the old neighborhoods could be built from scratch and marketed to retirement communities or whatever new demographic groups could be attracted. Clearing and rehabilitating could be paid for by taxpayers and the profits could be made by private developers. Of course, government entitees such as Mr. Kildee, "the Genesee County treasurer and chief spokesman for the movement to shrink Flint" would then be able to assess the vacated properties at their new and higher value. This is exactly what happened when in "Kelo vs. New London" the Supreme Court ruled, in part, that because New London had a development plan, eminent domain could be extended to chase residents from their homes because proposed develpoment could bring in more tax revenue.

[Mama Jackson]

"What "the other hospital" are you referring to?"

We also have a hospital named McLaren and Genesys, though Genesys is outside of the city limits in Grand Blanc. Genesys used to be St. Joseph Hospital, on the east side serving city residents. They built out of Flint, a beautiful new facility, tons of acreage-room to grow. You probably have seen it on one of your trips up north.

[Mama Jackson]

When I was there last week, I waited four hours just to get into a room and it was on a Monday night. We had great care once we finally got into a room, but I learned a lesson...Unless you are bleeding profusely and on the verge of death, go to the other hospital.

Hey Ched, are you living in the Flint area? It's the same with every hospital, they decide you are going in and you have to wait for the room. It's only different if you're going in for a planned surgery-in-patient or out. I worked in a couple of hospitals over the years, and it's always the same.

Hope everything turned out ok for you with your hospital visit. You type like you're hale and hardy now! LOL!

Best wishes to you!

[ccbatson]

McLaren does not have a good reputation at all. I forgot about Genesys in Grand Blanc...last I heard they were deep in the red.