55 replies to this topic

[Allan]

I sure hope so!  Flint has been going downhill long enough!

[tropolis]

i thought of a great idea: i noticed that many kids cross holly road between the local high school and the strip mall with subway and little caesars. They like to go over ther every day( is pizza everyday even good fo your health?) anyway, i think the city should make a pedestrian tunnel that goes from the high school sidewalk to the sidewalk by the bank by subway. Then the kids wont have to jaywalk in heavy traffic( it gets really bad at 2:30)

[Allan]

That might work.  A girl in my high school class got hit jaywalking there.  Fortunately she was not hurt too bad.  

The did rebuild that whole intersection, but I have not seen it since it has been completed.  I would imagine that that intersection is even worse now than it was before.  Now it's gridlocked most of the day, it seems like.  It never used to be that way.  Stupid sprawl....

[tropolis]

i read about the GM expansion. That is very good news for flint. It would bring a few jobs along the way.

[dnast]

tropolis, on Oct 9 2004, 09:34 AM, said:

i read about the GM expansion. That is very good news for flint. It would bring a few jobs along the way.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Most of the new workers will just be transferred from other plants and some from the job bank, but Flint could use all the jobs it can get. It'll improve the city's finances as well.

[Allan]

It would be nice if the city could create some non-automotive related jobs though.  Sure, GM jobs are nice high-paying jobs and all, but the reason Flint is in such bad shape is that it never bothered to diversify its economy.  

Then again, how would you convince people owning high tech businesses to move to Flint?

[tropolis]

yeah, thats true. Flint relies too much on automotive industries.

[dnast]

Unfortunately this won't be creating any new jobs. It's supposedly all transers. Kettering is probably the only thing that could bring some high-tech jobs to the city. I wonder how well its small business incubator program is going.

[BitAddict]

Hello, I have recently joined this forum specifically for this topic. I live 15 min. south- east of Flint. I am 21 years old. I know many people from Flint and the surrounding areas. My opinion reflects many of the people around my age group(18-25)

Frankly, Flint is a scary place exspecially after 6pm.  The college campuses are the only true draw of Flint durring the day and at night it seems to be the small bar/concert scene. Flint has soooo much potential!
As stated above, tech business are not attracted to Flint(Michigan for that matter). I believe making the Downtown area better is a great start! Unfortunatly, that prospect is moving at a snails pace because the burden is largely held by the City of Flint. Saginaw street has gotten much more alive, but both streets on either side are completely dark at night. Why only light one street for a 300yrd stretch?! If you turn down any alley at night anything can happen. Its called LIGHT THE CITY UP FOR GODS SAKE! There are plenty of people already willing to support the local social scene, but there is hardly anything there except 3 bars and a concert hall. A movie theater (like the size of cinema 10 )would be an excellent addiction to bring more people out, just don't put it directly on Saginaw street. Placing It strategically located off of saginaw street could enlarge the commercial zone. A small "farmer's market" idea could also bring a lot of people out. Maybe the city could work on Both the Saginaw street area and the Kettering area at the same time while lighting the way inbetween. The flint skate park is also an excellent idea! This would bring so many people out to the area, but why hide it in a secluded area of the city? I could go on an on about this but I have work in the morning. I check back to see who bashes

[Allan]

Flint is actually planning an entertainment block on the block directly south of the Mott Foundation Building.  There is an old theater there...the whole block is boarded up.  I'm not sure what the timeline on the project is.  

Downtown seems to have gained some momentum in recent months, with the Atwood Building renovation, Republic Bank Lofts, and new streetscape project all under construction or recently completed.  Additionally, there are plans to bring in some more restaurants, as well as the Rowe, inc. headquarters to downtown.  These plans sound solid, and I wouldn't be surprised to see some action on them sometime within the next year.  The conversion of the upper floors of the Dryden Building into lofts will begin in the near future.  The city council was set to approve the plans at a recent meeting.

That said, I would have to agree that downtown development does move at a snail's pace.  Part of it has to do with all the red tape developers have to go through to get anything done.  However, a large part of the problem is that banks are unwilling to lend money to individuals looking to develop properties downtown.  Downtown Flint is not a proven market, so finding financial backing can be very difficult, especially for large projects.  There are many tax credits and incentives that are being used to bridge the financial gap between what banks are willing to lend and what developers have, so financing projects is becoming easier than it was in the past.

I personally don't find downtown to be that scary after dark.  I've seen much worse areas.  It definately need to be more well lit up though.  Put some lights on some of the key buildings.  There is definately some nice historic architecture there, although some of it needs to be cleaned up a bit.

There are still three things that bother me though.  
1) Durant Hotel.  The building has been bought by an actual developer, but I've heard of no concrete plans.  All I know is that it is going to be apartments.  Renovating the building would erase the blight from that area and add much-needed street life to an area that has very little.
2) Genesee Towers.  Tear it down!!  It is hideous.  Put up a large public parking ramp to serve downtown.  Then plow up that surface lot on Saginaw and put in a 3-4 story building on some sort.  Another parking garage could be integrated into the plan, just as long as they don't put in curb cuts right on Saginaw.
3) The Concrete Riverfront.  It might have looked nice 20 years ago, but not anymore.  Tear it out and make it look nice.  Then clean up the river.  Right now it's smelly and has trash floating in it.  yuck!

BTW, where are you from, BitAddict?  I am also from about 15 minutes south of Flint, although I am in Southfield for school now, and I don't know that I really want to move back up there, LOL.

[BitAddict]

I am from Grand Blanc-Off of Perry road almost into Atlas township.
Thursday-Saturday night Saginaw street does have a good amount of people around, but it is also extremely DARK in that area. I am not afraid for me, but I am afraid for the 15-18yr old teens that inhabit the area. My girlfriends sis and bro hang out down there with their friends and I can honestly say they lack good judgement. Grandblanc and surrounding areas, as you know are very different places than Flint. There also seems to be a bit of a racial devide amongst the citizens too. Community programs would greatly help flint! I think now would also be an ideal time to rethink the road layout in Flint too. Those five lights on Saginaw trap you there forever.

[Allan]

Wow....I am also from GB!  Not often that you run into GB people on a forum like this.  I live near in the intersection of Cook and Holly.  I might end up renting an apartment somewhere down here in metro Detroit though - if I can round up some roommates that are better than the ones I have now.  I really have no desire to move back in with my parents for the summer, LOL.

[dnast]

BitAddict, on Nov 4 2004, 08:01 PM, said:

Thursday-Saturday night Saginaw street does have a good amount of people around, but it is also extremely DARK in that area. I am not afraid for me, but I am afraid for the 15-18yr old teens that inhabit the area. My girlfriends sis and bro hang out down there with their friends and I can honestly say they lack good judgement.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I doubt there's anything to worry about. It's not like it's just 5 kids standing outside downtown - there's usually at least 20 or 30 just outside of the Metropolis. The jail and police headquarters are only a couple of blocks away, and I usually see a DDA police car nearby on concert nights. Not saying they should stray too far from that block away from Saginaw St.

Anyway, welcome to the forum

And yes I agree that there should be more lights downtown. My guess is the city feels it's a waste of money to light the other streets since none of them have residential units or businesses that stay open past 5pm, save for Buckham Alley. I also agree that the next big thing downtown should be built on a street other than Saginaw. It defeats the purpose of having a downtown street grid when all the attractions are on the same street. No need to mimic Frankenmuth     



Allan:

I'm not sure whether or not Daystar bought the Durant building. I think he just made the announcement prematurely. I should've known better anyway, since he still hasn't started work on the much smaller Dryden building.

It would be awesome if that building is ever renovated with retail and lofts. It would liven up that whole area. The retail across the street on MLK Ave. would probably be renovated and I think a midrise could go on the end of that block. Across Saginaw, the Northbank parking garage would finally gets its retail space filled. I'd also hope for a parking garage behind the Durant with ground level retail to fill that block and allow some surface parking lots to be built upon.

Let me stop before people start thinking I'm crazy...

[tropolis]

welcome to the forum! It is nice to have another flint area member.

[BitAddict]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone "important" check these forums or are we just the "soapboxers" shouting in vein?

[dnast]

The latter