Flint becoming a true college town?

[DetroitMan]

Good read.

http://www.mlive.com/news/flintjournal/ind....xml&coll=5

[ScheuerJD]

A 15,000 seat stadium, what would it be used for?

[wolverine]

As Atwood really that high in demand to justify another stadium?

One thing they didn't mention in the article is the surrounding neighborhood potential. Drive just North of the downtown, there's a lot of vacant properties and empty lots. Ann Arbor tends to have a lot of student rental housing clustered near the campus. I wonder if Flint can revive some of these neighborhoods by leasing to students. Another thing Flint needs is a more pronounced college entertainment district. Again with an AA-Flint comparison, Saginaw Street is sort of like AA's Main Street. You have your bars and restaurants enjoyed by many, but it's more formal.

I'd like to see an active district like South University or State street that is jammed with restaurants (particularly take-out), clothing stores, and book stores and bars. They can start with that ugly-ass block of parking right in the middle of downtown, except orient the activity so that it faces campus, not necessarily Saginaw Street. I would suggest something over by the Durant, but the areas around it seem too empty to be developed into a dense thriving college district.

Here's my vision RED: Student Housing, BLUE: Commercial, ORANGE: Office

A bit excessive, yes. But Flint has surprised me to a point where I could seriously see something like this happening within the next 20 years.

[dnast]

I'd rather we have a new arena (not necessarily on the river). Football isn't as popular in Flint as it is in many other cities and our weather sucks. With a new arena Flint could actually get a few concerts here and there like it used to. Don't get me wrong - I'd really enjoy watching a new stadium go up, but the downtown area can't really handle any more "big project" disappointments at this point. If something like that happened it would only kill the little momentum it has picked up.

I think I'm satisfied with the full service grocery store that's coming, for now.

Oh, and as much as I enjoy the ease of parking in the "main parking lot" as I like to call it, it could definitely use some development. It would be nice to have a full block of street wall on both sides of the street for once.

[RustTown]

The story is more about a general idea of capturing the college crowd than anything else. I think I saw a stadium mentioned once, and it was basically just to throw an idea out there.

[dnast]

Yeah, the main point of the story was capturing the college crowd, but at the end of the article it mentions that "Williamson promised to move forward with plans to open a 15,000-seat stadium along the Flint River." I guess the stadium stood out to me because it seems like its something that the mayor is really pushing now and I think the city's money could be better spent elsewhere.

[dtown]

Why not put an arena on the giant parking lot, and level genesee towers while your at it.

[wolverine]

Because we need the parking lot for Genesee Towers to land on when it falls.

Actually, I wonder how area businesses feel about the importance of that central parking lot.

[pachucoboy]

I just hope he dosn't hope tp put a stadium at the old chevy in the whole site, where the river district plans are.

[RustTown]

Yeah, the main point of the story was capturing the college crowd, but at the end of the article it mentions that "Williamson promised to move forward with plans to open a 15,000-seat stadium along the Flint River." I guess the stadium stood out to me because it seems like its something that the mayor is really pushing now and I think the city's money could be better spent elsewhere.

[Ka3kab]

Because we need the parking lot for Genesee Towers to land on when it falls.

Nice.

[EastCourtStreet]

As Atwood really that high in demand to justify another stadium?

One thing they didn't mention in the article is the surrounding neighborhood potential. Drive just North of the downtown, there's a lot of vacant properties and empty lots. Ann Arbor tends to have a lot of student rental housing clustered near the campus. I wonder if Flint can revive some of these neighborhoods by leasing to students. Another thing Flint needs is a more pronounced college entertainment district. Again with an AA-Flint comparison, Saginaw Street is sort of like AA's Main Street. You have your bars and restaurants enjoyed by many, but it's more formal.

I'd like to see an active district like South University or State street that is jammed with restaurants (particularly take-out), clothing stores, and book stores and bars. They can start with that ugly-ass block of parking right in the middle of downtown, except orient the activity so that it faces campus, not necessarily Saginaw Street. I would suggest something over by the Durant, but the areas around it seem too empty to be developed into a dense thriving college district.

Here's my vision RED: Student Housing, BLUE: Commercial, ORANGE: Office

A bit excessive, yes. But Flint has surprised me to a point where I could seriously see something like this happening within the next 20 years.

[wolverine]

Oops, I guess I should put that elsewhere then.