grumkin

As far as type of restaurant... a really good authentic mexican restaurant (that's affordable) would be great. Ever since El Farolito's burned down, there's been a void in my palate. A corner bakery would be nice... I think there is a chain in Chicago... but a local one would be great. The main thing, is proximity... it has to be easy. Easy to park, easy to get to a variety of places. Because I for one am lazy... that's why I still go to starbucks and hate their coffee, because I'm too lazy to walk the extra block to get the local brand. And starbucks makes it easy... they have bathrooms, they have room for strollers. I applaud those who can walk that extra block (esp in the winter), but what Starbucks has taught me is it's not brand, it's location. Because as they bought up every local cafe in NYC, I couldn't ban them anymore... Oh yeah! I forgot the most important part... I would love to see Capitol Theatre be an independent theatre that shows films that normally don't get great distribution... they could also have senior showings of old classics in the afternoons... or have special effect classics like that HAL9000 movie (the title escapes me - and I own the DVD!)... who wouldn't want to see that on a big screen? There is a nonprofit theatre close where I live... of course am not sure if there is a big demand for that sort of thing... I may have been a minority in Flint when I was there... plus I wouldn't want the theatre cut up the way burns was. Check out http://www.burnsfilmcenter.org/about/facility.html Anyways, there's my 2 cents.

I'd also be happy with used book stores, record stores, and antique mart type places... something with character that you can't get anywhere else. Am hoping there is zoning for what retail goes into downtown... because while a CVS is handy, am not sure it really gives the downtown feel that we're going for... It seems Flint since the 60's has always been about function and not beauty... am hoping with the renovations that pendulum will swing a bit.

What's the deal with the Gap? It used to be at GV... now it's not anywhere. Perhaps it could add some traffic for downtown. Most of the downtown's that I've seen revitalized have the same stores as malls. This is good and bad... bad because I'm not (in theory) big into chain stores... but it's good because it might bring some people to the area who wouldn't otherwise frequent it. What I really want to see in downtown Flint is pedestrians... people walking. The more people, the safer the streets will be... which will attract more people... etc. I think people living above stores is an amazing start... now we need something that keeps them there... a coffee house, a bookstore, restaurants, sidewalk cafes, organic grocer, bars, dry cleaning, laundry, gift stores, children's stores. As much as I hate chains, I do like Borders... I think it would be amazing to have Borders in the downstairs of the Durant with people living above it.

Sorry to trouble you with this, but I can't find it in the help section. I have some photos from Downtown Flint last week (August 2006) and would like to post them. Do I need a website to do this? Am having difficulty posting. Would you mind giving me a rundown on how to post photos? Are you only interested in new construction/revitalization on this blog, or just photos from downtown in general?