What I really want to see in downtown Flint is...

[dnast]

^ I agree. There are plenty of unemployed people in and around Flint that are more than willing to work for their money. There will also need to be fixes in the sewer systems in Genesee County so they stop having spills into the river during very heavy rain or else the cleaning up won't last long.

Pachuco:

I was looking around on the Internet the other day and saw that there was a grant awarded (page 3) to develop a plan to beautify Brush and Buckham and make them more usable. The grant was awarded in 2003; I wonder what they came up with.

[RustTown]

Keeping a river clean can be a very costly matter. Here in Lansing we've been separating our sewers for years now so spills don't happen during heavy rains. It's a tedious job because some of our sewers (and I'm sure this is especially true of Flint) date back to the late 1800's at times. It tears up tons of streets for months and months at a time. The whole plan is a 30 year plan.

In fact, the sewer separation project is going to go on for many more years before it's all done, because it has to be tackeld in phases.

To read about it, read this article:

http://www.win-water.org/win_news/032502article.html

[dnast]

Yeah, Flint has some very old sewers and water mains. They've been slowly getting repaired but likely have a long way to go.

The thing with keeping the river clean is that it's not just Flint that's spilling sewage into it. The suburbs share the blame, as well. It would take a county-wide effort, at the very least, to make progress on getting the river cleaned.

I guess one positive thing about the situation is that getting the river cleaned would directly benefit all the municipalities that it runs through. It shouldn't be as hard to get all parties to cooperate as it would usually be.

Edited April 29, 2005 by dnast

[VeeFan]

Part of the reconstruction of Pierson Road has been to rebuild the water and sewer systems.

[dnast]

I feel bad for the people that live on that street. It'll be a long time before they're done with that street.

And to get back on topic - I don't know if I already said this, but I'd like to see something done with Windmill Place or at least that site that it sits on. There are a couple of businesses on the strip that's attached, but it seems like a good location for something. Other than the church, that intersection of Saginaw and Fifth Ave. is very underused.

[Pachuco]

Is the old Flint Journal still in operation ? If not I would like to see it converted into lofts or a mixed used project.

[dnast]

Yes, the old Flint Journal building is still in use. They kept all of the offices in the building. The new building holds the new press and serves as the Journal's distrubution center.

But on that note, I'd like to see more of Harrison St. developed. I don't think the parking lots behind the Genesee Towers get much use. I'd like to see a 3-5 story building or two built there. If necessary, they could include a couple floors of parking or something.

I'd also like to see work start on the MTA terminal renovation. They made an announcement sometime last year, and I believe they already have the funds with the millage that passed last year. I hope we hear some news soon.

[Pachuco]

Hopefully the dorms for UM-Flint will add to development downtown not on S. Saginaw st.

Dnast did you notice the blue thing is also in the back of the Land Bank Center, I can't believe how much downtown looks with only one building being renovated.

[dnast]

Yeah, I was surprised to see them decorating the back of the building. I wonder if there is going to be a public entrance on that side. Sorenson-Gross is supposed to put a branch office in the back of the old Economy, as well. It'd be nice if there were more storefronts along Buckham Alley to compliment existing places like The Loft and the Torch Bar & Grill.

[VeeFan]

Now that it's spring again, I'd really like to see more places along the Flint River looking like it does along the U of M campus. Just having this wide open grassy area where people could go to have picnics or just relax, there really aren't any great parks in Flint where people could do that. But if it's downtown, then more people might do that and feel more safe than say a park on the north end.

Part of the concrete wall still extends down in front of French Hall, but it's overgrown with ivy and there are all kinds of flowers growing along it. It's just such an attractive area and it'd do wonders for downtown if there were more places like this along the river.

[ZachariahDaMan]

I too think it would be nice to see places in Flint where people can go to just relax and have a picnic.

[MJLO]

I'd like to see suburban companies relocate, offices downtown, Real estate has to be cheap. I could be wrong, but I dont think there are to many even, bank branch offices downtown Flint. That could make a difference. I think it would revitalize the city. Is the city trying to do anything to attract office workers downtown?

[dnast]

Downtown has been able to attract a few suburban companies recently. They are mostly small (10-20 employees) or just branch offices, but except for First Street Lofts, most of the recent projects (Atwood, Economy, and the Land Bank Center) have included office space and I believe are fully leased. The most noteworthy newcomer is Rowe Incorported, an engineering company, which will be moving into the "500 block entertainment complex". They're bringing about 100 employees downtown.

Bank branches aren't too scarce downtown. There are even a couple of local headquarters and Citizens Bank's main headquarters is located in the CBD. That's not to say that a few more wouldn't be gladly welcomed.

The fact that downtown is slowly becoming a viable location to lease office space again makes me hopeful about the downtown's future office market. It'd be nice to one day see Genesee Towers fully renovated with high occupancy once again.

[VeeFan]

With activity picking up, renovation and occupation of Genesee Towers could be reality before too long.

[dtown]

it would be awesome if something like that drawing wolverine(i think it was) did happened to the genesee towers and a couple good sized companies moved in

Edited March 9, 2006 by dtown

[MADOGG]

Hey, what's up everyone. My name's MADOGG and I'm new to this site, and I recently joined the UrbanFlint site. I care alot about Flint and its well-being. I mentioned on the UrbanFlint site that if they could not find a company or companies to fill Genesee Towers then I thought City Hall should move in. The current City Hall is too conjested, plus Genesee Towers has its own parking ramp for the city employees. The old city hall would become an addition of the police department for the hopefully soon to be increasing number of city police officers. The last thing I want to see downtown is another building razed that could easily be refurbished. Thanks.

[MJLO]

I agree,

I have to think too, that as Metro Detroit expands north, people will start taking a new look at Flint, and may start pouring money into it. I can see it as an urban alternative, it's much smaller than the big D and i'd assume easier to fix. If I had $ i'd dump alot of it into downtown. But I think alot of us feel that way.

[Allan]

Detroit's northern sprawl will help Flint out, that's for sure. The southern suburbs of Flint are quickly becoming the northern fringes of metro Detroit.

Flint did not fall nearly as hard as Detroit did, so there is much less rebuilding to be done. There's still a ton of work that needs to be done, though. I have confidence that the people of Flint will pull it off. The city has done pretty well when you consider what it's been through with the loss of the auto industry.

[VeeFan]

I don't know about not falling as hard as Detroit did, Flint has half the population it had 15-20 years ago. 200,000 in 1990 to around 110,000-120,000 today and it's only going to continue losing population for the near future. Granted, Detroit has lost more, considering that it's a bigger city, but it hasn't lost half it's population or workforce.

Mini-rant aside now. The Detroit Metro area is already helping Flint out immensely, look at the rate in which Bishop has been growing (and will continue to grow). Although I may not care for the man, it says a lot about Bishop Airport when Bush chose to fly into there a few weeks ago instead of Detroit's airports.

[dnast]

Actually, Detroit has lost half its population. Detroit's population peaked at about 2 million (unofficially) and now has less than 950,000 residents. I don't think Detroit lost such a high percentage of jobs in a short time like Flint did, though.

I think there's a chance that downtown Flint will be able to attract some of the metro Detroiters that have been moving to the Flint area in recent years, once downtown really picks up momentum. I think a lot of people from the Detroit suburbs are scared to even set foot in the city, let alone experience its great downtown. They may be a little more open-minded about visiting a smaller, less overwhelming urban area.

Edit: Oops! A quote I clicked on yesterday somehow got in this post...

Edited March 12, 2006 by dnast

[VeeFan]

The actual city of Detroit was close to 2 million, or the immediate metro area was? The highest figures for just the city of Detroit that I have seen was just over 1 million.

[dtown]

i think it had like 1.8 milion in the 40's or 50's

[MJLO]

Detroits population peaked in 1956, at just over 2mil

Flints population peaked in the 70's at right around 200k.

Edited March 12, 2006 by MJLO

[dtown]

wow they both dropped by about 50%

thats pretty sad

[VeeFan]

I never knew Detroit got to be that big. Back in the '50s, where would that have ranked it among the other big cities in the country?