Flint has really done a lot to revitalize its downtown; I was very impressed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Genesee Towers, likely to be demolished

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All fiberglass

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Durant

 

 

 

 

 

Flint has always struck me as much more vibrant than other "dying" cities.

I have to give the University of Michigan Flint credit in revitalizing the core.  They've done a fantastic job.  As CDawg said, the rest of the city needs Jesus, Moses, and some cash but the core itself looks great!

The downtown looks at lot like downtown Youngstown.  Also you know its really ironic that 50s buildings are starting to torn down since they tour down historic buildings to built them.

Thanks for the photo tour!  Genesee County's been able to generate some decent cash from its pioneering land bank, some of which it has plowed back into downtown projects.  Looks like it's paying some dividends.  Good stuff.

mmmmm  Halo burger.  Flint is OK but I still think it has a way to go.  From what I've seen Genesee county has been hit pretty hard by this recession, at least in the Fenton area.    Personally, I would like to see some focus around the Kettering University area, that place has some huge expansion potential.

Neat to see Flint has abandoned big box retail like Dayton (actually those neighborhood shots in the end do look a bit like Dayton).

 

Though I have to say downtown Flint looks somewhat blah.  I was expecting it to seem larger for some reason (Youngstown looks more impressive, actually).  That art deco skyscraper looks like a shorter version of the Hulman Building here in Dayton.

 

 

Thanks for the tour.  I always enjoy looking at other "dead/dying" cities.

 

Neat to see Flint has abandoned big box retail like Dayton (actually those neighborhood shots in the end do look a bit like Dayton).

 

Though I have to say downtown Flint looks somewhat blah.  I was expecting it to seem larger for some reason (Youngstown looks more impressive, actually).  That art deco skyscraper looks like a shorter version of the Hulman Building here in Dayton.

 

 

 

It's funny you should write this.  I was thinking Flint's downtown looks larger than Youngstown's, although less dense.  If Youngstown's downtown seems more impressive, maybe it's because it has remained dense in a smaller area?

What I recall of downtown Youngstown was it was pretty compact, meaning there was a cluster of fairly tall buildings (some pretty good designs, too) around that central square. 

 

Flint has suprising (to me) low-density feel from these pix, since I thought it was a fairly large city.  Maybe I misread the place.

Flint looks better in the photos than I expected, considering what has happened to the American auto industry in general. It does seem to lack density, but it has some attractive, quality recent construction and looks clean.

 

Although Youngstown has lost a lot, it does have quite a few imposing buildings, some by prominent architects, in its core. I just searched out the thread that I posted a while back. It's here.

Downtown Flint used to be so much more dense than it now appears.  That so much of it has survived in such decent shape is really amazing, all things considered.

 

The area currently occupied by parts of the University of Michigan's Flint campus was once full of scores of two to five story buildings which gave the city much character.  If they were still in existance, though they would be monuments of decay, no doubt.

 

Among some of the Jewels that were long-ago lost are two downtown railroad depots.  The Pere Marquette depot was absolutely beautiful as well as a very hansome Grand Trunk Depot.  Both railroads bypassed downtown Flint with new mainlines by the middle of the 20th century.  Amtrak's "Bluewater Service" trains and Greyhound busses stop several miles East of downtown at a modern station off of the Dort Hwy-I-69 exit.

 

As is so often the case, the Freeways which make downtown Flint so easily accessable also destroyed portions of it.  Neither I-475 or I-69 afford good views of downtown Flint since both roadways are constructed below-grade. 

 

The amount of wealth created and lost in the City of Flint over the last 100 years is mind-boggling.  The American Icons it has given us (Chevrolet, Buick, General Motors) are easily taken for granted and dismissed as icons of another era.  That may be true but it is important that we remember what Flint and smaller cities like it have given to the world before we write their obituary.