Abandoning Flint, Michigan: As Homeowners Move Out, Fires Move In

June 18, 2009

  • June 18, 2009 at 3:39 am
    Jean says:
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    Want some cheese with that whine? Michigan goes as the auto industry goes. Anybody hear that flushing sound? The last one out should shut off the lights. This city ain’t coming back. Stay tuned. There’ll be many more. What will Detroit do now that the 3 golden geese are on life support? The city never rebounded from the race riots in the 1960’s. There are still burned out buildings that have never been razed or repaired.

  • June 18, 2009 at 6:17 am
    jim says:
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    My Grandmother lived at 1334 Jane. Don’t know if the house got eaten up by Buick expressway. I went to GMI and worked in the foundry at Buick till 1971. My Mother at 97 lives in Mt. Morris.The city is a shameful crater of lost hopes, dreams and a few families.

    Nothing left but what were good memories and peddling the Journal for 2 1/2 years out by Fisher 1, that’s also bit the dust.

  • June 18, 2009 at 6:32 am
    Big Mike In CALI says:
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    It’s sobering indeed to read about your hometown in such a sad state from some 2500 miles away…but the beginning of the end is why I left Flint in Nov 1982 after graduating from Beecher HS, for a stint in the Air Force.

  • June 19, 2009 at 8:57 am
    Empathetic says:
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    Cheese with that whine? I don’t think anyone was whining. What you wrote about Flint’s economic state is true, obvious in fact. It would be great if there were some constructive ideas posted here instead of simply reiterating how bad it is. What good does that do? A little sympathy would be nice too. There is a significant population in Flint of retired citizens that worked VERY hard to build this country. Show a little respect.

  • June 19, 2009 at 9:15 am
    Jean says:
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    If they’re already retired, they won’t be impacted. Probably drawing a nice pension including lifetime medical from one of the auto companys, bungalow paid off ….. not bad.

    It’s hard to feel too much compasion for a state and workforce that sucked every dollar it could from American consumers and gave little in return. The companys and the UAW cared little about engineering and producing attractive, quality vehicles. They opted instead for “average” cars that were over-priced. They preyed on the loyalties of the older generation to “buy American” and were short-sighted enough to think that would guarantee them success. They were wrong. The autoworkers themselves were part of the problem. They loved the U.A.W. and wanted to “protect the job”. They were over-paid and had so many benefits they didn’t know else to demand in the next contract. Their motto was “graduate high school, go to auto plant, do un-skilled work, get home at 3:00pm everyday, drink beer, go boating, and live happily ever after. The golden geese are indeed dead or dying. Michigan is a welfare state. Put a fork in it.

  • June 19, 2009 at 11:19 am
    Michiganer says:
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    Why is everyone so negative? It is very sad how Michigan is becoming a ghost state one city at time. However, what are you doing to change it? First, we need a governor who wants Michigan to grow and the auto industry ain’t happening anymore! Why put more and more money into a dying industry? Manufacturing age is GONE! Information age is HERE! Get with the times.

  • June 19, 2009 at 11:25 am
    Big Mike In CALI says:
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    Jean, are you from Michigan? Were you raised in Flint? I was born in Flint and raised there for eighteen years. My father retired from GM just about 5 years ago after 40 years, and yes we did have a comfortable life growing up, but nothing like what you seem to be alluding to in your diatribe. Unless you’ve lived there, you can’t know how much Flint has fallen from it’s former “glory” for lack of a better term. So those who have lived thru or have family that has lived thru Flint’s economic metamorphosis most definitely have a right to “whine” as you put it; it’s a natural human response to pine for “the good ol’ days.”

    In other words, chill out…

  • June 19, 2009 at 11:48 am
    Fred Hilpert says:
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    On the bright side — think of the reduction in injuries and loss of life due to industrial accidents!

    As Michigan gets rid of automobile manufacturing the terrible/unsafe working conditions are reduced.

  • June 19, 2009 at 11:59 am
    Walter says:
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    I grew up in St.Louis who at the time had the Big Three all making cars in town along with a ton of other manufacturing. Ford closed, Chrysler is closing, GM is on life support and the big steel mills on the East Side are going away as well. While its not as bad as Michigan, its still a hollowed out city with a big donut of suburbs wrapped around it. I remember driving around in my dads Buick Electra 225 or Olds Rocket 88, and what few imports you saw on the roads were poorly made and funny looking. How sad and its only been 40 years since our manufacturing dominance has faded to a memory.

  • June 19, 2009 at 12:31 pm
    UW says:
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    Seems like Flint is on the decline like most of urban Michigan. I lived in Saginaw in the mid 70’s and I remember hearing the news, it seemed to go something like this:
    “the strike at the steering gear plant is in it’s 50th day.
    In Flint, there was another murder today.”

    No joke, for as rural and pretty as Saginaw and Freeland were I had the image that Flint was some hellish place where murders happened hourly. Blame the media I guess.

    Always sad to hear about a nice place going downhill like this.

    And check out Detroit – same story there, obviously. But try to move to a nice suburb of Motown (Pontiac for example) and it’s staggeringly expensive.



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