Flint, Michigan is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, located along the Flint River about 60 miles (96 km) northwest of Detroit. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 124,943, making it the fourth largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County6.
Flint Charter Township is adjacent to the city on the west, but is politically independent.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 88.2 km2 (34.1 mi2). 87.1 km2 (33.6 mi2) of it is land and 1.1 km2 (0.4 mi2) of it is water. The total area is 1.26% water. Flint lies just to the northeast of the Flint hills. The terrain is low and rolling along the south and east sides, and flatter to the northwest.
For a city of its size, Flint has many neighborhoods, grouped around the center of the city on the four cardinal "sides." The downtown business district is centered on Saginaw Street south of the Flint River. Just west, on opposite sides of the river, are Carriage Town (north) and the Grand Traverse Street District (south). These neighborhoods were the center of manufacturing for and profits from the nation's carriage industry until the 1920s, and to this day are the site of many well-preserved Victorian homes and the setting of Atwood Stadium. Just north of downtown is River Village, a successful example of mixed-income public housing. To the east of I-475 is Central Park, a small neighborhood defined by cul-de-sacs.
The North Side and Near South Side are predominantly African American, with such historic districts as Buick City and Civic Park on the north, and Sugar Hill, Floral Park, and Kent and Elm Parks on the south. Many of these neighborhoods were the original centers of early Michigan blues. The South Side in particular was also a center for multiracial migration from Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and deep south since World War II. These neighborhoods are most often lower income, but have maintained some level of economic stratification. The East Side is the site of the Mott Estate and Community College, the Cultural Center, and East Village, one of Flint's more prosperous areas. Just north is Eastside Proper, also known as the "State Streets," which is a low-income rental area that is rapidly diversifying. Eastside has had trouble with prostitution, particularly in districts centered on Dort Highway and Olive Avenue. The West Side includes the main site of the 1937 sitdown strike and the historic Woodcroft neighborhood, home in the past to influential engineers and automotive executives, and Mott Park, site of Kettering University.
Facilities associated with General Motors in the past and present are scattered throughout the city, including GM Truck and Bus, the Flint Metal Center, Powertrain North, Delphi East and West, among others. The largest plant, Buick City and adjacent facilities, has been demolished.
Half of Flint's fourteen tallest buildings were built during the 1920s. The city's tallest building, the 19-story Genesee Towers, was completed in 1968.
As of the census2 of 2000, there are 124,943 people, 48,744 households, and 30,270 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,434.5/km2 (3,714.9/mi2). There are 55,464 housing units at an average density of 636.8/km2 (1,649.1/mi2). The racial makeup of the city is 41.39% White, 53.27% Black or African American, 0.64% Native American, 0.44% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.11% from other races, and 3.14% from two or more races. 2.99% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 48,744 households out of which 33.5% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 29.0% are married couples living together, 27.5% have a female householder with no husband present, and 37.9% are non-families. 31.9% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.9% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.51 and the average family size is 3.16.
In the city the population is spread out with 30.6% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 19.2% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 31 years. For every 100 females there are 88.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 83.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $28,015, and the median income for a family is $31,424. Males have a median income of $34,009 versus $24,237 for females. The per capita income for the city is $15,733. 26.4% of the population and 22.9% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 37.4% of those under the age of 18 and 13.4% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Some scholars consider the Saginaw Valley, particularly in the vicinity of Flint, to be the oldest continually inhabited part of Michigan. Regardless of the validity of this claim, the region was home to several Ojibwa tribes at the top of the 19th century, with a particularly significant community established near present-day Montrose. The Flint River had several convenient fording points which became a point of contention among rival tribes, as attested by the presence of arrowheads and burial mounds near Flushing.
Jacob Smith, a fur trader on cordial terms with both the local Ojibwas and the territorial government founded a trading post in Flint itself in 1819. On several occasions, Smith negotiated land exchanged with the Ojibwas on behalf of the U.S. government, and was highly regarded on both sides. Smith apportioned many of his holdings to his children. As the ideal stopover on the overland route between Detroit and Saginaw, Flint grew into a small but prosperous village. It was incorporated in 1855. The 1860 U.S. census indicated that Genesee County had a population of 22,498 of Michigan's 750,000.
In the latter half of the 1800s, Flint became a lumber center, and at the turn of the 20th century the revenue and infrastructure from lumbering funded the establishment of the local carriage making industry. As horse-drawn carriages gave way to the automobiles, Flint became a major player in the nascent auto industry.
In 1904, local entrepreneur William C. Durant bought the Buick Motor Company, which became the largest manufacturer of automobiles by 1908. In 1908, Durant founded General Motors, filing incorporation papers in New Jersey, with headquarters in Flint. Eventually GM moved to Detroit.
Durant lost control of GM twice during his lifetime. On the first occasion, he befriended Louis Chevrolet and founded Chevrolet, which was a runaway success. He used the capital from this success to buy back share control. He later lost decisive control again, permanently. Durant experienced financial ruin in the stock market crash of 1929 and subsequently ran a bowling alley in Flint until the time of his death in 1947.
For the last century, Flint's history has been dominated by both the auto industry and car culture. During the sit down strike of 1936-1937, the fledgling United Automobile Workers triumphed over General Motors, inaugurating the era of labor unions.
The city was a major contributor of tanks and other war material during World War II due to extensive manufacturing facilities.
The eighth deadliest tornado on record in the United States struck Beecher, just north of Flint, on June 8, 1953, killing 115 people, injuring 844. Known as the "Beecher Tornado," after the North Side community, the tornado devastated the area. On the next day the same weather system spawned the worst tornado in New England in Worcester, Massachusetts, killing another 94 people.
For decades, Flint remained politically important as a major population center as well as for its importance to the automotive industry. The city's population peaked in 1950 at approximately 200,000. These decades are seen as the height of Flint's prosperity and influence, and culminated with the establishment of many local institutions, most notably including the Flint Cultural Center, which remains one of the city's chief commercial and artistic draws to this day.
Since the late 1960s, Flint has suffered from disinvestment, deindustrialization, and depopulation. Initially, this took the form of the "white flight" that afflicted many American towns, but the decline was exacerbated by the 1973 oil crisis and subsequent collapse of the U.S. auto industry. In the 1980s, the rate of deindustrialization accelerated with local G.M. employment falling from a 1978 high of 80,000 to under 23,000 by the late 1990s. Many factors have been blamed, including Reaganomics, outsourcing and exporting jobs abroad and to non-union facilities, unionization and exorbitant overhead, globalization, and most recently, a dramatic decline in General Motors sales. These rationales are often strictly applied along lines of political orientation, and labor remains the most divisive and polarizing local issue.
The recent decline was highlighted in the film Roger and Me by Michael Moore (the title refers to Roger B. Smith, the CEO of General Motors during the 1980s). Also highlighted in Moore's documentary was the failure of city officials to reverse the trends with entertainment options (e.g. Six Flags' AutoWorld) during the 1980s.
Today, the auto industry continues its exodus from Flint as does the population and sources of revenue. The massive Buick City factory was closed in 1999 and demolished three years later. Unable to pay its debts, the city was placed into receivership by the state of Michigan in 2002, with a financial manager effectively replacing the mayor. In 2004, local control was resumed.
Source:
FlintMichigan.com
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