Sunday, December 16, 2007

New Housing

Flint's housing situation seems relatively straight forward. The population has dipped, creating a lot of empty houses. The Land Bank has stepped in to rehab or remove the most dilapidated eyesores, but there are so many empty homes it's hard to keep up.

Seems simple, but then you read in the East Village Magazine about the possibility of infill housing courtesy of Habitat for Humanity:

"The Grand Traverse District Neighborhood Association Secretary Steve Snuske reported he met with two representatives from Habitat for Humanity to discuss infill housing in the neighborhood. They were referred by the Ruth Mott Foundation and may build 12 to 14 owner-occupied houses over a period of three years. The houses would be designed and built to look like surrounding homes and appear as if “they are a part of and always were in the neighborhood.” Snuske said there are not yet any plans to move forward with the project."
Things get a lot more complicated when you start trying to decide which neighborhoods will get more housing, and which will simply be dotted with vacant lots or disappear altogether.


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Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.