Last night's spate of fires in Flint just before planned layoffs of police and fire fighters has people on edge, especially in Carriage Town and the Grand Traverse area. Residents were out patrolling the neighborhoods last night, and there are plans to board up abandoned houses today.
Bill Gainey, who owns the Hiram "Hardwood" Smith house near downtown, emailed me with an update:Our neighborhoods are under attack. Especially Carriage Town. They seem to be targeting vacant Land Bank houses that are next to another vacant house. This is terrible. I was on patrol for the better part of last night and more of us will be patrolling tonight. This is a lesson for all of us. We should not have any houses wide open for someone to walk off the street and torch it.
Flint bloggers Gordon Young (left) and Gerry Godin (right) relax in the private club accessible only to those who blog about the Vehicle City. (Well, technically, the owner of the house, along with his friends and relatives, are also allowed access.)
Many readers have asked what it's really like to be a Flint blogger. They've no doubt heard some exaggerated tales about the booze, the pills, the cash. None of that is true, although after a few nights sleeping on the floor in Flint I was over-indulging in ibuprofen.
But that's not to say Flint bloggers don't have a good time when they get together. Gerry Godin, who publishes the astounding All Things Buick blog stopped by in his Park Avenue while I was in Flint, and we had the kind of day you'd expect of two guys who spend large amounts of time writing about Flint. I'm reluctant to even post this because the lives we both lead are so extravagant, but I feel we owe it to our readers to give them a glimpse into our world of privilege.
We began the day taking in the great outdoors at Oak Park, which happens to be right next to the now-demolished Buick City plant where Gerry worked for many years.
Gerry attempts to fathom the logic behind GM tearing down a neighborhood to create more parking for their factory, and then building a park for the neighborhood they had just leveled. For good measure, G.M. then closed the factory but left the park.
Tennis at Oak Park is particularly challenging.
Just what the Michigan economy needs right about now.
Next, we toured some Flint factory sites and discovered that even though all the jobs are gone, the security guards remain. We we're told to get lost by one guard who clearly didn't know who we were.
Fine food is one luxury we enjoy as Flint bloggers. Although we could have sat in a private area at Angelo's, we chose seats near the counter.
Gerry demonstrates excellent coney-eating technique acquired by years of practice.
My technique...not so good. When the onions fell in my lap, I started to panic. Luckily, Gerry's old union president, who was eating at the counter, didn't notice me.
I tried to impress Gerry by wearing a t-shirt with a childlike drawing of a car engine on it. It's the sort of thing considered cool in San Francisco, but Gerry put me to shame with an amazing shirt commemorating the last car made at Buick City on June 29, 1999.
Next we paid a visit to our friend Bill who owns the Hardwood Smith house.
Gerry gets under the hood of Bill's 1956 Buick Century.
Who says old Buick hood ornaments weren't pedestrian friendly?
Thirty years of Buick craftsmanship and paint jobs that look a lot like primer. The '56 Century next to an '86 Century.
After a long day of all things Flint, Gerry rests on his Park Avenue and has a smoke while the birthplace of G.M. looms in the background. Notice the inexplicable one-way street sign in the background. Yes, Flint still has all those maddening one-ways. It's good to know some things don't change.
Flint bloggers Gordon Young (left) and Gerry Godin (right) relax in the private club accessible only to those who blog about the Vehicle City. (Well, technically, the owner of the house, along with his friends and relatives, are also allowed access.)
We began the day taking in the great outdoors at Oak Park, which happens to be right next to the now-demolished Buick City plant where Gerry worked for many years.
Gerry attempts to fathom the logic behind GM tearing down a neighborhood to create more parking for their factory, and then building a park for the neighborhood they had just leveled. For good measure, G.M. then closed the factory but left the park.
Tennis at Oak Park is particularly challenging.
Just what the Michigan economy needs right about now.
Next, we toured some Flint factory sites and discovered that even though all the jobs are gone, the security guards remain. We we're told to get lost by one guard who clearly didn't know who we were.
Fine food is one luxury we enjoy as Flint bloggers. Although we could have sat in a private area at Angelo's, we chose seats near the counter.
Gerry demonstrates excellent coney-eating technique acquired by years of practice.
My technique...not so good. When the onions fell in my lap, I started to panic. Luckily, Gerry's old union president, who was eating at the counter, didn't notice me.
I tried to impress Gerry by wearing a t-shirt with a childlike drawing of a car engine on it. It's the sort of thing considered cool in San Francisco, but Gerry put me to shame with an amazing shirt commemorating the last car made at Buick City on June 29, 1999.
Next we paid a visit to our friend Bill who owns the Hardwood Smith house.
Gerry gets under the hood of Bill's 1956 Buick Century.
Who says old Buick hood ornaments weren't pedestrian friendly?
Thirty years of Buick craftsmanship and paint jobs that look a lot like primer. The '56 Century next to an '86 Century.
After a long day of all things Flint, Gerry rests on his Park Avenue and has a smoke while the birthplace of G.M. looms in the background. Notice the inexplicable one-way street sign in the background. Yes, Flint still has all those maddening one-ways. It's good to know some things don't change.