Calling all Smurfs

Smurfs Inc., where are you?

Village of Wolves Revealed

And now, at long last, actual photos of Flint's Village of Wolves, courtesy of Jar With Most. Sorry, no zombies or dead dogs in these. You'll have to use your imagination. (For the backstory on this intriguing "neighborhood," go here.)






And here's some more insight into what just might be Flint's most mysterious locale:

Smurfs, Inc:

"VOW was like a little slice of "Deliverance" set in depressing late 80s Flint. There really wasn't (isn't?) much for kids to do and if you weren't into drinking, drugging, fighting, or gangbanging, exploration was the next best option. VOW was always good for a an hour or so of amusement on a boring Saturday night, and of course half of the fun was the anticipation of what might happen.

"There were some halfway decent structures back there- a brick ranch, a few decent wood frame houses, and a pole barn. Last time I cruised through it looked like some of the homes had actually been remodelled."

Jim of L-Town:

"During my years as a Flint Journal police reporter I was actually in this neighborhood twice on bodies that were found dumped there.
Never heard of the VOW designation before, but come to think of it, it fits."

Whose side are you on?

So if someone asked you where you lived in Flint, what would you say?

There's been a great discussion in the comment section about Flint's geographical boundaries and neighborhood designations, which often have little to do with actual geography. While the Flint River does play a role, especially with older Flintoids, race, class and personal preference are just as important:

smurfs inc: I always considered everything north of the river and west of GT from DTM, Mott Park, New Northern, Longfellow, and up to Civic Park to be the west side too. In fact, a few businesses around Civic Park had "west side" in the name; West Side Upholstery for one. Where the north side began and the west side ended was a bit hazy. Pasadena Ave? McClellan? Stewart?

I still argue with a few Corunna Rd./Zimmerman west side pals. They claimed the west side stopped at the river and everything north of the golf course was thus "north side." My neck of the woods near Longfellow was always considered "west" by people in the neighborhood, but was "north" to Corunna/Miller Roaders. Hmmm.

Recently I was watching WJRT and they referred to the intersection of Chevrolet and Flushing as the "north side." WTF?!? I know it is north of the river, but that was never a defining factor to me. Similarly, I know some people consider the Johnson/Carpenter Rd. Elementary area east side while others say it is on the north side. It is interesting to note what peoples perception of the city is. Race seems to be a major factor in "north" and "east" designations. Geography — specifically the river — plays a role too. The cardinal directions? Not so much.

Slick: Well, in growing up at Corunna and Ballenger we considered the north side to start at about Welch and Ballenger...after all the "new" Northern was just down the street.

My folks always referred to it as the north end, which usually meant from Pasadena north. The north end had a more intense, rough feel, while the south end sounded cheesy in comparison to south side.

But today you have the Norf' Side which really starts at about Flushing and Ballenger.

Yes, I suppose you could argue that race has something to do with it, but there seems to be more African-Americans living on the east side and west side than say in the 70's. Some of the older people used the river as some sort of boundary reference. Even Mayor Woodrow Stanley used the river as a racial boundary reference for the citizens of Flint.

While the east side still seems to encompass the area it always did, and the west and south side are still about the same. So, in the case of the north side. — after talking and writing myself through this — regrettably I think race has some bearing, and I really wish that it didn't. But perception is often reality.

redgirl: I grew up around Fleming/Stewart and was always told that that was the northwest side. For us, the north side seemed to be the area between Detroit St. (as it was called then) and Saginaw St. on up toward the Mt. Morris line. I always thought of the area between Dupont & Saginaw St. as the north and not northwest side, too. So maybe everything north of the river is north with divisions within that for the northeast and northwest sides. The old Fair Store was clearly the northwest side, for example. Now I'm starting to confuse myself.

Anyway, I used to go over to the west side and my friends and I would go into Glenwood Cemetery, crawl through a hole in the fence and sit on the steps leading down into the river, drink our assorted beverages and wave at the train engineer as the train went through. There was also a clear perception among my west side friends that I was from another part of town, one that clearly had a reputation for being unsafe. Even in the early '80s they kept asking why my family hadn't moved yet. I, in turn, always felt a bit like a "foreigner" in their "territory." And I can assure you that at least some of those westsiders were far more into trouble-making then anyone on my street!

geewhy: The only side of town I ever referred to was the east side, and I considered Angelo's the epicenter. Then I'd use streets — "He lives off East Court" — or landmarks — "I live across from Bassett Park" or "I live near Haskell Community Center." For me, the north end was up by Powers High School, but I know my mom has a very different location for it.

NPR attempts to understand Coneys

The elusive smurfs inc offers up some more coney info:

"In other Flint Coney news, many of you may have heard the broadcast on NPR profiling our favorite local delicacy last year. Long story short, some lady in Wisconsin liked to cook assorted regional American cuisine. The recipe she chose for National Public Radio? You guessed it. Not only did listeners learn the intricacies of the recipe, she also provided some cultural context. Apparently the schism between the Flint and Detroit coney hinged on our cities unique ethnic landscape. Detroit's wet sauce was Greek in origin. Flint's dry sauce, Macedonian. Another interesting coney sauce fact: the sauce actually includes ground up Koegel. Does that make sense? Would you grind up pasta for your spaghetti sauce? Well anyhow, I was inspired. Altering the recipe, I may have created the first Flint-style vegan coney island. Scoff if you must you meat-eating creeps, but it was remarkably close to the original: tasty, soggy, AND cruelty free t'boot."

And here's the audio from the NPR story on Flint-style Coneys, which is slightly annoying because the NPR reporter insists on calling the Coney topping "beanless chili."