Random Quotes That Seem to Have a Flint Connection

"Assume a collectivity made up of a wolf and a sheep. The happiness of the wolf consists in eating the sheep, that of the sheep in not being eaten. How is this collectivity to be made happy?"

— Economist Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923)

Shrinking Flint: Federal Money to Get Smaller

We've been wondering where the federal money is to tear down abandoned houses in Flint. Well, it's on the way.

Cathy Shafran at WJRT ABC 12 reports:

"The city and the county both learned this week they'll each be getting about $1.2 million in federal stimulus money for demolition.

That $2.4 million will take care of about 300 of the 5,000 abandoned homes in the community.

That money, combined with another potential $15 million that the county has applied for, has the head of the land bank pushing harder than ever for the community to come up with a master plan on how to spend it.

"As the federal money comes in, we need to make sure we're making the best use of that money and not just throwing it at the wall and tearing down houses here and there or creating community gardens where it makes sense at the moment," said the Genesee County Land Bank's Dan Kildee.

Before you get too exited, let's work out the numbers. If it costs about $8,000 to tear down a house, and the city and county get $17.4 million, that works out to about 2,175 houses disappearing if all the money goes to demolition. So even in a best-case scenario — if that's the right term for this process — that still leaves 2,825 vacant houses in Flint. But that's better than 5,000, right?

The two candidates for mayor — Brenda Clack and Dayne Walling — differ on the issue of shrinking Flint, although both acknowledge city will be getting smaller.

Thanks to J.L. for passing this news along.

Chevy dealer folds

The world's largest Chevy dealership, with branches stretching from Alabama to Texas, goes belly up and 2,700 lose their jobs.

Can immigrants improve Flint?

We've been wildly speculating in the comment section of The River's Edge post on demographic and economic trends that might help cities like Flint. I know many readers don't venture into the comment section, so I'm bringing this discussion above ground.

Here are a few thoughts from readers:

Smurfs, inc: "What most mid-sized Midwest cities would benefit from is a massive influx of immigrants. People with kids, hope, reasonable expectations, and motivation. I'm sure they exist out there in the third, fourth, and fifth worlds. In fact we Americans have made millions of 'em in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Open the floodgates I say. Educated whiteys won't salvage urban America, but I'm pretty sure given the opportunity a few million Sudanese would. I can see it now: Little Missouri is usurped by Little Darfur. St. Michael's becomes the Al-Haji Mosque. Issa's Party Store is converted into a Halal market.

"So bring it on Barrack Osama and the Demopublican congress, we need MORE immigrants not less. Immigrants will save urban America."

Jim Holbel: "So there is a town, Lewiston, Maine. Not a lot to offer, but due to a strange set of circumstances, ends up with a (relatively) massive influx of Somalis.

http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2007/raininadryland/special_01.html

"The interesting thing is the Somalis had been settled by relief agencies into big US cities, but in crap neighborhoods within those cities. Disappointed, they networked among each other. What they were after, they found in Lewiston: 'Lewiston had good schools, a low crime rate, and cheap housing.' So take a gander at the article, and let me ask:

1. Can you see a town like Linden, Davison or whatever appealing to immigrants? What about Flint Proper?

2. Does anyone feel the part about about the influx of immigrants versus upset mayor/locals/opportunist out-of-town nazis would play out anywhere near as progressively in the Genesee county?

"Ready... set.... BLOG amongst yourselves..."

Should Powers move?

There's been a long-running discussion about the fate of Powers High School in the comment section of an earlier post on Catholic church closings in Flint. The topic has received more comments than any other post on Flint Expatriates.

Everyone may have said what they want to say at this point, but I thought I'd bring the subject back in case people who missed the earlier post want to chime in...especially those with insider knowledge of what Powers plans for the future. And exactly how Powers raises — or doesn't raise — money.

And I'll throw this idea out no real economic evidence to back it up. If this had happened, Powers might be in the same situation they are in now, or worse. But here goes...

I've always thought that when the Catholic high schools consolidated, Powers should have just moved into St. Michael's. They would have had to make arrangements or buy some land for sports fields, but that wouldn't have been too difficult given the condition of that area even in the early '70s. It would have created an anchor near downtown, made the school more centrally located for commuters, and attached a parish to the school, which was always a drawback to Powers.

And it would have meant the school was right next to Flint's biggest tourist draw — Autoworld! Oh, wait, forget that last sentence.

Just a thought.

COMMENTS:

Anonymous says: St. Mike's certainly would have been a good choice, but I know of a better one: Holy Redeemer. Powers still claims the football field as its home field. When the consolidation occurred in 1970, TWO catholic high schools should have been created: Flint Catholic Central High School NORTH (now Powers). Flint Catholic Central High School SOUTH (Holy Redeemer). I know — wishful thinking.

Anonymous says: The answer is simple. No. Powers was build to serve all of the county, not just Grand Blanc and Fenton. Funds should be raised not for moving, but for
1. lowering the cost of tuition (which is the main reason why the enrollment has dropped).
a. Powers has done a terrible job with alumni relations of the years.
2. Redeveloping the Northwestern/Powers area. Instead of running, make the area better. This is what Notre Dame is doing in South Bend. Which is more Catholic than running from problems. Moving to the south subs will do nothing to reduce the main barrier (tuition) and make a Catholic education out-of-reach of most working Catholics. How could this be good for the long-term health of the Catholic Church?

Anonymous says: My husband graduated from Detroit Catholic Central. I cannot believe the alumni network that CC has. (And the newly built school in Novi is incredible.) The programs, traditions, publications, endowments are impressive. Powers could learn a lot from them. However, Powers will never be a CC or a UofD Jesuit. The administrators may try to be, but never will be able to . The alumni ties to those schools are incredibly strong. Powers doesn't have that kind of affect on its graduates. Also, I was just in grade school when Powers was in its planning stages and my parents were involved on a parish level. I remember my parents saying that most of their fellow parishioners wanted the centrally located, Holy Redeemer site, if not two Catholic high schools in the county. It was egos and administrative arrogance that won out. It will be interesting to see how the new Bishop handles this issue of relocation.

Anonymous says: My family and I will no longer give Powers any more money until Powers can develop a vision for the school for the next 25 years. Part of that vision should be how Powers will make the current location the future location. Dealing with the D of L, Powers admin and various fractions at the school is a joke and makes Powers look 3rd rate. Bottom line—there are no real leaders at the school.

Economic desert

(Photo courtesy of camelphotos.com)

Flint's an economic desert now, but it's good to remember there was a more prosperous time when camels actually roamed the streets...during the 1909 Barnum and Bailey Circus Parade.

Viva Las Flint

I'm surprised it took the local braintrust this long to come up with this particular far-fetched plan to save Flint — Indian casinos.

"I think we have a 50-50 chance of getting it," Mayor Don Williamson told The Flint Journal. Williamson dispatched adviser Joe Conroy to Washington, D.C. last week to lobby those connected to legislation that would bring a casino to either Flint or Romulus.

A bill is expected to be voted on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives that would allow a casino to be established by the Sault Ste. Marie tribe of Chippewa Indians.

There's only one problem: casinos tend to suck more money out of the local economy than they put into it. Philadelphia City Paper lays out the numbers:

During their yearlong study, professors William N. Thompson and Ricardo C. Gazel of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas found that Illinois loses $6.7 million to casinos each year which otherwise would have been spent on local businesses. The sum does not include regulatory and infrastructure costs, or social costs.

In addition, the study found that areas closest to casinos suffered the most. The study also determined that riverboat casinos do not promote tourism, noting that 84 percent of Illinois gamblers live in-state. By comparison, Las Vegas attracts 85 percent of its gamblers from out-of-state.

Of course, look how Detroit has magically transformed itself into a safe, economically robust city with the help of casinos.

That was a little joke.

The Liquid Economy

Could the solution to Michigan's moribund economy be water? Lake water, specifically. You know, the stuff that sank the Edmund Fitzgerald. Edward McClelland at salon.com reports that Michigan could become an oasis for parched Sun Belters:

"For the last half-century, the Great Lakes states have been on the losing end of a migration that would have baffled our nomadic ancestors. Ignoring thousands of years of prophetic wisdom, from Moses to Sam Kinison, Americans have been moving away from fresh water and into the desert. In the most recent Census Bureau survey, the two fastest-growing states -- Nevada and Arizona -- were two of the driest. Michigan and New York, states awash in water, actually lost people. Some of these migrants were looking for work, following factory jobs down South. But others just couldn't stand the gloomy Northern winters.

"Now, those cold-weather refugees are discovering that the climate that's so well-suited to year-round golf is not so well-suited to providing millions of people with life's most essential element: H. Two. Oh."

Flint and the "Cowboy Economy"

What does Flint have to do with the "cowboy economy"? University of Michigan's Robert M. Beckley explains:

"Flint's most recent master plan was created in the 1960s and projected Flint would grow to 250,000. But instead the cowboy economy caught up with Flint. Since that projection Flint has been used up and discarded by the industrial revolution. A town that once housed more than 190,000 people and was projected to grow to a quarter million now holds fewer than 120,000."