Flint Photos: Innovative Security Measures

You can still own a house with a white picket fence in Flint.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Writer Jan Worth-Nelson has the uncanny ability to capture the contradictions of life in Flint. I was reminded of this when I read two of her recent columns in East Village Magazine. In one column she reflects on a theme that all Flint residents have wrestled with at one point or another: what would my life be like if I lived somewhere else?

Most of us veteran Flintoids, especially those of us who came from somewhere else and thus can only regard our lives here as a matter of "choice," go through phases of exasperation and regret.

We all have our Flint sweet spots, griefs and vindications. We make them, we find them and we cherish them with recurring dollops of hope.

In another, she muses on the implications of drummers in downtown Flint:

The other afternoon a couple of friends and I were on our way to 501 Grille when we spied two drummers at the corner of Saginaw and First streets under the terra cotta American eagles of what used to be First National Bank.

From a distance it sounded like amateur auditions for a Fourth of July parade but it was only late April.  Still I admit there was something pleasantly odd and rousing about it.

Hmm ... drumming on street corners. My friends and I considered. Is this a good thing? Or is this something worrisomely earnest, like awkwardly hopeful murals sprouting up on abandoned walls?

Since we were in an optimistic mood anticipating our first glass of wine of the day, we decided it was a good sign. Buskers, we've got buskers, just like Washington Square Park in New York, Dupont Circle in D.C., and Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco.

Flint is a complicated place, and it's good to know there are writers working to capture the nuance of a city that is often dismissed as nothing more than an economic catastrophe.

Flint Artifacts: AutoWorld Holiday Magic Pass

Memories of the Swayze Apartments

A reader is looking for any memories or information on the Swayze Apartments at 313 W. Court Street. Can anyone help him out? Thanks.

Tough Decisions on Flint School Closings

It appears the only thing tougher than actually closing schools in Flint is deciding which schools to close.

Blake Thorne of The Flint Journal reports on a meeting between parents and school board members last week to discuss various options:

One of those proposals included moving all high school students to two buildings.

The other included a system of all three high school buildings operating as grade 7-12 schools.

Both plans initially included closing Bunche, Carpenter Road and Summerfield elementary schools along with McKinley Middle School and Zimmerman Center, which houses Mott Adult High School.

Under one of the plans, all middle school students would move to the building that houses Southwestern Academy and Classical Academy, with those students moving to Northern High School.

That means Southwestern and Classical would still exist as the programs they currently are, but would operate as programs within Northern High School rather than having their own building.

The other plan calls for moving all secondary schools to the 7-12 grade configuration for all three high school buildings.

Plans, especially at the elementary level, have been changing and evolving, board and administration members told the crowd.

For example, closing Carpenter Road was abandoned after an outcry of community members complained there would be no elementary in a large area of the city. The plan became to close Pierce Elementary instead, but the board seems to have abandoned that idea as well.

The G.M. Library

I visited my mom in Jacksonville, Florida this weekend and we made our regular visit to Chamblin's Book Mine, the most amazing used book store I've ever encountered. I've roamed the store, which is so big you can actually get lost, many times, but never noticed an entire aisle devoted to Chilton auto guides. Of course, G.M. was well represented.

Flint Photos: St. Michael's Byzantine Church

Flint Artifacts: QSL CB Radio Card

Flint Artifacts: Water Street Pavilion Lights

Flint Postcards: Sheraton Motor Inn