Flint Photos: Moon Over Grand Traverse Blvd.

Actually, the moon is a little tough to spot.

I'm a Loser

Ahh, the joys of being savaged in the comment section of The Flint Journal:

"Who cares what some guy that leaves town for 20 years thinks? Does he have some sort of credentials relating to Urban Planning? If not, Why the heck is this guy's opinion even news-worthy? Because he has a blog about living in Flint 20 years ago? What a waste of space."

I often ask myself the same questions and reach the same conclusion.

Buick City for Sale

Anyone interested in buying a sprawling, weed-strewn example of deindustrialization? GM is planning to auction off the old Buick City site.

Disco Demolition Anniversary

We're getting close to the 30th anniversary of one of the Detroit Tigers most memorable victories — the infamous "Disco Demolition" double header in Chicago.

Rolling on Flint Wheels on the 4th

This is what happens when you let friends ride your bike in Dolores Park in San Francisco on the 4th of July. Now what does this have to do with Flint? The bike that Mr. Big Glasses is riding — while descending a steep incline and holding a helmet in one hand — is the Schwinn Le Tour Luxe my mom bought for me in the spring of 1984 back in Flint. It's covered a lot of miles in the Vehicle City. It's still rolling along and even managed to survive this test run.

Warning: Professional Tecate stunt rider. Do not attempt this maneuver.

Kearsley Park on the 4th of July

I usually spent the 4th of July in Kearsley Park when I lived in Flint. My grandparents' house was around the corner on Illinois Avenue, and we'd all head over to the park with blankets and sparklers. I took these photos a couple weeks back just after a torrential downpour that temporarily turned Kearsley Park Blvd. into Lakefront property.

If you look hard enough, you can almost see Safetyville.

The steps down to the park near the intersection of Kearsley Park Blvd. and Olive Street. Gypsy Jack lived just a few blocks north.

Flint Photos: Downtown

Shrinking Flint

Here's a good overview of Dan Kildee's plans to shrink Flint, which is shrinking all by itself anyway, including a BBC interview.

Flint Goes Bang

Flint shows up in the strangest places on the Internet.

Collegiate Type Stuff in Flint

This house is not a prop. It's an actual fraternity house near downtown Flint. It's been there since the early nineties. It has parties with more than 300 people.

Let's be honest, the recent attempts to re-brand Flint as a college town seem a little far-fetched. It sounds a bit like an intellectualized AutoWorld scheme. Watch videos like this and you have to wonder if Flint boosters are just begging Michael Moore to make another movie about their earnest but lame efforts to promote the city. (Note to Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce: Endless cliches and really bad techno do not connote progress.)

But during a stroll down Garland Street one day I happened upon an actual fraternity house. Theta Chi. I was stunned. I know, I know...GMI/Kettering has had frats forever, but this was right near downtown and it looked a little like Animal House, not like those low-slung ranch-style numbers near Ballenger Park and Mott Golf Course.

I was fumbling for my camera when an actual fraternity dude stumbled onto the front porch, announcing that he'd been up for 24 hours straight watching episodes of Lost. Then another "brother" emerged. And another. They all seemed to be getting a fresh start on the day at about noon. I looked around to see if I'd wandered onto a film set. I was half expecting someone to offer me bong hits, but that didn't happen. Instead, I got a tour of the house, including the strange "Room of Large Woodshop-Class Paddles," which they call the Chapter Room. They pointed out that their next-door neighbor has a toupee and allegedly sells pianos. (No idea if that's true; I just played along, not wanting to provoke people who spend large amounts of time fashioning wooden weapons.)

My favorite part of the tour was the half-eaten birthday cake that looked like it had been there for a few weeks. There was some exposed piping in the ceiling leaking into a bucket near the table. It all seemed very collegiate to me. And the knowledge that there's a group of smart, funny guys — with reasonable standards of cleanliness — living near downtown was really encouraging.

When I took a tour of the UM-Flint campus with Flint Expat Randy Gearhart a few days later, we both remarked how, well, collegiate the campus looks, especially the expansive lawns near the dorm on Kearsley Street. When I was living in Flint, I was never exactly sure where UM-Flint started and ended. Now, there's no doubt when you're on campus. I'm still not convinced that Flint can become a college town like Ann Arbor or Columbia, Missouri, but parts of it are definitely shaping up as a place where youngsters can hang out and pay lots of money for a degree. That's a good thing.

Now if we can just get some of the Communication majors to help the city and county produce less embarrassing promotional videos.

Do you want people like this in downtown Flint? I would say, yes, you do.

David Bainbridge (left) and Cade Surface (Right) and a fish (Above) they caught with their bare hands in the Flint River. Cade did not coordinate his shirt with the fish for the photo; it was just a happy coincidence.

The infamous Paddle Room, er, Chapter Room. No idea why fraternities are so into this stuff.