I found this house on Craig's List. It's for sale.
Three bedrooms, one bath, 1,188 sf, near a hospital - $39,900.
At last! A house I probably could actually afford!
Problem is, it's in Flint.
How far the mighty have fallen.
I found this in the description of another house, a 3-bedroom "bungalow" priced at $25,000:
The upstairs is one large room finished in naughty pine ....
Michigan is famous for its naughty pines, did you know?
Flint has a bunch of assets, such as a branch of the University of Michigan, Kettering University and Mott Community College; a cultural center, an art museum, the Sloan Museum, and a planetarium.
It's a place where the automobile industry started, for heaven's sake. And still, it's a dead zone.
Does anyone know that there was actually a man named Buick (David)? Or Olds (Ransom)? Or Chevrolet (Louis)? Or that the car model Cadillac is named after the French explorer who founded Detroit, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac?
For all that Americans love their cars (got a feel for my automobile), why did AutoWorld, which was to be the grand attraction to Flint when I was still living there, fail so miserably?
It had this giant internal combustion engine, so you could see how it all works ... but it's gone. I wonder where that engine is? It was way cool.
Attracting tourists is a tricky thing. Flint, and indeed most of Michigan, is on the way to - more Michigan. People driving cross country might pop into Detroit, which is southerly, but who's going to drive 60 miles north to see a giant car engine?
To get to any other state, you have to head back south or waaaaay up north to the Upper Peninsula (the 'UP') - or take a ferry across Lake Michigan. Those damn Great Lakes.
Location, location, location. It's all about location.
Another tidbit: Did you know Detroit is the only place in the U.S. that is north of somewhere in Canada? Yep, Windsor, Ontario, is south of Detroit. Remember this, as it's the answer to a question in Trivial Pursuit (Does anyone play that anymore?).
2 comments:
As one of the urban survivors still living in Flint, (albeit with an escape in LA) here's my take: when the water runs out and people on the two coasts get tired of paying ridiculous mortgages, maybe places like Flint will begin to look a bit better. As for that house in the photo -- highway robbery. You could get something cheaper! But I suspect I'll be waiting a long time for my beautiful colonial on a tree-lined street to soar in value.
One last thought -- driving north from Flint, while still in Michigan for many, many miles (it's as far to Copper Harbor as it is to Washington, D.C) -- has its charms. I kind of get a lump in my throat every time I cross the Mackinac Bridge -- it's stunning scenery up there.
I once interviewed the guy who designed that giant engine. I want to say he was from Disney. Autoworld was typical Flint stupidity...the town has always wanted the quick fix, the one big answer. GM or the Mott Foundation -- it's a long way from cutting that co-dependent spirit.
Oh, I definitely agree about the scenery - similar to northern Maine, only no lobsters.
I too get a lump in my throat every time I cross the Mackinac Bridge, but it's because I hate being on bridges and it's so looooong.
I don't think the quick fix mentality is limited to places like Flint, although what they know is building cars. I read in the FJ that some kind of factory might be located nearby to build this neat little car that can go in the water. Did you see that?
They may be on the way back up, so maybe I should buy a bit of real estate. Can't afford any here, that's for sure!
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