Flint, Michigan

Flint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, 66 miles (106 km) northwest of Detroit. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 124,943. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the 2010 population to be placed at 102,434, making Flint the seventh largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the Flint/Tri-Cities region of Michigan. Genesee County is also the entirety of Flint's metropolitan area, the fourth largest metropolitan area in Michigan with a population of 425,790 in 2010.

Flint is most known for being the birthplace of General Motors (GM), and the Flint Sit-Down Strike of 1936–37 that played a vital role in the formation of the United Auto Workers. It has also become a symbol of the decline in the auto industry.

Interstate 69 has its eastern (northern) terminus at the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, and runs west through Flint to Lansing and then turns south and continues through Marshall and on to Fort Wayne and to its end in Indianapolis.

Interstate 75 running concurrently with US 23, cuts through the southwest corner of the city and passes the west side of the city through Flint Charter Township. I-75/US 23 continue north to Saginaw and Bay City. After separating near Standish, I-75 continues though the center of the state to Grayling, Mackinaw City, and Sault Ste. Marie. I-75/US 23 separate just south of the city, with I-75 continuing through the Metro Detroit area to downtown Detroit, on to Toledo. I-75 continues south through several major cities, including: Cincinnati, Ohio, Atlanta, Georgia, Tampa, Florida to its ending in the suburbs of Miami, Florida.

Interstate 475 begins south of Flint at Interstate 75 and runs north through downtown Flint then loops back to I-75 northwest of the city.

US-23 runs concurrently with I-75 and passes west of the city. After separating from I-75 near Standish, US 23 continues north on a scenic route along the Lake Huron shoreline. It ends at I-75 in Mackinaw City. This section of US 23 is designated the "Sunrise Side Coastal Highway". South of Flint, US 23 continues to Ann Arbor, on to Toledo, and continues south into Florida.

M-21 runs nearly due west to Grand Rapids M-21 through Flint is also known as Corunna Road and Court Street.

M-54, also known as Dort Highway, runs mostly parallel to I-475 to the east from I-75 to I-69.

The city of Flint is served by Bishop International Airport and various bus lines. Amtrak provides intercity passenger rail service on the Blue Water line from Chicago to Port Huron at the border to Canada. For travel within and around the city, the Flint Mass Transportation Authority (MTA) provides local bus services. Greyhound Lines also runs inter-city bus services north to Bay City and south to Detroit. Indian Trails runs inter-city bus services west to Chicago.

Some scholars consider the Saginaw Valley, particularly the vicinity of Flint, to be the oldest continually inhabited area of Michigan. Regardless of the validity of this claim, the region was home to several Ojibwa tribes at the top of the 19th century, with a particularly significant community established near present-day Montrose. The Flint River had several convenient fords which became points of contention among rival tribes, as attested by the presence of arrowheads and burial mounds near Flushing.

Jacob Smith, a fur trader on cordial terms with both the local Ojibwas and the territorial government founded a trading post in Flint itself in 1819. On several occasions, Smith negotiated land exchanged with the Ojibwas on behalf of the U.S. government, and he was highly regarded on both sides. Smith apportioned many of his holdings to his children. As the ideal stopover on the overland route between Detroit and Saginaw, Flint grew into a small but prosperous village. The city was incorporated in 1855. The 1860 U.S. census indicated that Genesee County had a population of 22,498 of Michigan's 750,000.

In 2004, General Motors made multi-million dollar upgrades to three Flint factories: Flint Truck and Bus Assembly, Flint Metal Center, and Flint Engine South. Recent developments have also assured the operation of Delphi Flint East beyond 2007. Included in the proposed 2007 UAW-GM contract, a new engine plant will be built near Powertrain Flint North to begin production in 2011, replacing the current factory, which is scheduled to end production of the 3800 engine in 2008.

Of the nearly 80,000 people that worked for General Motors in Flint during its peak years in the late 1970s, only about 8,000 are left after the most recent 2006 buyouts. Details on specific plant openings and closings are found in the article Flint, Michigan Auto Industry.

Flint's redevelopment will rely heavily on its institutions of higher learning. Kettering University (enrollment 2,675), University of Michigan-Flint (enrollment 7,260), and Mott Community College (enrollment 10,456) all show how the city will rely on its collegiate institutions. All of these institutions are located within the City of Flint and are expected to be major parts of the city's continued rebirth. The Baker College campus in Flint Township also has an enrollment numbering in the thousands.

The following movies and TV shows have taken place or were filmed in Flint.

Television

The Fitzpatricks (1977–78) was a short-lived CBS TV drama about an Irish Catholic working class family living in Flint. The show was filmed in Hollywood, but set in Flint. Also the family were portrayed as steelworkers, not autoworkers.

TV Nation (1994–1995) was the debut TV series by Michael Moore. Numerous segments were filmed in and around Flint, including one where Moore uses declassified information to find the exact impact point from the nuclear ICBM that targeted the city (ground zero was Chevrolet Assembly, one of the General Motors plants at Bluff & Cadillac Streets). Moore then went to Kazakhstan to try to redirect the ICBM away from Flint.

The Awful Truth (1999–2000) was Michael Moore's second TV show. It featured segments from Flint.

Movies

To Touch a Child (1962) A look into Community Schools.

With Babies and Banners: Story of the Women's Emergency Brigade (1979) Documentary about the women of the Flint Sit-Down Strike.

Roger & Me (1989) Documentary about the downturn in Flint because of GM closing various plants. The premise of the movie was Moore's attempt to find GM Chairman Roger Smith and bring him to Flint to see how GM plant closings affected the townspeople.

Pets or Meat: The Return to Flint (1992) Follow-up of Roger & Me.

The Big One (1998) Documentary film Moore urges Nike to consider building a shoe factory in Flint. Moore succeeds in convincing Nike CEO Philip Knight to match his offer to donate money to Buell Elementary School, which would eventually become the locale of the infamous Kayla Rolland shooting.

Bowling for Columbine (2002) Moore's take on the gun industry also profiles the shooting of Kayla Rolland.

Chameleon Street (1990) Wendell B. Harris Jr.'s story of famed con man Douglas Street. Winner of Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.

The Real Blair Witch (2003) Documentary about group of Flint teenagers kidnapping and terrorizing a fellow student.

The Michigan Independent (2004) Documentary film about the Michigan independent music community. Many segments were shot in Flint, particularly at the Flint Local 432.

Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) Moore takes on the George W. Bush administration. Moore filmed students from Flint Southwestern Academy. Filmed Marine recruiters at Courtland Center and references Genesee Valley Center as a mall for more wealthy citizens, "The rich mall in the suburbs."

Michael Moore Hates America (2004) Filmmaker Mike Wilson travels to Flint to document small businesses and other development efforts in the city, and compares it to the depictions of the city in Moore's documentaries.

Flintown Kids (2005) Documentary film about violence in Flint.

Semi-Pro (2008) Will Ferrell movie which centers around a fictitious 1970s ABA basketball team, the Flint Tropics. It was partially filmed in Flint.

Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) A Michael Moore documentary about the negative impacts capitalism can have on people and communities.