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| Friday, June 19, 2009 |
| Why I want to buy a house in Flint, Mich. |
 The Slate article: Why I want to buy a house in Flint, Mich. has reporter Gordon Young recounting his surreal house hunting trip in one of the hardest hit cities during the current economic recession/depression. I spot the sprawling house of a childhood friend, complete with an in-ground pool. I ask Jennifer if the family still lives there.
"Nope, we sold that to a stripper last year for a buck-90," she says.
"You mean like an exotic dancer?" I ask. "For $190,000?"
"Oh yeah, she got a good deal. I tell you, if you have a decent job, do what you're supposed to do with your money, save your pennies, and pay off your bills, you can have the world by the tail in Flint."
(I look up the specs on the house later that day: 5 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, 3 fireplaces, 1.6 landscaped acres, 3,870 square feet.)
A few minutes later I'm standing in the marble foyer of a nearby house owned by the former editor of the Flint Journal, which recently cut publishing to three days a week and laid off a big chunk of the editorial staff. He's moved on to a job in Ann Arbor, but his 3,159-square-foot house, with a new kitchen, a chandelier in the dining room, and inlaid mahogany floors, sits unsold. It's listed at $236,000. Using the stripper's place as a benchmark, I feel confident saying that the newspaper industry will post record profits before he gets that price.
"People ask me why I live in Flint," Eashoo says as he takes in the beamed ceiling and fireplace in the large den. "Besides the fact that I love it here, it's so cheap! I mean, you can afford to go to Florida on vacation or Chicago on the weekend." There has always been a pioneering mentality in this country and I guess it is not so strange to see those who once went West for opportunity are now turning around and heading back Eastward. I feel like I did my pioneering when I purchased my condo back in the mid-90's in what was then a very iffy neighborhood riddled with foreclosed units.
But at least when I made that investment back then I always knew that Boston itself was a sound bet. I had confidence that this city would always be here. Also, I was confident enough in my bet to live there and help turn that neighborhood around. I think the folks betting on Flint, MI have a higher risk tolerance than I do. It is also telling that the reporter is thinking if he does buy it will be his "summer home". Places like Flint need full-time occupants - not tourists.
Plus you can find bargains in other Midwest cities. Look at how well Moneyapolis is doing with her recent home purchase! |
| posted by Boston Gal @ 10:46 AM *
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| 6 Comments: |
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No way in heck that I would live in Flint. There is a reason the mansion is $190,000. Drugs & guns, anyone? Welfare galore. Police security at high school proms due to gang violence. No thanks.
Remember, it was in Flint that a first grader shot one of his classmates with a gun he brought from home in 2000.
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I lived in Flint for 22 years. I attended K-12 there. My mother was born there. My grandparents spent more than 60 years there. I hardly qualify as a tourist. And, yes, Flint needs full-time residents. But part timers won't hurt.
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Hi geewhy,
I did not mean to offend by calling you a tourist. Yes, I am sure you are right, having one more home with a responsible owner is good for Flint.
But from my experience in the mid-90's (when Boston had a slew of foreclosed condos after the burst of the 80's real estate bubble) it was not just getting the empty and foreclosed units sold and then occupied that turned my neighborhood around. It was getting owner occupants to live in those units.
I remember the first time I realized my neighborhood had turned the corner and my condo investment was going to pay off for me. It was when I was walking home from the T station to my condo and the person walking ahead of me paused, bent down, and picked up piece of trash on the sidewalk and continued on ahead until he saw a trash can in an alley and disposed of it.
I had been doing that same thing for the prior two years that I had lived in my condo. That was the first time in those two years I had ever seen someone else do that. Immediately I knew he was a fellow owner-occupant. This was confirmed when I saw him weeks later at a community meeting.
It was only when more of those folks moved into the area that things really improved. Suddenly flower boxes appeared. Broken street lights got repaired (city pays more attention when multiple residents complain about these things). I had more company walking to and from the subway station. Coffee shops and restaurants appeared. On and on it went.
I still own the condo, but don't live there anymore. It is now a rental unit. However, now my renters are surrounded by owners.
Flint needs folks who will live their full-time. Work and spend their money in those areas. That is when Flint will recover. Since large employers are not moving in yet - folks like you who are writers and can (I assume) live anywhere are needed now.
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Thanks for the shout out, Boston Gal! You can definitely get more bang for your buck in the Midwest, that's for sure. But I also picked a city with a strong economy and where my husband had already gotten a f/t job; not sure what our employment prospects would have been like in Flint. I agree it's vital for neighborhoods to get owner occupants who are invested in their communities -- I saw a BIG difference in my Brooklyn nabe as more people started to go from renters to owners. People just put more effort in when they have an economic stake.
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I agree with the first post. I grew up in Michigan and Flint is bad news. I wouldn't live there if the house was FREE!
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I agree with the first post. I grew up in Michigan and Flint is bad news. I wouldn't live there if the house was FREE!
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No way in heck that I would live in Flint. There is a reason the mansion is $190,000. Drugs & guns, anyone? Welfare galore. Police security at high school proms due to gang violence. No thanks.
Remember, it was in Flint that a first grader shot one of his classmates with a gun he brought from home in 2000.