Shadows Of The Middle Class: Flint, Michigan

[@deedles516]

I grew up in this neighborhood and have know Tony since I was a very young girl. I rode my bike, sold girl scout cookies, sold garden vegetables, sold pumpkins door to door all pulled in my lil red wagon and alot of the time without an adult. This was our neighborhood, My neighborhood. We all looked out for each other. All of us grew up playing together whether it be a game of basketball, street hockey, ice hockey, sledding in Kearsley Park, swimming in the pool at the pavilion in Kearsley Park, playing or watching a game of baseball at the park, you name it. I am one of those who have moved away but only because all of my family is from WV. But Flint is my heart and soul. It hurts, just like Tony said in the video, to know what used to be and see what it has become. Absolutely heart breaking.

[@excal7493]

good thing these residents voted for politicians who voted to go get those terrorists jealous of our freedom. We did it to ourselves

[@tonywestvirginia]

I grew up on the west side. I know Flint. I know how you feel. :(

[@jamesbell9577]

I live down the road off Beasley. I still got love for Flinestone!!!

[@MrCtsSteve]

​@@excal7493interesting comment

[@supreme2005]

Pretty ironic. He’s wondering what happened to Flint. All he has to do is look down. He’s driving a Nissan. That’s what happened to Flint, Detroit, Lordstown and all the other former manufacturing towns.

[@benzobrimzs]

Yeah i noticed that.

[@BenderBailey]

I was thinking the same thing. People rolling around in a Nissan talking shit about how GM skipped town when they ran out of money. 🤔 It ruined the whole video for me. I could have easily bought a foriegn car and would have loved the cheaper cost and lower payments but I bought American and paid the extra money just because it was the right thing to do.

[@dannymccarty344]

10 minutes in I noticed he was driving a Nissan too. I'm from Flint and went in the service in the late 70s. Flint had the 2nd highest average income in the nation. After service, I was never able to support myself in the Flint area. Now, when I visit I'm sooooo sad. The places I played as an innocent kid.....are all crime infested slums today. The rich are richer and the poor are poorer. I'm glad my parents didn't live to see this....

[@arthurmchugh5184]

@@dannymccarty344 the town really took a turn!! I was raised on the east side, western rd . And I used to ride my bicycle across to the west side "IN THE DARK " to see a girl!!! Cant do that now!!!

[@dannymccarty344]

@@arthurmchugh5184 I believe we've been destroyed by our corrupt elected officials. Not just Flint, the whole nation has become a hotbed of racial hate. History lesson: it takes a lot of blood to quench hate. Always.... Division seeded by a Rt vs Lt media both telling different lies to each audience. Americans have swallowed, hook, line, and sinker. Scripted life....

[@dianefitzpatrick7774]

Broken dreams...if my Grandfathers were alive they would not believe this happened to honest, hard working people. You people, you know who you are, Have taken the hope out of living, most people are barely hanging on, they are treading water barely keeping their chins up so they don't drown. Lord have mercy on us all...

[@TheRumpelstinskin]

Your God is not here anymore. Your God has moved to China, India and Brazil. He can't hear your prayers now.

[@michelleevans5531]

Whatever tiny hands, you're spewing crap.

[@Veiss7]

I was born in flint and moved away a decade ago, this makes me really sad. It used to be a great community.

[@tmo2798]

You should be more concerned about where you're at now. Empires, kingdoms, rise and fall. Why is it your little neighborhood won't shouldn't have the same fate?

[@Veiss7]

@@tmo2798 Why do you think I moved? It's still sad.

[@tmo2798]

@@Veiss7 In with the new, out with the old. It's for the better. God bless.

[@tmo2798]

@@Veiss7 I'll be you're doing better where you're at now than if you would've stayed. My parents moved from an isolated rainforest-like region in Mexico, they left it all behind. For the better. We have it pretty good here. Most people here in Yakima are on the lower side of the income scale, but it's still all good here. ... It's... better.

[@twentyonetwos3967]

Real people and real journalism. Thank you Jordan.

[@JPfromFlint]

Flint's decline officially began in the 1980's with the decline of manufacturing jobs and the crack epidemic.

[@charlesronk2989]

I would say it started even a little earlier with the gas shortages of the 70's that gave Toyota and other imports an advantage over an extremely poorly run GM. Their lack of vision of what was coming and their failure to adapt quickly was their downfall.

[@r.pres.4121]

Actually Flint started to decline in the 50s when prosperous residents began moving to the suburbs.

[@joshuacarson6576]

@@r.pres.4121 you're right it was in like the 50's when Lyndon Johnson started his golden cities initiatives and dems took over and destroyed the city's. Like Detroit was the first city selected because it had the highest income in the nation at the time.

[@charlesronk2989]

@@r.pres.4121Well Grand Blanc where the Flint money went really took off through the 60s. My parents left Flint for Grand Blanc in 1960 the following year they paved their road. Warwick Hills was developed around that time.

[@frickpoo6644]

@@charlesronk2989 and its the same thing like how the clintons,bushes,foodstamp president sold america out to china. now today in america having been kicked into high gear in 2008-16 the ghetto violence is permitted, hides behing racism, police are not allowed to stop crime, then city leaders reward $6 million to neglectful baby mommas and build a statue of her on a college campus when her 300lbs 6' 12 yr old child gets shot by the police for waiving a gun outside of a rec center at women and children where they called tha pol-ice due to being scared due to the high crimes rates in cleveland.

[@naturalobserver6130]

Just remember, it was Clinton who signed NAFTA into law ( you know the the caring president) then the American manufacturing jobs headed to Mexico. This, among other reasons is why your looking at scenes like this.

[@MrCtsSteve]

Yep ..both the Repubs and Dems were in on that . We've destroyed ourselves

[@katsiegel451]

Thanks for taking the time to do this, Jordan.

[@clovis-ti1yv]

Thank you for posting. It is nice to hear from someone that grew up there. It’s sad what it’s become thanks to greed, corruption, and entitlement. I think the smart residents left. Sometimes the problems are bigger than you. It’s ok to walk away and save yourself. Find your long term happy place.

[@keely_cn8924]

These houses are beautiful too. They are so old. How can the city allow all this history to just fall by the wayside.

[@grandtheftautolabs3439]

Listen to what he's saying. Who own's the property? The bank and gov. is collecting property.

[@marybarnes6397]

new world order

[@frenchloveboutique5853]

These houses are all for sale for $100-5,000.00 so inexpensive.

[@thomasworker3580]

haha so old? come to England mate those houses are basically foetuses in comparison and they have no character

[@keely_cn8924]

@@thomasworker3580 yes well by US standards they are old.

[@arthurmchugh5184]

I was raised on Colorado Avenue 3135 , we had the nicest house on the street!!! 2 trees in the front yard, garage, two rooms with a bathroom added to the rear ,with a basement!!!! After my mother died, the house sold for 10.000 $ !!!!!! No piece of the pie for me!!! Sad

[@nnvincent3]

Hi Arthur, I think I remember you from Lowell Jr. High. Were you often on your bike and have a sister named Margaret? Sorry about your house, it's very sad what's happened to Flint. One of my brothers still lives in our family home on Term St. The area is not too bad.....except for the former Thompson's Shopping Center at the end of the street which is now a wasteland.

[@arthurmchugh5184]

You got me !!!! Riding and racing my bike took me to Allentown pa in 1980 and I moved here in 81 ! My sister lives on lapeer road and is the only reason I come back to the hood!!😀😀😀🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️🍺🍺🍺

[@nnvincent3]

@@arthurmchugh5184 Thanks for responding....we should all ride bikes more and drive less! Stay well and tell Margaret I said Hello...though she may not remember me.

[@arthurmchugh5184]

@@nnvincent3 I had a great career racing out here ! Rid er of the year 1985 and in the hall of fame in 2004 ,was track announcer for a few years. Kinda got away from riding a while back, then 2 heart attacks slowed me down a bunch!🤣🤣🤣

[@nnvincent3]

@@arthurmchugh5184 Wow! Congrats on your racing career....another Flintstone done well! But so sorry to hear about the two heart attacks. Please take good care of yourself.

[@SchnauzerMom]

Crime the past 10-20 yrs is what drove people out of this area. This was not a safe area even 30 yrs ago.

[@멍멍꿀-c6b]

What about nowaday?

[@d3rtmcg3rt53]

I grew up on the Northside. And was born in 80 my grandfather retired from GM. Ide be dead or in jail if I didn't leave. I was surrounded and involved with a gang and crime most my life and it wasn't easy being white growing up in Flint. Thank God I left. I feel sorry for my piers who are trapped in the city. You have to be a strong person to grow up in Flint.

[@DIVISIONINCISION]

@@d3rtmcg3rt53 You would have done better if you'd have finished high school and gone to college. Misappropriating words like "piers (peers)" is a dead giveaway.

[@green61185]

The reason that covering Flint is important is that there are dozens of places in America that are becoming these dilapidated neighborhoods. Sadly, this is not the only place in Michigan that you see this process taking place. Parts of Saginaw, Detroit, Lansing, and Muskegon are just as bad as Flint(not including the water situation).

[@tomerickson7537]

E S oo

[@FlintEastwood22]

Long Live Flint Michigan

[@Joseywales414]

Corrupt evil DemonRat party corrupt as hell, this is what they do, live in mansions while you peasants will follow their orders and live in poverty and gutters. Greedy 😵‍💫💰🏦💵😡🤬👺👹 $$$ . Stand up to these tyrants and their dictatorship.

[@Joseywales414]

They are taking over the schooling and brain washing to control the world. Purging the military , creating robotics to take over security. Start with Boycotting Walmart, Amazon, and Facebook and Twitter. Please try.

[@trackman174]

A great idea having someone who grew up in these neighborhoods ride along. Their commentary is invaluable in explaining what happened and what is happening now.

[@dudeman209]

"Why isn't GM held responsible?" Cuz they went broke. Their entire organizational structure was unsustainable. The craziest part is that the Japanese cars we buy in the US are mostly made in the US (largely in the South, especially with the beginning of "right to work" and so forth in the 80s). There's still Japanese car plants moving into the US. It's the American companies that went belly up and had to be restructured.

[@johnberry2877]

dudeman209 yeah!! And these Japanese automobiles are head and shoulders above in quality and durability. My last two GMs were recall after recall and parts literally falling off going down the road. Now my Honda it's the best car I have ever owned hands down best quality, durability and dependability and made in the USA.

[@portiamatthews9654]

@David Tucker I own nothing but foreign vehicles because of durability and affordability. I'm sure that you haven't heard what the word Ford means. So I will tell you. FORD stands for Found On Road Dead. If you see it in the rear view mirror DROF means Driver Running On Foot. LoL 😁😁 😁. I just wanted to add that for humor.

[@portiamatthews9654]

@David Tucker there's several car manufacturers here in Alabama. As for the war that was something long before I was born. You're talking about buying American made it is American made. Are you a veteran ? Probably not, just loves to taunt about it and not actively did anything about it. I bet you have a lot of electronics and they're made outside of the country. What about food like bananas I guess they are grown in Georgia.

[@portiamatthews9654]

@David Tucker you are so busy worrying about the wrong things. America is run by corporations.. you are so busy worrying and living in the past zone. Buying a vehicle is a huge investment and with buying a foreign vehicles I'm not having to buy one every five years 😂😂 😂😂 😂. How about this, you do you and I will do the same. Dueces

[@Ashhousewarez]

"everyone should live like this, when you're working your ass off" well said

[@susanraezer1590]

Ashhousewarez It's a shame, that congress can't be housed in these buildings, for their summer vacation. Let them find out how America lives.

[@starlight6924]

don't worry guys! I'll be here in a few weeks fixing up stuff for the flint miss like painting, landscaping, fixing up stuff, and handing out rosarys

[@stenyethanmathews945]

example of many neighborhoods in the u.s.

[@pipertipurts5211]

I live in Oregon and this could be my town too.

[@MrColeman95]

Steny Ethan Mathews crazy thing is in Flint these aren't even worst parts the north side is way worse

[@brucehenson2904]

IS OREGON THIS BAD?

[@pipertipurts5211]

Bruce Henson parts of it, yes. The economic destruction, the meth epidemic, opioids, etc

[@infjintegrityvsnarcissism7295]

Steny Ethan Mathews yeah especially in the rust belt. I am from PA.

[@timdusseault1044]

My wife and I used to go to that church back in the 80's and 90's when it was Landmark Baptist Temple. The church did a lot of renovations and really built up the property around it. Then they moved and it all kind of fell apart. My wife used to live in the house on the corner of Roosevelt right across the street from the church and my brother lived in the house directly behind the church. Man this place has really fallen apart in 30 yrs. So many good memories there. Sad. Love that part of town. Kearsley Park. I lived on Missouri Ave in the mid 80's. I remember when the old pool was still there and the old go kart track was there. Bum Woods. Went to Washington Elementary. Miss that place. Used to walk up to Heddy's and play Double Dragon or over to Kane's and get Slush Puppies. Heartbreaking.

[@keithg1313]

I keep thinking that the nice neighborhood will eventually gate the public street, so as not to let through traffic from other neighborhoods. What was once public is now private, but still gets the city to pay for upkeep.

[@Monk-Amani.]

Unbelievable. I lived in the Carmen-Ainsworth area for 3 years in the early 90's. Speechless.

[@sodeiku]

Jordan already cover flint more than Michael Moore

[@The_Death_Owl]

Sodiq Ali Mr Moore is busy at Golden Coral at the moment...

[@777Awsomeness]

Michael Moore is a fucking act and revealed just how much of a joke he was after his non-stop shilling for Hillary.

[@tonym2513]

Mike Moore is from Davison. At best, he drove thru Flint at 80mph on the expressway a few times. He just milked Flint for attention and it worked.

[@jasoncarr5379]

Michael Moore just a scumbag! Something I did in the toilet bowl this morning!

[@johnadams2063]

Michael fat so more is a lying scum bag.

[@JohnRogers0014]

I'm still here, Tony is still unselfishly helping his neighbors.

[@theodoreruleoflaw2277]

Every city in the country has these hoods. Thank you, Bill Clinton, &c…

[@johnadams2063]

No they do not!!! In states where there conservative there is very very little of that.. Kansas gets better and better every single year.. it's in liberal states were they loot and steal. That poverty is not everywhere!!

[@tonyg4438]

I was stationed in Flint back in the early 90's U.S. ARMY. Haven't been there since. I appreciate the video.

[@tricka72]

That lot on Jane with the garden does not get public funding. Israel is a private farmer who purchased and developed this land in hopes to provide a farm co-op. He has plans to expand the project as he is financially able to do so. I have talked with him many times. He has a wonderful heart and a great vision.

[@leeandreross5494]

Born and raised here in FLINT, still here. My home is going to hell and I’m sad and depressed . Right now I have no money, thirsty can’t even drink a glass of water , but I have to pay my water bill.

[@rockystelone21]

if you have no money how to you either A) have a computer or a smart phone. B) have internet access.C) how do you pay for your phone bills? No you have money but its on a EBT card ......typical parasite living off of its host(government)

[@dj2coo769]

It ain't going to hell quit tripping you should get you a job some where go to college and work on Being a businessman or woman like I am and open up lots of businesses Downtown Flint like im about to do And help turn Flint into a rich city help make it as big as nyc or bigger stop being lazy Blood help save Flint Town only the citizens of Flint can change the city and make it bigger and better The government is not going to do nothing for our city.

[@rubyred8845]

Sad, it's just greed! These homes should be repurposed to help people, not shun them.

[@eh5872]

Mary Cole it’s not just greed. It’s shitty, horrible everyday humans. They shoot and kill and loot. And then we blame GM and rich people for some crackhead shooting a 711 clerk in the head. No personal responsibility

[@dustygirl5405]

This is so sad. I lived in this area. My kids went to school there at Homedale. Lived on Hamilton. @42:01 I use to rent that place straight before they turned.

[@pakababy3710]

I was a teacher's aide at Homedale. My first job at 15. Then I would walk home.

[@rebelsmith9560]

I grew up in corner house on lewis st/ hamilton ave in the 80s and 90s and went to homedale, loved it, hated to see it torn down 😣

[@bobcummings8228]

Flint has really gone downhill and I hate it so much. It needs to go up again! We need a lot of help!

[@shawnrufus7579]

WOW that neighborhood has so much potential. Jordan has anyone drilled a test well in the neighborhood? When I lived in the city I had a well drilled in my back yard to water my grass and veggie garden, it was clean enough to drink. Just a thought.

[@craigcummings5067]

So, so, so sad. I was born in Flint and lived there as a kid in the 70's. We lived in the area where Saginaw St. goes under 475. The neighborhood was far from rich, but it was safe and clean, and a pretty nice place to live. The guy in the video says "it hurts" multiple times. It sure does.

[@kaoxes]

And where I live it's house, field, field. Field field, field, house. Abandoned house, field, field.

[@retroman3075]

Finally houses I can afford!

[@Zannnnah]

Retroman lol!

[@bulldogdrummond973]

I used to live on E. Bundy Ave. Just off of Carpenter Rd. and N. Sagnaw St. This is what happens when Buick, Fisher body and other major companies leave. I went to Martin Elementry School.

[@pianoman551000]

I remember Martin Elementary ... it was between North and Industrial east of Saginaw st. They tore it down several years ago. Not to far from Pierson elementary.

[@penguinbrand]

I grew up on the Northwest side of Flint and graduated NW in the early 70's. I am familiar with the people and problems there. A huge segment of the population came there for jobs in the auto factories with little or no education or skills. In my opinion the UAW chased GM away. All of those high paying jobs left and went to areas where people were more than happy to work for 1/2 the wages. GM does not owe you a job. The attitude that "THEY" are doing "US" wrong is ignorant and pervasive in Flint. It's not a sinister corporate plan designed to hurt the "have nots". It's simple economics. Oh, I forgot you werent paying attention in class because you thought you didnt have to. You figured your dad was going to get you into the plant as soon as you graduated so who cares....Develop a skill and get the hell out.

[@charlesronk2989]

Don't people know Michael Moore was sounding the alarm on this stuff decades ago.

[@ericnortan9012]

We (locals) did. The rest of the country didn't care. When i was a kid in the 70s and 80s people in michigan didn't buy foreign cars. When i went to N Carolina when i was in the marines i couldn't believe all the foreign cars.

[@tmo2798]

@@ericnortan9012 Foreign cars are much better. Cars are part of our standard of living. My standard of living increases as a whole if I can drive a reliable, better performing car than that junk in made in Michigan. CEOs and stockholders trying to squeeze out quarterly profits are partly responsible.

[@ericnortan9012]

@@tmo2798 that wasn't my point. I understand why, but you didn't drive a foreign car in Flint Michigan in the seventies/eighties. So as a kid I rarely saw them. When I moved down south, It was surprising to me.

[@tmo2798]

@@ericnortan9012 Americans took a while to catch on. And still take a while to catch on. Catch on to what? Global competition, corrupt government and banking system, self-realization. Put good in, get good out, put crap in, get crap out.

[@ericnortan9012]

@@tmo2798 I agree, and a lot of the american made stuff you buy today is junk. They use the same manufacturing techniques world wide, so it generally comes down to materials and engineering. Even with good engineering cheep materials will counter that. I'm an electrician and work in a factory. Management is always looking to save on production, understandable, but at what point does it diminish the product? They liked to blame the "lazy overpaid UAW" for the quality problems with US cars, but in reality the quality comes from the way they are produced. Like you said, crap in = crap out.🤝

[@retiredjedi6178]

Sad to see. Kearsley student from Covert Rd area, used to live on Belle Ave at Lewis st. Divorce moved me to Richfield and Western. Within 4 yrs crime, (B&E) dove me out, left Flint to take a Saturn job. Buick was still running. One year later GM left, and it didn't take long to look like a war zone. The areas along Lewis St started the downhill trend when Buick City was converted and took over all land up to the River, forcing all the zombie rats to cross over the river at Leith St. You could stand at the corner at night and watch them cross the bridge. That was 1984, hence Factory 84. Now when I cross the Genesee county line I get the urge to turn around. Looking at the video of Shady Acres trailer park reaffirms that feeling. A couple times I 'd stop at Halo Burger, eat and say to hell with it, then get back on I-75 and head North. Why ruin the good memories.

[@z978ady]

Good movie and coming to a neighborhood near you real soon.

[@infjintegrityvsnarcissism7295]

This is the once great middle class after 36 years of voodoo economics, 22 years of NAFTA, and 9 years after the 2008 crash. THIS WHY WE NEED A NEW NEW DEAL.

[@billgrant5339]

Stregone Firefighter keep voteing Democratic and watch it fall.

[@fuzziemorris886]

I migrated to Texas from flint. Sitting here in my living room in Austin, looking at this content, reminiscing about the days gone by. I've learned so much about how things are done behind the scenes. There's nothing good coming our way especially if you're black.

[@dawnwyckoffmarquis7940]

So very sad to see the neighborhood and home we grew up in.

[@kathleenhillock9366]

I also grew up here. My home was on First St. by Wilson Park. I left Flint 1978 and never went back because the writing was already on the wall. Flint was and still is a city of crooks.

[@r.pres.4121]

Flint sounds exactly like Niagara Falls NY, a city of crooks.

[@garyhouston113]

I lived 3 blocks down on 4th and Clifford across from Skaffs parking lot

[@kathleenhillock9366]

@@garyhouston113 I looked at a current day map of Flint and Clifford Street runs between 12th and Lippincott by Thread Lake. Did your home get taken out by the 69/75/475 mass extinction? The address of my childhood home is now a parking lot for UofM, and the house itself got moved over to Second Street two blocks from Central HS. I wonder how long it will be before Central and Whittier will be torn down.

[@garyhouston113]

@@kathleenhillock9366 Its been many years but we were the opposite corner across from the YWCA directly across from the arid club which was actually alcoholics anonymous.One more block down was court st and Sylvester manor....the big apartment building

[@garyhouston113]

@@kathleenhillock9366 hard telling....i went to walker elementary...then eisenhower and southwestern later on

[@scherrydattilo9818]

This is just depressing seeing all these houses falling apart, why can't they use and rehabilitate for the homeless Vets...or just homeless street People! the American people should be ashamed!

[@nanii22]

Scherry Dattilo we are ashamed of our government! The houses are abandoned because their water is poisoned and they're not safe to live in until the pipes are replaced

[@llothar68]

Nobody want to move where you can find no jobs and infrastructure. Like the gold digger towns in the old times. You can buy a house for $1000 even as a foreigner but what to do - adventure tourists? Survival of crime and lead poising?

[@CB-db1qx]

Scherry Dattilo The US is a developing country. Why? Because the government cannot take take of its citizens. We (the rest of the developed world) should send them aid; America looks like it need it

[@dudeman209]

The US is not a developing country. In developing countries, you see malnourished 10 year olds that've got receding hairlines. Those same kids often end up being captured by gangs, get one (or two) of their limbs chopped off, used as a tool to beg for money, and most of that money they beg for gets taken by the gang. This may seem bad, but it's not close compared to developing countries. If you warn the cops, the cops either force you to bribe them or beat the shit out of you (literally). The cops are almost always in with all the gangs, so disputes are often times best resolved by paying off thugs in gangs instead of cops. I once had my father get asked for a bribe by a police officer out in the open. Most people in those places become cops to get bribes.

[@dudeman209]

Every country needs dying areas in order to have growing areas (this is true simply from a lack of resources, as people, capital, goods, etc move from depopulating areas to growing areas). Just cuz you see depopulating areas due to bad policies for ~70 years, like unsustainable pension programs that end up with infrastructure falling into disrepair, bad policies that increase expenditure or tax their population without commensurate increases in benefits alongside poor incentive structures. In the 50's and 60's, things were great in these areas cuz most American competition was in rubble or closed off from the world due to the specter of Communism. Today, the US has competitors like China and India where there's no basically no rules nor is there a rule of law. Being competitive means being on the front edge of technology, innovation, and productivity. If only it were as simple as those saying "cuz equality" or "cuz corporations". It's much, much more complex and difficult. The US does have rapidly growing cities and city-regions, which's actually very healthy (there were nearly none in the 60's). Structural reforms have worked across much of the country. But the 50's and 60's ain't coming back unless American competition across the globe collapses into wars and burns itself into rubble.

[@lauragadille3384]

It's not only Flint it's all over Michigan

[@r.pres.4121]

It is also all over northern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, western New York, and all of West Virginia.

[@lauragadille3384]

@@r.pres.4121 it was due to the recession

[@fanceypantsable]

I love this man. Good for him. Keep fighting!

[@tmo2798]

He should just move out and enjoy the rest of his life rather than cry about what his neighborhood used to be. Empires rise and fall, why should his small neighborhood be void of that?

[@colleenschwab]

My grandmother was born in Detroit from immigrant parents, at the states peak of the booming auto industry. They would then move to CA, but my grandmother would never talk about it, she was embarrassed about how the state ended up.

[@dusitinmarin1837]

can we fund this guy's mayoral run

[@drtinahahn]

It looks like this everywhere except Ann Arbor, Traverse City and Gross Pointe. Looks like this in Caro.

[@highspeed9518]

I live in flint,this is one of the better block's you drove around lol its sad we have one of the highest crime rates,we pay the highest insurance rate in the nation,we have to pay for the worst water in America that kills you and your animals which still to this day is not fixed,this place is special but we need help something has to change

[@d3rtmcg3rt53]

Ya tell em to drive around the Northside where I grew up lol.

[@georgfriedrichhandel4390]

The decline of Flint, MI, began when the Buick plant moved to Mexico in the late 80s. But in 30 years, why hasn't any city mayor been able to attract new investment into this area? After Buick closed, one would think that with so many skilled workers left behind, this would have been a choice area for new industry. Now with the polluted water crisis, I doubt anyone would want to move there now but it's a shame that Flint's political leaders missed their chance to turn a tragedy into an opportunity.

[@johnberry2877]

You got it Dave Tucker ! Right on the money

[@happyheart8888]

I finished the whole documentary.. thanks for the tour.

[@mrtheguzzomanshouldknow5853]

Good video work

[@irishsetterarchie]

Hi guys! I know what these neighborhoods used to look like, smell like, sound like! I am born and raised in Toledo, Ohio and it is just a mess now. East Toledo really saddens me. Just like Flint, houses are missing, deserted. charred black from fire.

[@r.pres.4121]

Toledo along with Lorain, Cleveland, Akron, Warren, and Youngstown. All decayed and devastated, facing grim futures.

[@johndouglas5712]

@@r.pres.4121 Cleveland is doing just fine since President Trump got in

[@r.pres.4121]

john douglas dude Cleveland is still struggling with rampant poverty and crime. Trump has made our problems ten times worse.

[@johndouglas5712]

@@r.pres.4121 How ? And things are much better

[@r.pres.4121]

john douglas take your rose colored sun glasses off. Cleveland is a dying declining city and Trump is an unmitigated disaster as President. The US Census predicts that Cleveland is going to keep losing population.

[@cyc7lops]

Jordan, you think Flint is bad, come to the former manufacturing strongholds Fishtown and Kensington areas of Philadelphia, PA and it will blow you away how people are living and in what kind of housing. SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!

[@osbos69]

This is the fate of America as the capitalist class leaves, taking the jobs with them. As they leave they privatise the utilities (e.g. water) because it's one thing left which is profitable. We need to stand up to this system which deteriorates our health and quality of life.

[@johnjones4502]

the capitalist have not left. they are hiding from the socialist. They are dealing weapons to the rest of the world presently.They will be back after the crash.

[@georgfriedrichhandel4390]

Capitalism is not what destroyed Flint, it was globalization. This began when GM relocated the Buick plant to Mexico which resulted in the gradual loss of thousands of jobs in Flint. To be sure, this occurred before NAFTA was passed with Mexico but the giant sucking sound of jobs being siphoned off to Mexico like Ross Perot predicted had already begun.

[@TheGiantKillers]

@@georgfriedrichhandel4390 Only problem with that argument is, if it was globalisation, why is this only happening on such a large scale in the United States and not in other nations with a comparable or indeed better quality of life like Western Europe. I'd say capitalism is part of the problem. Socialism is a dirty word in the USA but in Europe, most nations strike a healthy balance between capitalism and socialism. Capitalism promotes wealth but maintaining a socialist element encourages that wealth to drip down through society. This healthy balance between the two enables the major nations of Western Europe to maintain a much higher median standard of living than is developing in the United States. The US model could only work at a time when there was no competition. Which is why Americans view the 1950s with such fondness. Europe was still recovering from a devastating war and didn't really start getting back on it's feet until the 70s. No coincidence then that this coincides with the start the US decline. Now in the 21st century, South America, Africa, India and China [among others] are all emerging and getting wealthier. they've got a long way to go but they're rivalng the US for global industry. Certainly, I think if more Americans were aware of how living standards in many parts of their nation compares with other parts of the world, the nation could see a reverse of the migration of the 19th/20th century, but the people are still fed the lie of USA#1 and American exceptionalism so they think everywhere else must be the same or worse.

[@georgfriedrichhandel4390]

@@TheGiantKillers And what makes you think that it's not happening on such a scale in other developed nations? In East Asia, Japanese and Taiwanese companies have opened numerous plants in Mainland China. After the fall of Communism, many Western European companies did the same in former Eastern European ones, though since many of the latter have since joined the EU, such investments have decreased. Did this occur on the same level as that in America? We can debate that one but I think you will find that it occurred at a higher level than you might think. Free trade is in reality free investment; it's become a race to the bottom. Before we criticize capitalism, we need to first recognize that there are several forms of capitalism and not all of them are evil. As you mentioned, after WWII, it was capitalism that developed America's infrastructure - electric grid, the interstate network, bridges, ports, etc. You are correct that this was perhaps a one-time event because these things only need to be built once and then they must be properly maintained so it will most likely not be repeated. Then there is capitalism at the local neighborhood level that includes small-to-medium Main St. businesses like your local grocery, barber shop, cafeteria, hardware store, etc. I think most of us will agree that these types of capitalism are positive because everyone benefited. The evil form of capitalism is the Wall St. kind that only seeks to maximize profits for shareholders and only sees workers as an operating cost that must be minimized. This is the capitalism that has fostered globalization and then tries to convince us that this is beneficial because it lowers prices (even though it really doesn't). Thus this last form of capitalism goes hand-in-hand with globalization.

[@TheGiantKillers]

@@georgfriedrichhandel4390 Well I can only speak for the nations I regularly visit in Western Europe but wholesale deriliction of this extent is certainly not happening in UK, Ireland, Germany, Netherlands. It would be a national scandal if it was.

[@dbluehorsedeboe5567]

A lot of this started in the late 60s when Studebaker closed that big factory in Detroit which is still there and in the late 80s when GM CEO closed plants and moved to Mexico

[@samsadeniz]

total disaster area

[@Jamesmclaughing]

Last part of the video reminded me of leaving Detroit and entering Gross Pointe

[@c.j.osborn7242]

socialism at it's finest.

[@Joe-rr3ip]

Something nobody mentions "busing!" 1960s , great migration to the burbs, Fenton, Grand Blanc, Clio, Flushing, Swartz Creek, Davison.

[@savemoney911]

Thanks. Interesting video. I was born at St Joseph's Hospital in Flint. Ages 0-5 was on Dakota St. Ages 5-17 I grew up on Parkway (2 streets north of Pierson Rd) between Dupont St and Detroit St (now MLK St) behind the North Flint, Plaza. I went to Kindergarten at Pierson Elementary (I think that's gone now). Grades 1-8 at St Agnes Elementary and Jr Hight (that is still standing but was abandoned and in shambles), then Grades 9-12 at Powers High School on Carpenter Rd (and Powers abandoned that building too). I was hoping you'd have footage and of the Northside of Flint. Maybe next time. I left Flint in 1976 at age 18 when I joined the Air Force. I think growing up in Flint hardened me some, but I would not live in Flint again. I last visited Flint in the Spring of 2018.

[@fum00A]

TYT rides around in a Nissan and wonders why Flint (Buick town) is in trouble.

[@rscottenglish]

My dad worked at the Chevy V-8 engine plant on Van Slye Rd. He said GM let Japanese engineers come into the plant and take pictures of all the manufacturing equipment which led to the rise of the auto industry in Japan.

[@Kinkle_Z]

I wonder how real estate sales in Flint are doing? How many home sales in the last 6 months? Let me guess - 2? You forgot to mention that the middle class in Flint as in Detroit, was built on high-paying manufacturing jobs, mostly auto industry, jobs that, through so-called "free trade", were allowed to relocate overseas. (never mind. you did discuss this further into the video.)

[@lueblablacknell711]

There were 3 bedrm. houses off DuPont St.- selling for $800- & the houses in the Mott College/College Cultural/East Village area- that use to be exclusive- are not selling at all. There are( were) some really beautiful/older houses in Flint! (Miller Rd./ Atherton /Lapeer & Lippincott/Pierson Rd.& etc.) Some persons/company or foreign entity is going to go into Flint- & buy all those properties & turn it into something- -I started visiting relatives there-( they went back South- after retiring from GM) at a young age- I cannot believe what has happened to Flint. I had relatives in Mt.Morris/Beecher too- ( I hated their water) but I will always have fond memories of Flint & that will not change!

[@Joe-rr3ip]

Recognize the old east side, state streets. Walked them through my youth. Rode my bike downtown to the YMCA. I worked at DuPont, lived on Washington, could walk to work. Played ball, tennis, swam at Kearsley Park. Lots of people lost there houses to the Land Bank. My nephew kept his place up, lived all of his life on the east side. Got behind in his taxes, wouldn't let him make them up. Believe me, my son and I both tried to pay them, get the house back. Land Bank, no! we are taking it back. As an aside, this guy seems to have it in for Churches and the Motts. Flint is now a college town, another Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Kettering, Mott. Go downtown you are more likely to get run over by someone with a backpack, not mugged. 250,000 people for the centennial, 1955, now, what 70/80,000.

[@agoogleuser704]

great reporting, SAD AREA seen similar things in my home town, had entire empty cultasacks swooped in and made it swamp, 20 years later stuck in 500,000 homes so close to each other you can toss a neighbor toilet paper when they run out in their bathroom, it was spooky though back in the day, even the garbage cans were left out, looked like everyone just abandoned their homes.

[@SpokaneGirl85]

How crazy how the part of town went from crap to beautiful in seconds. I have been fascinated about declining cities and it's sad seeing neighborhoods with isolated homes and streets with a bunch of abandoned houses.

[@shannontoye1185]

I grew up in Flint. I was born at St. Joeseph Hospital, lived on Mable and Hamilton first, and then later we moved to the other end of Mable near Franklin. I went to Homedale Elementary, Lowell Jr. High, and Central High School. I remember Jypsie Jack and loved his house. So sad to hear someone burned down Homedale. I had good memories there. My Dad worked for Buick and my brother worked for AC. Several other family members worked for GM as well. As I look back the blight of this city is immense. All that is happening to us feels like planned extermination upon us. Our homes and our lands and our freedoms. Obviously, the wealthy in our world has very little use for us anymore. Just like Flint, they are ready to throw us all into the garbage heap. Very Sad Video.

[@retiredjedi6178]

Lets not forget that Mott was an owner when GM started

[@excal7493]

nice "on the ground" report

[@Kinkle_Z]

Thanks so much Jordan for the tour of Flint! I had a different image so this set me straight. Sure, there are "bad" parts but overall, a helluva lot better than Detroit! I just wish we could have driven past Michel Moore's boyhood home. :)

[@sepix810]

Patricia Leary . This doesn't even touch on what it's really like in flint at all.. And ol' mr. Moore actually lived in Davison mi. Not FLINT

[@tomm8195]

Yeah moore did not live in flint hes a phoney

[@leasharene2601]

Nobody from flint or his hometown will even claim him...we don’t speak of him lol

[@johndouglas5712]

@@leasharene2601 Glad you caught on to the fast useless bastard . He and that old crackpot Bernie can take a jump into the Flint River

[@stephenbrand5661]

Dan Kildee is from out in the township, I think Tony is getting him confused with his uncle Dale who grew up on New York and then on Jane Avenue. Dale retired from Congress in 2013 after representing the Flint area for decades and now Dan holds the seat.

[@renemies78]

It's difficult to get through this video because the guy being interviewed just wants to talk without letting Jordan ask him questions. So I give it up to Jordan for being extremely patient with this guy. The footage is devastating. This is what Corporate Democrats refuse to see. These were the people the Democratic party used to represent. If they don't help these people, Trump will win re-election.

[@BrickworksDK]

I actually think it's that much more powerful, simply for letting him talk. It's a simple story of the middle class slowly disappearing, no need to interrupt it with question.

[@jayq.mcburger9030]

Rene Rodriguez make America great again. :)

[@johndouglas5712]

I'm gonna do my best #Trump20

[@pianoman551000]

Living in the past ..... doesn't pave a road to a brighter future.

[@michaelkuper6604]

Give it a few more years and you got a nice set for a fallout movie.

[@zzendawgie]

Rochester NY is similar

[@r.pres.4121]

So is Niagara Falls, Elmira, Binghamton, Utica, and Schenectady.

[@stevepotroast7825]

Grew up with Tonys son little Tony, had family who lived on Cleveland st, i grew up on Mable between Jane and Belle.

[@terryyancer4098]

I grew up and lived in Saginaw almost my whole life and yeah it looks a lot like this

[@rsaxton75]

What kind of car you rollin around in? American? Just outta curiosity...

[@mrclark5033]

The BIG3 automakers has to take some responsibility for Fiint

[@pakababy3710]

Truly. Once they started abandoning Flint and Detroit, this, along with gang crime, started. I've been gone from the Eastside of Flint since '87. It was the every day murders on the news that finally got to me.

[@mrclark5033]

@@pakababy3710 who are you?

[@pakababy3710]

@@mrclark5033 a former Flintoid. That's all I want to say on youtube LOL I love my old town tho, always will.

[@tuff47]

If you see an attractive house you like, then take a photo of it. Take the photo to a homebuilder and have the house rebuilt.

[@guillermosanchez8843]

Parts of Cleveland look like that too.

[@r.pres.4121]

Most of Cleveland looks like this. So does Youngstown.

[@sepix810]

There was a time where there city laid -off alot of firefighters and suddenly in one summer there was like 120 fires in the city . Then they suddenly stopped after the firefighters got their jobs back

[@8elionadvancing884]

I grew up in Baltimore and my old neighborhood isnt falling down, its being built up, so why is Detroit being abandoned...does it have anything to do w TPP and NAFTA?

[@somethinggrand144]

Thanks for reminding us of what is coming to a neighborhood near you, who's excited?

[@charlesronk2989]

Isn't that the truth, and like GM no one is listening to what automation and technology is going to do to the rest of the US. Andrew Yang is the only one sounding the alarm and even his policies are not going to help.

[@tinydancer8536]

Wow, just imagine all this land and housing that we could place homeless people into.

[@eh5872]

tiny dancer the homeless are big reason why the homes are vandalized and destroyed. You can’t just give people free shit. Big reason why Flint is trash. They get everything for free. No reason to work hard. So let’s give them all free houses to do drugs in

[@garyhouston113]

After i left Flint it just slid into the sewer.I knew it would

[@robertearllee9880]

I enjoyed the video, down memory lane, I grew up in Flint and went to Central High Class of 1970 my parents moved the family to Los Angeles in Oct of 1970 just after I had graduated. I remember Whittier Jr High, I went to Emerson Jr High they changed the boundary so we went to Central instead of Northern High. I know all around the Mott Foundation we live going across the Flint River had to go Robert T Longway Blvd over where the Post Office is. I heard they are going to tear down Central and build another school there I miss Central it was a great school pupil from all kind of countries went there. I still keep my yearbooks from 1968-1970. I am 66 years old now still living in Los Angeles, I still love my city of Flint to this day.

[@pakababy3710]

Me too! I went to Central, class of '75, and Lowell Jr. High. I moved away in '87. I nostalgically love Flint and always will.

[@randyscott3386]

Factory built housing is going to be huge in the future . Flint has the resources to be a leader in it . Not to mention lots of empty lots .

[@peterjansen4826]

Gentrifying.

[@jamesisenberg5567]

To me the solution is simple. The government can make use of its "public domain" policy, purchase these run-down houses at current market value (which in this case would be cheap), then level the property and create a vacant lot for use as a community garden. The only houses left standing would be those that are currently being occupied, thus driving up property values, and increasing the tax base over time. I would appreciate someone correcting me if I'm not seeing something here.

[@BlueCollar850]

The reason why Flint is like that is because over the last 40 years, General Motors has outsourced almost 90% of the jobs that used to be in Flint. A city that used to have over 70,000 well paying middle class jobs now has less than 7,000 of those jobs remaining. Now all the people who are still working are moving away from the city because only crime and blight remain. The revenue has fallen drastically and not to mention the city had been mismanaged. It’s a smaller version of what happened in Detroit. Flint was an experiment in what was to come for the rest of America with corporations and the 1% running our country.

[@scoobycarr5558]

This is what wars do to developed nations because of US America USA. Then these developed nations become former wartime enemies and now part of the economic spectrum. Look at Japan. Look at Germany. Look at Vietnam.

[@laposgamermills3966]

How can people live here with contaminated water? Even bathing in it could cause cancer, etc. I understand the people who don't have the money to move but if you have money, why would anyone live here?

[@RaiNinShoTS]

This is America 🤦‍♂️

[@johnberry2877]

And my American made Honda Civic is the best built car I have ever owned

[@tonyyost331]

A lot of these houses use to be amazing, but they just were boarded up and left there for years. And what caused for to be similar to Detroit was because of the GM Factory shut down and a lot of people's jobs were lost .Trust me I know.

[@marcathens2951]

The city needs to be leveled. Looks like a war zone.

[@johngreen3543]

I am a Republican and we give tax breaks to the right people.