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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Metawananee Hills AIA Plan - City of Flint
www.cityofflint.com/DCED/pdf/Metawananee_HillsAIA_Plan.pdf
The master plan represents a comprehensive set of problem solving, stabilizing, and turnaround strategies ... we learned that both Hurley Hospital and Whaley Children's Center were engaged in their own ... the campus, and workplace incentives encouraging employees to live close to where they work. ... Hospital survey. |
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Sun Dec 23, 2012 5:44 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Metawanene Hills Neighborhood Association and Flint American Institute of Architects Master Plan Summary Community Building and Civic EngagementEffective civic engagement that leads to sustained community change requires different groups taking on specific roles and working across and among the partners for the desired outcome. It is an
interdependent infrastructure linking bottom up, ontheground
resident engagement with policy tools, change strategies, issue advocacy, and a continuum of resources to support systems change and build strong, healthy, and attractive communities.
The AIA Flint/MHNA charrette process engaged participants in four community planning teams: residential, commercial, Ramona Park and its expansion, and Cook School (an historic structure, owned by Flint Community Schools and currently closed), which allowed individual participants to offer unique contributions in shaping their community of the future. The Community Planning Teams were led by local architects partnered with MHNA members in the facilitation of each teams' effort
from collecting visual evidence of assets to identifying areas for change and revitalization. Local architects provided design advice and strategic input while community members and stakeholders provided their vision for an enhanced and revitalized community, local information, feedback and
critique.
Based on the results of the visioning and priority setting meeting, the community service project evolved into a community building and civic engagement process, with the goal of developing a master plan. The service area included MHNA neighborhood boundaries and key points of interest contiguous to MHNA boundaries. MHNA boundaries include Martin Luther King, Jr Blvd to the east , Chevrolet Avenue to the west, Stockdale Avenue to the north and 10 th Street to the South. This visioning and priority setting meeting was followed by three community charrettes, which took place during the period of JanuaryApril 2008.
The Importance of the Master Plan
The master plan represents a comprehensive set of problem solving, stabilizing, and turnaround strategies for the Metawanene Hills Community, envisioned by residents of the community in partnership with Flint AIA members. We know that topdown strategies alone do not work.
Meaningful and lasting change occurs when a community can own the outcomes of change strategies emanating from the bottom or the grassroots and supported by a continuum of resources from planning,
technical and design assistance to project financing and capital support.
The timing of our master plan development is also opportunistic. At the outset of our planning process, we learned that both Hurley Hospital and Whaley Children's Center were engaged in their own planning and visioning process. Whaley's plans for change called for adding residential housing for its children and youth population, modest in comparison to its immediate neighbor to the south, city owned and operated, Hurley Hospital. Hurley's plan included broad and comprehensive revitalization including the demolition of abandoned houses directly to the east and south of their complex, greening vacant land, increasing walkability, moving its main public entrance from the north to the south side of the campus, and workplace incentives encouraging employees to live close to where they work.
Of key significance in our plan is linking the strong residential Metawanene Hills neighborhood to the institutional planning scenarios of both Whaley Children's Center and Hurley Hospital. It is our view
that much is to be gained for the stability and revitalization of the City of Flint, if these two institutions acknowledge and include the near north neighborhood of Metawanene Hills in their planning efforts.
(See Ramona Park expansion component for an example of a potential physical and environmental
link)
The Metawanene Hills Community can be described as a community “in the middle” (Source: Great Neighborhoods, Great City , 2004 update). The profile of an “in the middle” neighborhood is one that is attractive, stable, in good repair, does not register high rates of crime and vacancy, yet attracts limited investment. The early 20 th century architecture was built to last, is affordable, and offers ease of proximity to downtown and the arts and entertainment corridor. We believe that Metawanene Hills
is a neighborhood that is vital to the future of the City of Flint. Master Plan Components
Commercial
Residents and business owners participating in the development of the master plan identified a number of commercial areas located within the boundaries of the neighborhood which have long been
neglected by retailers, developers, and local government. Although some businesses in the area have managed to endure hardships, and continue to successfully operate, the majority are in great need of
support. Areas of particular importance include commercial nodes which were identified as “gateways” to the community, and are located at the four corners of the neighborhood” M.L. King Avenue and Welch Blvd; Welch Blvd and Chevrolet Avenue; Flushing Road and Chevrolet; and Flushing Road and M.L. King Avenue.
Residential
The master plan residential component includes three categories for change, revitalization, and partnership:
1) Establishing residential design standards guidelines for future modifications to help protect the
aesthetic and historic character of the community and preserving it for future generations.
2) Designation of key regions as an Historic District. On several key streets such as Welch Blvd,
Neome Drive, North Grand Traverse, and Copeman many large residences were built, many with European influences. Key architectural styles represented include: Tudor Revival, Cape Cod, Prairie Style, Victorian, Four Square and Gambrel with many situated on large lots. The interior of many of these homes reflect oneofakind architectural craftsmanship. Many of
these structures have original exterior doors, including garage doors. In addition to the strong residential architectural history, captains of Flints' various industries built homes for their families in the Metawanene Community. One of the Hamady homes sits at 1647 Neome
Drive. Bob Hamady attended Cook School. The original home of the James Lumber Family sits at 230 Welch Blvd. A member of the Mott/Kleinpell family built an impressive mansion at the corner of Welch Blvd and North Grand Traverse.
3) Development of a new residential building for the Whaley Children's Center facility. A critically important aspect of our plan is linking the strong residential Metawanene Hills Community to Whaley's campus expansion.
Our goal is to encourage collaborative planning
that will integrate their institutional planning into the fabric of the neighborhood versus the use of defensive design strategies, often employed by institutional planners. More and more people
are interested in living near their workplace, an attitude that is supported by a recent Hurley Hospital survey. Hurley Hospital sits to the immediate south of Whaley Children's Center and
with some 2500 employees, both of these institutions holds the potential to create a 'critical mass' of potential residents, customers, and users. |
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Sun Dec 23, 2012 5:57 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Cook School
Cook Elementary School is an architectural gem and community landmark. Currently vacant, the Cook School building and site creates an important destination as well as symbolizing the neighborhood's identity. Cook School terminates the North Grand Traverse streetscape, a major connector to downtown.
Symbolically and historically, the school is the keystone to the community identity. In many cases, several generations within a family attended the school. The educational institution is the common thread that links generations of former students, and weaves the fabric that creates the sense of Place within the Metawanene Hills Community. Adaptive reuse of the structure would provide much needed services while protecting a landmark historic structure from certain demolition.
The J.R. and Mary Stockdale Family sold several hundred acres of farm land to developers in the early 20 th century to create parcels for homes in the Metawanene Hills Community, development of Cook
School and Hurley Hospital, and adjacent business districts. The original Stockdale Farmhouse sits at the intersection of Euclid and Stockdale Avenue. In 1908, The Stockdale Estate contributed $70,000
for the initial construction of Hurley Hospital.
The land for Cook School was purchased in 1916. Cook School started as four, twostory temporary wood frame buildings. The beautiful brick permanent building was completed in time for the September 1917 school year. The original Cook School buildings, four, twostoried
frame houses in various stages of disrepair, remain in the neighborhood on the northeast corner of Stockdale Avenue and Mason Street.
Ramona Park
Ramona Park, a small, wedgeshaped green space, nestled in the center of the neighborhood, has been dentified as a high priority project. The expansion of Ramona Park holds significance in linking the
strong, nearnorth residential Metawanene Hills neighborhood to the institutional planning scenarios of both Whaley Children's Center and Hurley Hospital. The MHNA has taken an active role in the upkeep of the park and maintenance of the existing park. The natural grade of the area creates a bowl at the intersection of North Grand Traverse Street and Stone Street where drainage patterns cause occasional flooding. The natural pattern of runoff and water retention provides a unique opportunity
to engage in an urban wetland restoration.
A concentration of wellkept, owneroccupiedhousing faces onto the park giving evidence to its importance as a neighborhood landmark. Directly adjacent and to the southof the current park are several very small, blighted homes, situated between vacant lots. Much of this property is owned by the Genesee County Land Bank. MHNA is currently in negotiation with the Land Bank to acquire ownership of these properties for the Ramona Park expansion.
The proposed design of the expanded park takes into account walkability, accessibility, wetland and housing restoration, neighborhood identity and connection to a network of greenways. The expanded Ramona Park will serve as an enticement to draw recreational and fitness walkers from the campuses of Hurley Hospital and Whaley Children's Center. The park design incorporates a onemile and twomile pathway system from the Hurley Hospital to the north. The route passes through the park, with the
longer pathway continuing to Cook School.
MHNA recently entered a partnership with Michigan State University that will pilot a land management project experimenting with weed control techniques |
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Sun Dec 23, 2012 6:04 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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There could not have been large numbers of residents in the decision making process about Metawaneenee as large numbers have already been displaced. Those who sought this project also selectively excluded key figures in the neighborhood and refused to give them access to the planning metings.
PBS put on a series about the problems of the "Rust Belt" cities and "Shrinking Cities". Just enter Blueprint America in your internet browser or go to the Blueprint America facebook page and the various interviews are there. Some are short like the 7 plus minute interviews with Dan Kilee and then with Detroit's Mayor Dave Bing.
On may 2011 Alison Stewart interviewed Dan Kildee on shrinking citiees. She referred to Kildee's land banking concept as a model for for cities and how it changed government at all levels.
Kildee discussed how the serious level of chronic abandonment occurred primarily in the Rust belt states that had primarily focused on manufacturing and that this chane was unprecedented in Ameican history. were these cities doomed to die. In the past governmental agencies had a bias towards the suburban area and fields were used to build homes. Kildee proposed to turn that bias towards rebuilding urban areas .
A dying city has a high social cost and must buy into being a smaller but better city. Kildee noted that with the land bank, the government gets big parcels of land. He alleged the community should decide what happens to the land.
The Land banl assumes ownership after tax foreclosure. Then they can demolish obsolete blighted homes and sell the vacant lots to an adjacent homeowner. Larger lots allows productive landscape and increases value while the blighted properties subtract homeowner value.
Bulldozing houses under the guise of urban renewal displaces the people who live in the neighborhood that are in the way of politicians plans. There is a need to protect individual property rights.
The government allowed this level of abandonment. Kildee noted jobs won't come when the neighborhoods look like post war cities. If the city does not fix the problems the people and the jobs won't come. |
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Sun Dec 23, 2012 10:15 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Bing's interview is the most interesting and parallels between detroit and Flint can be drawn.
In Detroit there are three of the city's largest employers offering incentives for their commuter employees to return into the city , primarily the newly renovated Midtown District. These agencies are wayne State University, Detroit Medical and Henry Ford Health. These agencies are giving money incentives for their commutere to rent and buy in the Midtown area close to their facilities.
Detroit is a huge city encompassing 139 square miles, of which over one-third or 40 square miles are vacant. There are 80,000 vacant homes plus vacant commercial buildings such as office buildings and store fronts.
It costs detroit $9 million per square mile to provide basic and emergency services , even for areas with only 1 to 2 houses per block.
With the size of the Detroit deficit, there needs to be a change. Bing advocates downsizing and wants those living in blighted areas to move into stronger neighborhoods. He proposes improved transportation and changing empty space into parks, farms or industrial areas.
residents become attached to their neighborhooda and Bing's proposals are generating lots o angry citizens. People don't want to leave their homes and son't want to be forced. Bing proposes to give them a reason to move as these moves will expand the tax base.
REVITALIZATION THROUGH CONCENTRATION - that is Bing's proposal and it should sound familiar. Something like Flint concentrating the population around downtown. |
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Sun Dec 23, 2012 10:30 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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In need of a fix: Empty buildings owned by public entities fall into decay
Published: Saturday, April 05, 2008, 10:59 PM Updated: Sunday, April 06, 2008, 12:32 AM
By Joe Lawlor | Flint Journal
FLINT --
The green-and-beige house on Stone Street sits hollow and scarred, holes dotting the roof where castle-like shingles used to be.
It's one of eight abandoned houses along Stone Street or nearby, their rotting exteriors left to mar the neighborhood and frustrate residents.
The owner of these Carriage Town houses is not some out-of-town slumlord, but the city-owned Hurley Medical Center and its foundation.
"It's been a disaster," said Carriage Town resident Tim Monahan.
Jeana-Dee Allen | The Flint Journal"Something needs to change," Tim Monahan of Flint said as he looks at properties on Stone Street, where several houses owned by Hurley Medical Center sit vacant and decaying. Monahan wants to see the houses rehabilitated. "People need to quit the bickering and quit the fighting and realize we're in this together," he said.
This is not an isolated incidence.
Throughout Flint, there are at least 17 examples in which public entities -- including Hurley, the city and the Flint School District -- have abandoned buildings they own, a Flint Journal analysis found through a review of property records, a visual inspection of the properties and talking to neighbors.
In many cases, those buildings are now dilapidated shells, only shadows of the structures they once were. All have been abandoned in the past dozen or so years.
"It went from being a good street for kids to play on and ride their bikes to being completely vacant, and you have to watch your kids constantly," said Stone Street resident Robin Maynard, describing the surge in crime when Hurley purchased the houses and relocated renters in the late 1990s to make way for a nursing home that never happened.
Hurley executives now admit that it wasn't handled in the best way, but they plan to make amends with a new neighborhood initiative.
Citywide, the vacant buildings remain, sometimes because plans didn't go as expected or efforts to sell the buildings failed.
The buildings are difficult to maintain because of frequent vandalism, officials said. And bottom line, a lot of times, the already cash-strapped public entities just didn't have the money to demolish.
The abandoned buildings exist throughout the city, from the graffiti-covered former Lowell Middle School on the city's east side to the former Whaley pool near I-475 and Leith Street and the former Martin Elementary on Stafford Place.
Myron Orfield, president of Ameregis, a Minnesota-based think tank that examines urban and suburban issues, said problems can worsen in city neighborhoods that experience dilapidated, closed schools or vacant homes that are left to decay.
"When neighborhoods go into general disrepair, it accentuates people's general bad feelings," Orfield said.
Publicly owned and abandoned
Here's a look at abandoned properties in Flint owned by public entities, including Hurley Medical Center, the city of Flint and Flint schools. Not all properties are in bad shape, but many show signs of blight, and some are wide open and have become magnets for drug use and prostitution:
1. Former Martin Elementary, 6502 Stafford Place. Owner: Flint schools
2. Whaley pool 1701 Utah St. Owner: City of Flint
3. Former Lowell Middle School, 3101 Vernon Road. Owner: Flint schools
4. Houses on 1726 Maryland and 1730 Maryland streets. Owner: City of Flint
5. Former Homedale School, 1501 Davison Road. Owner: Flint schools
6. Heartland Manor, 627 Begole St. Owner: Genesee County Land Bank*
7. Carriage Town houses: Owner: Hurley Medical Center or its foundation**
8. Kennedy Center, 1541 N. Saginaw Street. Owner: City of Flint
9. Former Cook Elementary 500 Welch Blvd. Owner: Flint schools
* Owned by the land bank, but property is controlled by Hurley Medical Center through a contract with the land bank.
** One of the eight abandoned houses owned by Hurley (on Prospect Street) is just outside the Carriage Town boundaries. The addresses are 627 Stone St., 628 Stone St., 712 Stone St., 717 Stone St., 719 Stone St., 725 Stone St., 612 W. Fourth Ave. and 630 Prospect St.
Sources: Property records, information from the public entities and a visual inspection of each property by The Flint Journal.
But Orfield said what happens to abandoned buildings doesn't change one of the main reasons that people left Flint in the first place.
"Fixing up an old school doesn't fix the underlying problem," said Orfield, who has visited Flint to research urban sprawl. "It's not going to transform the racial and social segregation. That's the overwhelming problem."
A lot of the reason buildings are vacant is due to the city's dwindling population. Schools don't have as many students to fill the classrooms.
Fewer people also means less tax money, which has caused budget problems for governments on every level.
The problems don't show signs of abating. The city is undergoing more budget problems this year, and Flint schools are talking about closing more schools.
Living in the shadow
Only a small fraction of the city's thousands of abandoned structures are owned by the government, but these high-profile buildings once were important community centers whose decline rippled throughout the surrounding neighborhood.
Whaley pool used to be a place where neighborhood residents would congregate, eating nachos and hot dogs, but the city of Flint closed its pools several years ago.
"It was a great place to go," Erica Hopcraft said, remembering how it was a central meeting point for teens during the summer.
Whaley Pool used to be a summertime hot spot, but the city closed its pools several years ago.
Now mattresses and junk have littered the bottom of the empty pool, and some of the siding has been ripped off the graffiti-covered building, neighbor Valerie Johnston said.
"The city of Flint has neglected it and has not been responsible for making it safe," Hopcraft said.
City Administrator Darryl Buchanan said the city understands that the pools, closed for financial reasons, were a valuable resource for Flint. The city is studying whether Whaley and others, including pools at McKinley Senior Center and Haskell Community Center, can be reopened, Buchanan said.
Monahan said he has been complaining for three years about the decaying roof on the house at 627 Stone St. in the historic district of Carriage Town.
"There's literally water cascading into the house," Monahan said. "I call Hurley. Hurley does nothing."
The former Heartland Manor nursing home -- which transferred to the Genesee County Land Bank in 2006 but remains controlled by Hurley -- is wide open for anyone to walk into.
It has become a haven for illegal activities, neighbors say, with trash strewn about the property and numerous broken windows.
Similar stories surround the city's schools shuttered because of declining enrollment, although a school official said workers do weekly inspections and maintenance on the buildings.
"They need to do something with it other than let it sit there and rot," said Homedale neighbor David Manuel, who claims he sees people going in and out of the building.
"It's kind of spooky."
The Flint School District has four closed and unoccupied schools -- Martin, Homedale and Cook elementaries and Lowell Middle School.
The former Martin Elementary School has become a magnet for prostitutes, said neighbor Ray Coleman.
"Prostitution is rampant over there," Coleman said. "People go inside there all the time."
Lowell was rented by the Church of the R.O.C., but it closed last year because church officials said it was too expensive to heat. The graffiti remains, but neighbors in the low-income neighborhood said they weren't too concerned about it, despite the school's dominating presence.
Resident Patrick Rowland said it's the "east side of Flint," so he doesn't have much faith in the revitalization of Lowell.
"They should do something, but I don't think anybody is going to do anything with it," Rowland said. "The city is just too messed up."
Resident Marie Mealor, who lives near Lowell, said she's more worried about the abandoned houses on her street. "You get used to seeing it (graffiti)," Mealor said. "I'm just glad the crack house burned down."
Living with a problem
Dean Frick, a Hurley vice president, admits there is a problem.
"We acknowledge things haven't been handled as good as they could have been over the past 10 years," Frick said. "But we want to be part of the success."
After being contacted by The Flint Journal about the state of the homes, Frick said he would contact a property management company to secure the Hurley-owned houses that are open to vagrants.
He also noted that Hurley has demolished more than 20 dilapidated homes along North Grand Traverse and in the neighborhood to the east of North Grand Traverse.
Hurley officials hope to help revitalize the neighborhood, and they have organized detailed plans on how to do so -- which has impressed some neighbors -- although no funding has been secured."I believe now Hurley is really trying to be a good neighbor," said Rebecca Fedewa, president of the Carriage Town neighborhood association.
The city, school district and Hurley all acknowledge that keeping up the properties isn't easy.
Jon Care, a land bank official, said the land bank had tried to keep Heartland Manor boarded up, but people kept ripping off the boards.
He said that eventually, the agency just gave up
.
Frick said Hurley plans to put Heartland on the "fast track" for demolition. Mayor Don Williamson said it is on the list of buildings to be considered for demolition.
His administration notes that the mayor has opened several closed community centers.
At the schools, staff workers inspect the four closed and unoccupied buildings weekly, replacing boards that have been ripped off or putting up boards over broken windows, said Bob Herron, Flint schools transportation director.
But he said Martin, Homedale and Lowell are vandalized often, and most weeks, the school's maintenance department is fixing up one of those schools.
"We weld as many doors shut as possible," Herron said. "We don't want people in there, either."
He said the schools will remove the graffiti as soon as the weather warms.
Craig Carter, a Flint schools spokesman, said the closed school buildings are for sale, but the district hasn't sold any such buildings since the 1980s.
Ira Rutherford, a former Flint schools administrator, is heading a committee analyzing the schools' buildings and facilities.
The committee also is expected to look at what to do with its old buildings as well as consider if more buildings should be closed.
Rutherford said he understands there's a problem that needs fixing.
"Some buildings are in such bad shape that they probably need to be demolished. I don't blame the residents. I wouldn't want an unoccupied building in my neighborhood, either," Rutherford said. |
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Sun Dec 23, 2012 2:38 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Homedale school-destroyed by fire and demolished
Martin school- demolished
Whaley Pool- demolished
kennedy Center- demolished
Heartland Manor- demolished by City of flint with the help of MSHDA
Carriage Town Homes- ongoing concern
Hurley was assisted in demolitions north of 5th by the City of Flint using grant money and MSHDA funding. Hurley now has safer parking for their employees.
Cody school can be added as it's intense vandalism necessitated demolition. |
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Sun Dec 23, 2012 2:43 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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The New Urbanism
Nov 8, 2012
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What is the lure of this post-industrial town that is working hard to re-invent itself?
If New Urbanism had a face in Flint, Michigan, it would look a lot like Kristina Kamensky, the young and enthusiastic CEO of Prismitech LLC. Kamensky’s company focuses on refrigeration that weds high-tech artificial intelligence with green ideals.
Kamensky earned her bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Kettering University in 2009 and followed it up with a master’s degree in 2012. Her ties to Kettering helped make Prismitech one of the first tenants in Kettering’s award-winning Innovation Center, a facility that provides up and coming businesses with dedicated wet and/or dry laboratory capabilities during the first few years of their development. The Innovation Center, which is in close proximity to the university’s science and engineering assets and experts, is also the first LEED certified building in Genesee County.
The Innovation Center addresses an up-until-now missing piece in the local mosaic of policies, infrastructure, financing, educational programming, and mechanisms of support for forming and nurturing science and technology-based small businesses, Kamensky said. “The Innovation Center is perfect for those who are trying to have a green impact and want a place to call home,” she said. “I also like the fact that it is located on Kettering’s campus, where companies can utilize laboratory facilities for testing purposes,” she explained. “It makes me feel like a pioneer.”
Kamensky is one of a growing number of college-aged entrepreneurs and recent college grads who are “urbnaeers” (urban pioneers) in the New Urban Flint territory. In addition to housing her growing business on the campus of her alma mater, Kamensky recently bought a house within walking distance of the campus. She frequently bikes to work on her vintage-style Electra.
What is the lure of this post-industrial town that is working hard to re-invent itself? Kamensky said it’s the vision and dedication of diverse people and groups addressing a myriad of issues concurrently while creating a new urban fabric out of this old factory town.
Flint’s New Urban landscape includes the expansion of the River Trail, new businesses re-populating the downtown area, a thriving Farmer’s Market within walking distance of downtown and a dynamic small city arts and music scene that ties the diverse community together with monthly Art Walks and seasonal Art in the Parks and Music in the Parks programs
.
Kettering University is embedded in many of these initiatives. When Kamensky peddles to work she travels the re-named University Avenue (formerly Third Avenue) that connects Kettering and the University of Michigan-Flint campuses. The name change, part of the College Town Initiative with Kettering, UM-Flint, Baker College and Mott Community College, was accomplished by re-surfacing the street into a boulevard with new landscaping and street lighting from the west side of Kettering’s campus all the way to UM-Flint’s White Building (approximately three miles).
University Avenue is also part of the Carriage Town Historic District revitalization, that bi-sects the neighborhood surrounding and being re-developed by Hurley Medical Center and Atwood Stadium Authority.
The College Town Initiative is a partnership that brings together the unique resources of the four campuses to address the challenges of today's economy and benefit the region. It includes several formal articulation agreements between the partners and a series of activities designed to help overcome the reluctance of students to venture beyond the boundaries of their own campuses, thereby creating an integrated academic community of young people.
This social collaboration includes events such as the College Town Blood Battle, wherein the four campuses compete to secure the most blood donations for the American Red Cross; a similar competition raises funds and donations of food for the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan; the College Town LEGO contest, College Night movies at the Flint Institute of Arts and the Battle of the Bins recycling challenge.
When she visits the Innovation Center, Kamensky is literally at a crossroads for the Flint River Trail project, a 17-mile bike/inline skate/walking/fishing asphalt trail along the banks of the Flint River, stretching from Mott Lake at its northernmost point to just south of Kettering’s campus past Mott Golf Course. Kettering worked with the Crim Fitness Foundation and the State of Michigan to develop the trail through the campus with expansions of existing sidewalks, lighting, landscaping and signage.
Other occupants of the Innovation Center are also good examples of Flint’s New Urbanism. Swedish Biogas International, a company working with the City of Flint wastewater treatment facility to process human waste and food waste into biogas as an alternative energy source, collaborates with Kettering faculty and students on research. The Swedish Biogas project is a partnership between Kettering University, the City of Flint, the state of Michigan and Swedish Biogas International, of Linkoping, Sweden.
Kettering researchers are currently working on a process to refine the biogas into bio-methane for use fueling vehicles, like the 2500HD Chevy Silverado that was converted to run on a dual-fuel system and renewable natural gas.
Kettering and Swedish Biogas are also working with the City of Flint on a Phytoremediation project to use municipal compost and biogas processing derivatives to provide organic cover for an industrial brown field within the city. The area, adjacent to the Kettering campus, will be rehabilitated as a green space along the banks of the Flint River from the east side of campus to downtown Flint.
On Fridays, Kamensky can peddle along the Flint River Trail toward downtown to attend her weekly Rotary meeting. She joined the service club to connect with other business owners and leaders in Flint, and enjoys the group’s community service focus and the opportunity to meet and work with everyone from a retired Horologist to a political aide-de-camp her own age.
Like all pioneers, Kamensky sees potential instead of problems. She and other young urbaneers are helping reshape Flint into their own version of a frontier town.
Contact: Dawn Hibbard
810.762.9865
dhibbard@kettering.edu
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Sun Dec 23, 2012 2:54 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Plans for new Hurley emergency Room, redevelopment in Flint
ABC 12
$30 million dollar expansion of Hurley to add construction jobs
FLINT -- (03/06/10) -- Big changes are coming to Flint's Hurley Medical Center, both inside the hospital and in its surrounding neighborhood.
The head of Hurley told guests at a benefit ball Saturday, that the hospital has secured the money to build a major addition.
A Hurley official says ground will be broken next month on the medical center's new emergency room.
Flint City Council has approved a $35 million bond application and the state has also approved the plan.
The chief financial officer of Hurley told ABC while patient care is priority number one, and the massive construction project is also on the front burner, the medical center also hopes to redevelop the surrounding neighborhood.
CFO of Hurley Medical Center, Kevin Murphy, has said Hurley is working with the city and the Land Bank to acquire vacant property. This is being done in hopes that one day, after the housing market stabilizes, new, affordable homes could be built nearby.
Murphy wants to redevelop the Flint area from Hurley to downtown, with focus on the Carriage Town neighborhood. When making these restorations in the Carriage Town area, developers will be faithful to the historic character of Flint, while keeping a consistent image and have affordable housing.
Murphy wants to make better homes for Flint residents. "We'd love to see homes develop that would be within their reach."
The next six months will focus more on demolition and land preparation. The project will bring construction jobs to the city.
In the long term, Murphy sees a bright future for both Hurley and the surrounding city. "Flint will go through a resurgence, it absolutely will. We at Hurley are very bullish on Flint."
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Sun Dec 23, 2012 3:01 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Just found out that the Metawaneenee Hills master Plan has caused an uproar among the residents who were deliberately left out of the planning process.
Anger seems to be focused on Salem Housing, Wendy Johnson, David Caswell and Bill Hammond. The architect, Freeman Greer, apparently refused to give residents who inquired any input into the process when asked quite some time ago. This plan was presented to the county planning Commission but not to the citizens. Some are saying they want salem Housing out of the 5th ward. Even the name is causing anger as many residents insist they are Indian Hills and not Metawaneenee Hills.
There was discussion on Flint Talk about a year ago by the Gooch who stated residents were being forced out of the area surrounding ramona Park, despite there wanting to stay. Today only one house remains and it is ready to be demolished.
Perception is reality! Residents believe this is a continued assault on their homes by Hurley and the city. angry residents want to know who set the boundaries. True of false, rumors persist that gangs are paid to target specific areas so residents will move. Perhaps the combination of increased taxes, high water bills, gang warfare and offrs to buy are just to much to refuse. Why have shots fired where there is nothing but grass? Some of the homes undergoing demolition were recently remodeled with new decks, vinyl siding, and new windows.
Residents want to know who is bankrolling this neighborhood takeover> |
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Tue Dec 25, 2012 11:27 am |
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TruthTalk
F L I N T O I D
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| I can understand the people who have given up on boarding up these properties... It is very frustrating when you put boards up during the day and they are tore down the next day. The low life flint scrapers will do thousands of dollars in damage for pennies of profit. We have been hit twice by thieves who cut our live power coming from the pole into our shop, this is live 220 and 440 power lines we are talking about enough to fry your ass into burnt toast. So as far as boarding up properties it's a losing battle. |
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Tue Jan 01, 2013 11:54 am |
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TruthTalk
F L I N T O I D
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| Ramona park has had great progress in say the last 3 years, I work for the company that was contracted to restore the park in projects 1&2 . In the first project we focused on the north section and # 2 we worked south of the homes remaining. IMO the remaining homes need to be leveled that are inside the park. I have nothing but good things to say of Mr. Caswell aka Captain Cook. Dave is what made the Romana park project come together, without him their would still be a jungle of trees and concrete instead of a manicured lawn. Mr. Caswell is a very big supporter of his community and we stand behind him 100% |
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Tue Jan 01, 2013 12:19 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Only one home remains in the park and it is ready to be demolished. The argument by Gooch and others is that the residents were being forced out for the "revitalization" effort. The Park may be missing the east Side Crip grafitti, but that area is still filled with violence. So talk that truth. If you are speaking for a group, then identify that group.
Captain Cook as you call him does not have the right to assemble a small group and ignore the rest of the homeowners for his vision. i am told he denied certain residents an opportunity to be heard.
His young men that are at his house have been identified as part of the problem. Caswell ignores complaints that they shoot at neighbors homes and they are helping to drive some of his neighbors away. Maybe that is by design. I hear complaints that Code Red does not work, especially if it involves certain individuals. |
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Wed Jan 02, 2013 3:59 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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quote:
TruthTalk schreef:
Ramona park has had great progress in say the last 3 years, I work for the company that was contracted to restore the park in projects 1&2 . In the first project we focused on the north section and # 2 we worked south of the homes remaining. IMO the remaining homes need to be leveled that are inside the park. I have nothing but good things to say of Mr. Caswell aka Captain Cook. Dave is what made the Romana park project come together, without him their would still be a jungle of trees and concrete instead of a manicured lawn. Mr. Caswell is a very big supporter of his community and we stand behind him 100%
Who paid for the contracted work?
Who purchased the homes or were they the Land bank's.?
What was your working relationship with Caswell and in what capacity was he involved? |
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Wed Jan 02, 2013 5:02 am |
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TruthTalk
F L I N T O I D
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| 1. The work was paid for by grants 2. We didn't touch any homes, we tore out many entanglingwebs of trees and many stumps. Their was also old concrete drives and debris piles littering the site. The trees were growing out of old dumptruck loads of concrete and dirt. 3. Mr. Caswell was overseeing the project. He was also the person perusing the grants to even do anything. Like I said if not for captain cook nothing would have be done.. |
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Wed Jan 02, 2013 8:07 am |
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