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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Smith Village residents urging the City of Flint to help them
Updated: Wed 8:57 PM, Aug 03, 2016
By: Caresse Jackman - Email
Home / ABC12 - News / Local News / Headlines List / Article
Residents want the city to keep up their end of the bargain.
FLINT ( WJRT)- (8/3/16)- For more than 15 years, developers revitalized Smith village into a subdivision that promised to restore a community just north of downtown Flint, making it affordable for people with low or fixed incomes. But for those who live there they say it's been nothing but a headache.
Alice Evans not only lives with her elderly mother, but is blind.
"It's not conducive for a blind person," Evans said.
The city of Flint owns Smith Village. Evans says they were given the understanding that when they moved in, it would meet their needs. Evans moved into her Smith Village home 3 years ago and from the moment she stepped in the door, she says she's been plagued with problems.
"We began to notice the molding had come off the counter. The cabinets are not even, we began to notice puckers got bigger in the carpeting," Evans said.
It's not just her kitchen. The basement floors: cracked, The garage: treacherous and slippery when it rains and ices over in the winter. The stairs on her back porch are beginning to wobble.
On top of that: safety.
"When are you going to put people in these houses. People are breaking in and stealing out these appliances. When we did our walk through before we moved in, my washer and dryer was stolen," Evans said.
Wednesday Pastor Jacob Hawkins of New Zion Baptist Church and Elizabeth Peeples, Vice President of Smith Village Circle Block voiced their frustrations during a Flint city council committee meeting.
"We've allowed Smith Village residents to come to our church just to meet and discuss the issues they're dealing with. And it's been going for over a year and a half now and nothing's been done. We just want justice to prevail in Smith Village, Pastor Hawkins said.
"You know, they're telling you we can do this. We're going to work together and build our city up. But when it comes to it, we have to fight for everything that we get," Peeples said.
Ward 5 Councilman Wantwaz Davis says he's making it his priority to help the people in his Ward.
"You cannot move people into a home, under false pretenses, that angers me. The committee is going to take it to the DCED, we're going to try to put it on the minutes so it can be addressed on the minutes, we're going to put it on the record. We need to adhere to the cries of people who are living in the city's investment," Councilman Davis said.
Alice hopes her cries aren't forgotten.
"A lot of these people that live in these home are disabled. Some are in wheelchairs, some are on walkers. Don't ignore us anymore. We've been very patient. And it's time for you to do something," Evans said.
Smith Village was funded by HUD. Councilman Davis says he promises to continue fighting this until things change. |
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Thu Aug 04, 2016 5:54 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Thu Aug 04, 2016 5:59 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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An online blog by Terry Bankert with Ryan Eashoo and others in 2011
Anytime
GENESEE FLINT . COM: Smith Village , Flint...
goodmorningflint.blogspot.com/2011/09/smith-
Sep 03, 2011 · Smith Village , Flint Michigan. ... WHICH COUNCIL PEOPLE ARE IN OPPOSITION TO WHATS HAPPENING IN SMITH ..
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Sat Sep 24, 2016 1:45 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Fri Aug 05, 2016 5:12 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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I was in City Hall a week ago and they are still posting banners trying to sell these homes. There are promotions on the internet too. Did not have to build as a deal had been made in the previous administration.
Flint council members tiring of lingering Smith Village expenses
Print Email Ron Fonger | rfonger1@mlive.com By Ron Fonger | rfonger1@mlive.com
on December 14, 2015 at 7:45 PM, updated December 14, 2015 at 7:49 PM
19228742-large.jpg
A sign marks the location of the Smith Village neighborhood, just north of downtown Flint.
Ron Fonger | The Flint Journal
FLINT, MI -- Members of the City Council are tiring of issues and expenses tied to Flint's troubled Smith Village development.
"This has been a mess ... I want to finish this out," Councilman Eric Mays said today, Dec. 14.
Council members were briefed on the project by the Department of Community and Economic Development -- one month after agreeing to spend $90,000 to keep private security officers on patrol in the area to prevent theft and vandalism at 14 unoccupied homes.
Smith Village is a subsidized subdivision project just north of downtown Flint and the city owns those unsold homes.
The neighborhood is bordered by Williams Street on the south, Wood Street on the north, Saginaw Street on the east and Martin Luther King Boulevard on the west.
Of 39 homes that have been built, 25 have sold, nine have purchase agreements in place and five remain for sale, according to Glenda Dunlap, a representative of the Flint Planning Division.
Councilwoman Monica Galloway said she hears from those involved in the sales that the process has been difficult, causing closings to drag on, buyers to be lost and the city to be forced to remain on site to protect the homes it hasn't been able to complete sales for.
Smith Village homes were all deeded to the city about one year ago. |
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Sat Sep 24, 2016 1:29 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Flint has highest rate of vacant homes in United States: report | Reuters
www.reuters.com/article/us-flint-vacancies-idUSKCN0VK08L
Reuters
Feb 11, 2016 - Flint, Michigan, known for its drinking-water crisis, is also suffering a real-estate slump as the city's rate of vacant homes stands at the highest in ..Flint, Michigan, known for its drinking-water crisis, is also suffering a real-estate slump as the city's rate of vacant homes stands at the highest in the nation, pushing down house prices, according to a report released on Thursday.
With fallout from the water emergency expected to send house prices lower, the vacancy rate may continue to rise, according to an executive at research firm RealtyTrac.
"The water crisis didn't cause the root problem in Flint that's contributing to these high vacancy rates, but it's going to exacerbate the issue going forward," RealtyTrac vice president Daren Blomquist said.
Flint's real estate problems lie in the loss of higher-paying manufacturing jobs in recent decades and a roughly 20 percent decline in its population since 2000.
The city of some 100,000 people was under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager in 2014 when it switched its source of water from Detroit's municipal system to the Flint River to save money, sparking the current water situation.
Flint's residential vacancy rate in February of 7.5 percent was the worst in the country, and almost five times the national rate of 1.6 percent, according to the report, which can be viewed at www.realtytrac.com/news. The Flint rate was unchanged from the last time RealtyTrac ran the data in September.
The picture is even worse for Flint's investment properties, most of which are rentals. In February they had a vacancy rate of 23 percent, the highest level in the country, compared with a national rate of 4.3 percent, Blomquist said.
Median home prices in Flint slid 8 percent in December - the last month for which the data was available - from the previous month, Blomquist said. That was the biggest decline for any metro area in the United States, and preliminary January data shows the decline will continue. |
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Sat Sep 24, 2016 1:33 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| Building in this area was touted by Tim Herman to City Council years ago. Did anyone else see the wisdom in building here. Would you spend $70,000, even though the house allegedly cost $190,000+, when your neighbor bought nearly the same House for under $40,000. |
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Sat Sep 24, 2016 1:39 pm |
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