Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Michigan
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 02-22-2013, 09:43 AM
 
2 posts, read 10,266 times
Reputation: 11

Advertisements

My husband might be getting a job in Flint. As we are looking at the real estate we are finding homes that are beautiful for hardly any money so we look a little deeper and find out why...that Flint is the most dangerous city in the US for violent crimes. No wonder these huge beautiful homes can't sell! Right?

We see that Fenton is nearby and that looks nice.

We are a young family...we homeschool and have lived further south in MI before, but not currently. I grew up in MI and my husband lived in MI during part of HS and college. We have had great experiences with MI...but this flint info is really discouraging.

I keep reading forums from the past several years saying if at possible DON'T move to Flint...and then that some of the small towns surrounding are okay, but Flint is so dangerous don't go downtown after sunset...my husband would be working downtown. I'm really nervous about taking my young children into a prt of the country that is considered one of the worst places to live and excessively depressed...super high in unemployment.

I'd love some thoughts on this...and is living in an "okay" surrounding town near excessively awful Flint even worth it at all. It looks like the info people provide on here are usually honest and not snarky or rude so I hope I can trust some of this info.

Elizabeth
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 02-22-2013, 10:41 AM
 
Location: Loving life in Gaylord!
4,120 posts, read 8,860,694 times
Reputation: 3915
Not all parts of Flint are dangerous. I have lived 15 minutes away my whole life, and have gone there hundreds of times...and even worked there quite a few years and nothing has ever happened to me. Sure there are parts you want to avoid and do not want to buy in those areas, but not all of Flint is bad. Now would I want to live there? No...I would much rather live in a surrounding area. We live in Corunna/Owosso area, which is a very nice place to live and is only 15 minutes away.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-22-2013, 10:53 AM
 
4 posts, read 13,565 times
Reputation: 15
For a basis of comparison...what part of Mi are you moving from? What i s your criteria? What do you want to spend on housing? What are you criteria for schools?
A few years back, Flint had to cut the #s of police and fire....and this had an impact for sure in many areas. However, as many know...Michigan has some very segregated areas and you can be fine in one location and 2 blocks away be in a totally different statistical area.

Grand Blanc Twp and the City of Grand Blanc are really safe and have great schools. However, the City taxes are much higher. Fenton is indeed nice....but taxes are also something to watch there as well. You might look at Burton...Swartz Creek ....Flushing...Goodrich.
But....if you are looking for cheap cheap homes in Flint...then you are probably looking at some of the neighborhood rejuvenation programs....good...but Police and Fire response could be issue. Owosso is about 20 minutes or so towards Lansing and has some good low prices as well.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-22-2013, 11:42 AM
 
Location: West Michigan
3,119 posts, read 6,561,882 times
Reputation: 4543
There is no reason you can't live in one of the surrounding communities, which are generally safe and nice. Commuting in Flint is a piece of cake, so you will probably find it to be pretty convenient to get around in the area. The freeway system is designed for a city of 200,000, and there's only 100,000 people left, so do the math. You can set your cruise and drive 70 mph (the speed limit) through downtown on I-69 at rush hour.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-22-2013, 11:55 AM
 
Location: On the brink of WWIII
21,088 posts, read 29,044,105 times
Reputation: 7812
Number 2 on the Forbes MISERY scale. Barely lost out on the number one spot to Detroit.

There are also some great ares outside of Flint city limits as well.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-22-2013, 11:57 AM
 
1,648 posts, read 3,252,346 times
Reputation: 1444
Flint doesn't exist. Everyone was murdered. Not one person survives and goes through life there.

Seriously though, the only reason Flint makes those "most dangerous city" lists is because the population is 102,000. Most lists only include cities over 100,000 people. The rest is the law of math - understand that and save some worry/angst.

If a town has 4 people and 1 is killed - the murder ratio is 25% and it would be the "most dangerous". Similarily, crime statistics on cities that have low populations will skew their results higher and cause them to be labeled "most crime ridded, most depressed, most negative adjective du jour."

Does Flint have rough areas. Absolutely. Does Flint have areas to be avoided. Sure. Is there run down/abandonded homes in area. Yes.

But there are plenty of family friendly/All American towns nearby/neighborhoods - and that shouldn't deter you from moving. Especially if you're homeschooling.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-22-2013, 12:40 PM
 
Location: Loving life in Gaylord!
4,120 posts, read 8,860,694 times
Reputation: 3915
We live in Corunna...a very short drive to Flint..either by I69 or M21/Corunna RD...You can buy our house so we can move to Traverse City...lol
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-22-2013, 04:06 PM
 
Location: SE Michigan
6,191 posts, read 18,085,772 times
Reputation: 10354
Hi, Elizabeth. I've only lived in Michigan for 13 years but I've lived in Grand Blanc, Flint city, and (currently) Mount Morris. And I work all over the area.

Here's my take - not Flint. Yes, the city has pockets of nice neighborhoods, yes it has some great attractions (Whiting, FIA, awesome farmers market, active little arts scene), yes it is CHEAP (this is already noted in an above comment about services and first responders.) But on the whole, it is a fairly depressing place overall. Although downtown is pretty safe; not much crime happens in the downtown "business district." I don't think twice about being in Flint, certainly not downtown. So I wouldn't worry about safety regarding your husband. I lived in the notorious east side ("state street" area between Davison and RTL) for six years. No problems and I walked my dogs daily. Parts of Flint Township (vaguely northeast of the city proper) are extremely nice, lots of doctors and legal types and some solid, beautiful older subdivisions.

If you are a Facebook person, you might find FPO interesting reading.
http://www.facebook.com/flintpoliceops?ref=ts&fref=ts

If you can afford a home for 25K and above you have many options. Grand Blanc is fine, somewhat expensive. Fenton is a nice community and there are certainly affordable homes in the older parts of Fenton. Swartz Creek is OK, sort of meh. Ditto Linden. Some unincorporated parts of the county (Thetford, Vienna and Genesee townships, if you want a more rural vibe) are affordable and low crime and within 30 minutes of downtown Flint. Also close to some nice lakes and recreational areas. Mount Morris and Clio: a little older and seedy but not at all bad. Out of the county - Lapeer to the east is a very, very nice little city, as are surrounding areas (Elba Twp, Otter Lake, Columbiaville.) To the east - Durand, Corunna, etc: also a little more farm/rural, but just fine and a 30 minute or so commute.

In short, you have a whole raft of decent, affordable communities within a 30-40 minute commute to downtown Flint. And I don't mean to paint Flint as dreadful - it's not. Well, not completely, LOL. Most of the crime happens in certain areas (mostly the north side) and it's very easy to avoid if you choose a decent neighborhood, even inside the city limits. So choosing a good place for you and your family will also depend on what sort of environment you want - rural and outdoorsy, small town, close to big box stores and amenities and so on.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-23-2013, 05:11 AM
 
Location: Michissippi
3,120 posts, read 8,032,896 times
Reputation: 2082
Whenever I think of Flint I am reminded of the movie Roger and Me, especially the part about Captain DaDa.


Captain Da - YouTube
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-25-2013, 08:48 AM
 
1,858 posts, read 3,534,767 times
Reputation: 1177
i just moved to flint over a year ago and I personally like it. My paycheck takes me a long ways and I like the family feel and I get living in grand blanc. I like the fact that we are so close to the best lakes in the world. So no complaints here
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Michigan
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top