Flint's first murder of the year.

This article arrived yesterday from my sister via Gtalk. It looks like Flint, MI, my hometown chalked up its first murder of the year. Flint constantly appears in the top 10 list for most dangerous cities. A recent survey shown on aol's news site lists Flint as the third most dangerous city. In the subcategories, Flint ranked first in rape, first in assault, second in burglary, and third in murder. It seems that the outliers were robbery (35th) and car theft (28th). This is likely due to the fact that there is nothing to steal in Flint and nobody drives a nice car.

The scariest thing about this article is that the murder happened just a few blocks from my home. I grew up in a middle class neighborhood where people respected one another, supported one another, and did all the normal things that good neighbors just do (save for the fact that no bike was safe). Every time something like this happens, it makes me worry about my neighborhood and about the city as a whole.

Flint has been so bad for so long that a turn around is inevitable. In fact, if I were an investor, Flint is one place I'd explore. We have a perfect setup to be Michigan's premier city. We have a very nice airport. I69 and I75, two of the most prominent interstate highways in the nation both go through Flint. No other city in the state can say that. Flint is located right in the middle of Lansing, the Tri-Cities, Ann Arbor, and Detroit - it's the perfect central hub for Michigan commerce. Flint has a very good community college, a fantastic engineering school, and a satellite school of the University of Michigan. Some circles in Flint have a new optimism. The Downtown Flint Development Authority looks like it is up to some great things. This sounds like a great setup, but it is unarguable that people are the most crucial resource. Articles like these show that we still have a ways to go.