reclaiming vacant land

this morning, i was listening to morning edition, just like i always do. i like the news is more like stories. just a thing.

anyway, this morning, i heard a very interesting story about reclaiming vacant land in flint, michigan. i think we all know, i was born and raised in flint, michigan. when i was living in flint, i remember lots of beautiful homes, lots of kids, and things were going ok. now, of course, flint is not really a nice place to live.

that being said, i know many people who still live in flint. their homes are surrounded by vacant, sometimes unliveable, houses that were abandoned years ago when everyone (including my mom & dad) left. the last time i visited flint, it was utterly depressing. that was over 5 years ago. i can’t imagine how bad it must be now. i’m glad to hear the community is doing something to change things. they have now put a non-tax paying forclosure system into place which will help the city start to control the problem.

unfortunately, flint has a problem of voting in corrupt city management. i think that things will continue to be bad there until the residents are willing to make a difference in their community. i see that happening. it’s just a very slow process.

on a lighter note: dan kildee (now in flint city government *hopefully* not corrupt) was speaking in the piece. dale kildee (us congressman from genessee county michigan) is his father. his mother used to rock me when i was a baby. my parents lived in the same apartment building. mrs. kildee really wanted a child and up to that point had not been successful. apparently, i helped out a bunch in her time of need (not that i remember). and yes, we still get christmas cards from the kildee’s.