Resting in the county of Genesee, a word derived from Ojibwa for “beautiful valley,” Flint has long been a city of promise, often fulfilled through its long history. Like most of Michigan’s major cities, Flint is served by a river that enhanced transportation and economic progress. Established as a thriving fur-trading center in 1819, Flint shortly began attracting workers and commerce during the lumber era, as the river was a means of gathering and transporting abundant timber to feed area sawmills.

Easy access to timber also fueled Flint’s next industry, the manufacture of carriages for the horse-and-buggy era. Then, in the early 1920s, Flint experienced its most powerful period of growth and development, when production of the horseless carriage rapidly evolved into a thriving automotive industry that would define Flint’s personality and profitability for the next generation. Flint became the birthplace of General Motors, and the city’s skyline reflected that personality: Flint Metal Fabrication, Flint Engine South, Flint Tool and Die, Flint Truck Assembly, Powertrain North, and GM Truck and Bus Assembly.

In 1936–1937, difficult working conditions in the factories led to the first automotive sit-down strike, a 44-day work stoppage that eventually led to the first union contract with GM and the birth of the United Auto Workers (UAW). This heralded an era of labor unions that spread across the United States. As working conditions improved, the factories in Flint and elsewhere in Michigan created the middle class that would fuel Michigan’s further prosperity and the nation’s economic might for nearly five decades. That industrial powerhouse would be critical to creating the “Arsenal of Democracy” that helped the United States defeat the Germans and Japanese in World War II.

Visionary auto barons like Charles Stewart Mott and William C. Durant used their wealth and creativity to develop a cultural richness that remains strong in Flint. The city’s economy boomed, and Flint was once named the “Happiest City in the Country.” On 30 acres just east of downtown blossomed the Flint Cultural Center, including nine fine arts institutions, a planetarium, an art institute, museum, music institute, auditorium, and a theater.

Flint also developed a Community Education System that would become a national model. Under the guidance of Frank Manley, school buildings and playgrounds were open after hours, providing a system of youth and adult education replicated throughout the United States and internationally.

But Flint’s prosperity was tied to the star of General Motors, just as other Michigan cities found their wealth through other auto manufacturing companies. In the late 1970s General Motors’ star began to dim, and Flint took the brunt of downsizing. 80,000 Flint-area residents were employed by GM in 1978. By 1990, that number dipped under 23,000 and has continued to slide through the national drop in 21st-century automotive sales due to foreign competition, fuel crises, and international monetary failure. By the end of 2006, the number of GM workers plummeted to 8,000. The impact on Flint’s quality of life has been devastating. Blight spread across the city and Genesee County as abandoned homes and buildings mushroomed across the former happiest city. Soon the city became bankrupt, and it remains in financial distress.

Yet Flint remains resilient. Its cultural vibrancy continues due to the Cultural Center, which now features the renowned Flint Youth Theatre and Flint School of Performing Arts. The steady course of Flint Farmer’s Market remains a stabilizing feature of city life and a strong rural connection. Flint’s education infrastructure, which continues to be a powerful instrument for helping Flint reinvent its economy, includes four major education institutions: University of Michigan–Flint, Mott Community College, Baker College, and Kettering University (formerly the General Motors Institute). Three premier medical facilities – Genesys Health System, McLaren Regional Medical Center, and Hurley Medical Center – are major employers and key partners in the community’s progress.

In addition, Genesee County’s forward-thinking treasurer, Dan Kildee, was the principal architect of new state legislation that allowed his county and others to form land banks and enable municipalities to assume control of abandoned properties and begin to eradicate blight by improving and packaging properties to make them inviting for developers. One recent and highly promising success has been the 2008 launch of a $30 million renovation of a downtown landmark, the Durant Hotel, into a complex of 68 apartments. The 8-story hotel had been vacant for 30 years, and the renovation was made possible in part by the granting of a $5.8 million brownfield tax credit by the state.

The downtown area has already benefited from new businesses and other renovation projects, so it’s no wonder that many Flint residents believe their city is on the way back to solvency and future prosperity.