Exploring Flint's Industrial Ruins

Help me get my 2nd channel to 1,000 subs by the end of the year! www.youtube.com/channel/UCWswLxWncDgmc106ZHId02Q/a… Flint Playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkAKbwTlGHeJEr5vsf6i-Y_… American Hoods Playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkAKbwTlGHeLYlKLyBm1dGc… Michigan Playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkAKbwTlGHeJoyujmAhEMOu… ==================================================================== EVERYTHING THAT I USE IN THE FIELD: Main Camera: amzn.to/3iS4vvF Side Cameras: amzn.to/2WuCYIs Media Mod for Camera: amzn.to/3j7CMGF Lav Mic: amzn.to/3lsMkz9 Drone: amzn.to/3ITcKBV SD Cards: amzn.to/3C2co9O Camera Mounts: amzn.to/2UXVR6p Cables Required for Longer Recordings: amzn.to/3BYnr3Q Computer: amzn.to/3787b2j External Hard Drive: amzn.to/3lb23Tf WHAT I USE AT HOME: Computer: amzn.to/3rKIdiN Sound Mixer: amzn.to/3C15Ubx Microphone: amzn.to/2VaCjvo Microphone Accessories: amzn.to/3v7A35Z INTERACTIVE MAP that shows you all of the places that I've made videos on: (Doesn't always work on mobile devices. Will always work on PC.) www.google.com/maps/d/u/2/edit?hl=en&mid=1Lhzf04oc… SOCIAL MEDIA & CONTACT INFO: Email: ChrisHardenYT@gmail.com/ On Twitter: twitter.com/Chris_Harden55 On Instagram: www.instagram.com/c_harden7/?... On Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChrisHardenYT/ DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you. As an Amazon Associate I do earn a small commission on qualifying purchases. As always, thank you for supporting my channel!

Born, raised and lived in Flint till I was 50 yrs old, I'm now 61. Grew up on the Westside of Flint in a middle-class residential neighborhood. Every male adult breadwinner in our neighborhood worked at one or another of the plants, my grandfather was a tool and die maker at Buick until he retired after 40+ yrs, he was one of the original sit-downers. Flint did rely on GM too much, but I can tell you that being born in the 60' and raised in the 70's living in Flint was a great place to be, it really was. I've moved north to Montrose and occasionally have a reason to travel south to Flint now and then, it saddens me. I go by my old childhood home and neighborhood and see the blight and decay of a once great place to live. I miss it. Thanks for the video tour, nice job.

GM got 33 million in grants to clean up the site. Now Ashley needs 17 million to clean up the site. City council and Genesee County commission have also approved millions to clean up the site. Where exactly have all these millions gone????

I grew up in Flint from '63 until '76 when my mother remarried and we moved to a little town called Durand. We lived right on the border between the city of Flint and Flint township. My dad worked at GMI (Kettering) starting as a janitor but then working as a textbook illustrationist until they laid him off. After that he worked on the production line at Fisher Body-Coldwater until he worked his way up to design engineer and then videographer. He eventually retired from GM but is still an active artist/musician in his 80's. Even though we didn't have a lot of money and were probably considered a lower middle class family while we lived there, there were so many things to see and do that were within walking distance or a bus ride and didn't cost a lot of money or were free. (The Cultural Center for example.) I have tons of happy memories from that time in my life and will always consider myself a Flintite even though I now live just outside the city. I still hold out hope that the city will continue to rebound from all of the crises it has endured.

You can blame both GM and the local government for Flint's down fall.

You nailed it with the UAW demands. They got greedy and corrupt and wound up hurting the workers they were paid to represent.

Good Job. I agree with about 75% of what is presented here. I worked for GM from 1965 to 1992 at various GM plants - being transferred as the plants closed. Flint lost revenue and management abilities as the plants closed. This made it almost impossible to keep Flint from turning into a disaster.

Thank you for the auto history lesson. Agree with you about the unions.

I'm 33 and I was born, raised and still live here. It makes me sad to see how Flint has changed over the years. It was already in decline when I was a kid but it has gotten a lot worse.

I love how well you do these videos. You show the street and area so we’ll. Thank you

5:20 outsourcing all our chip manufacturering to Taiwan was such a stupid idea

Man, it’s hard to figure out what to say about places like Flint. I’m a former Michigan resident. Grew up there in the 80’s and 90’s. I don’t know that you can really point an absolute finger at any one group or person for collapses of places like Flint or an rust belt cities or areas. Unions, politicians, the economy, the right, the left, I think SO many things played a part. And I don’t think every place always can continue to thrive. But it’s tough to see when it does fall so hard. You see issues like what there are with Flint all over. Other cities, other states, and other countries. If not maybe quite this extreme. Again, it is tough to see, but you can either dwell on it, or just move on. In some ways I do think Flint and a lot of Michigan as a whole are doing that. But it’s difficult in a world that’s changed so much, with a state that was so rooted in certain overwhelming industries, and maybe antiquated ways. I suppose all that I can say is that I wish the best for my former home state, and that I’m rooting for it.

This is so sad to watch- yet I can't stop. Such a thriving city that doesn't show much of much anymore. When giants fall, they usually hit the ground pretty hard. I see places like this here in Texas, but in these cities in Michigan, it seems worse. Thanks for the sharing the history that goes along with your tours. It's always cool to get some back stories on what we are seeing. Too many of these video tours are just people walking and driving without telling anything about what we are looking at.

I'm in SC. Many small towns look like this on a smaller scale. I'm thinking the US is just in a downward spiral on purpose. Farming here dried upand the few factories that were here are gone. It's a wasteland here too

We live in Detroit. So, only about an hour away. But as a kid, I remember my dad having a work event in Flint and we all got to go with him. My parents never hid their feelings about things to us, and I always remember them talking about Flint like it was such a neat destination. And now as an adult I go there from time to time for work. There is a lot wrong with Flint but there’s also a lot that’s good. The downtown being smaller than Detroit’s means that its return to glory will take less momentum than Detroit still needs. Also there’s a lot of art flocking to Flint and where art goes, people and money tend to follow. I know that’s not much, but I feel optimistic for Flint.

Very accurate, Being born n raised here I’ve seen the upside n downside n deterioration of my home town

I think a lot of UAW communities got used to the O.T. then when we just went to 40 a week that wasn't enough to make it, along with the fanny mae loan debacle letting people become easily upside down...live within our means guys.

I have heard from friends who live in Lansing that the Flint UAW was very militant and uncooperative while Lansing was more accepting to necessary changes over the years. Therefore, Lansing was the recipient of new plants and projects while Flint was not.

Flint: Detroit's little sister

Great video, Chris. Nice job explaining what happened with the unions and automakers.