03298nam 2200649 a 450 991111039770332120251117100529.09780520955370052095537410.1525/9780520955370(CKB)2670000000355204(EBL)1184541(OCoLC)842883490(SSID)ssj0000873182(PQKBManifestationID)12439253(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000873182(PQKBWorkID)10865596(PQKB)11665709(MiAaPQ)EBC1184541(DE-B1597)519682(DE-B1597)9780520955370(Au-PeEL)EBL1184541(CaPaEBR)ebr10698368(CaONFJC)MIL486977(Perlego)551883(EXLCZ)99267000000035520420150303d2013 uy 0engurnn#---|u||utxtccrTeardown memoir of a vanishing city /Gordon Young1st ed.Berkeley, Calif. University of California Pressc20131 online resource (301 p.)Includes index.9780520270527 0520270525 Front matter --Contents --Prologue: Summer 2009 --Part One --Part Two --Part Three --Epilogue: Summer 2012 --Updates --Acknowledgments --Notes --Sources And Further Reading --IndexAfter living in San Francisco for 15 years, journalist Gordon Young found himself yearning for his Rust Belt hometown: Flint, Michigan, the birthplace of General Motors and "star" of the Michael Moore documentary Roger & Me. Hoping to rediscover and help a place that once boasted one of the world's highest per capita income levels, but is now one of the country's most impoverished and dangerous cities, he returned to Flint with the intention of buying a house. What he found was a place of stark contrasts and dramatic stories, where an exotic dancer can afford a lavish mansion, speculators scoop up cheap houses by the dozen on eBay, and arson is often the quickest route to neighborhood beautification. Skillfully blending personal memoir, historical inquiry, and interviews with Flint residents, Young constructs a vibrant tale of a once-thriving city still fighting-despite overwhelming odds-to rise from the ashes. He befriends a rag-tag collection of urban homesteaders and die-hard locals who refuse to give up as they try to transform Flint into a smaller, greener town that offers lessons for cities all over the world. Hard-hitting, insightful, and often painfully funny, Teardown reminds us that cities are ultimately defined by people, not politics or economics.Plant shutdownsMichiganFlintUrban renewalMichiganFlintFlint (Mich.)Social conditionsFlint (Mich.)Economic conditionsPlant shutdownsUrban renewal307.3/4160977437Young Gordon1966-2001449Young Gordon1966-2001449MiAaPQMiAaPQMiAaPQBOOK9911110397703321Teardown4784842UNINA