Flint, Michigan

Flint is the largest city and county seat of Genesee County in the State of Michigan. It is located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit. According to the 2010 census, Flint has a population of 102,434, making it the seventh largest city in Michigan. Flint is the largest city in the Flint/Tri-Cities region of Michigan. Genesee County comprises the entirety of Flint’s metropolitan area, the fourth largest metropolitan area in Michigan with a population of 425,790 in 2010. Founded as a village by fur trader Jacob Smith in 1819, Flint became a major lumbering area on the historic Saginaw Trail during the 19th century, and incorporated as a city in 1855. It later became a leading manufacturer of carriages and other vehicles earning it the nickname “Vehicle City”. In 1908, William Crapo Durant formed General Motors in Flint, and it was later the home of the Flint Sit-Down Strike of 1936’37 that played a vital role in the formation of the United Auto Workers, and eventually became an automobile manufacturing powerhouse for Buicks and Chevrolets. However, by the late 1980s the city sank into a deep economic depression after GM closed and demolished several factories in the area, the effects of which remain today. In the mid-2000s, it became known for its high crime rates. Since this time, Flint has been ranked among the “Most Dangerous Cities in the United States”, with a per capita violent crime rate seven times higher than the national average. It has also been in a state of financial emergency since 2011, the second in a decade.