Flint, Michigan :: essays research papers

Flint, lettuceA strong culture is one that has dependency upon itself along with exterior resources. The economy is hard if nearly impossible to predict, andthis puts severe strain on a community that is dependent on one employer.Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Flint atomic number 18 examples of these types of communities.When a manufacturing process or company pulls out of a city, umpteen problems arise.Flint is a city which has had a significant portion of an exertion leave. GMused to be the heart of Flint, until the decision to downsize was made. Thiscaused approximately 40 thousand of the 80 thousand GM employees to loose theirjobs. Recently there was a debate pitting two sides of an issue. The questionconsisted of the decline of world(a) Motors in Flint. Is it a catastrophe ordoes it provide an opportunity for the community. Members of the beautify includedBill Donahue (pro-opportunity), Larry Thompson (pro-opportunity), DorothyReynolds (catastrophe supporter) and Ruben Burks (catastrophe supporter).In the beginning, there were some(prenominal) advantages of having GM as thedominate employer in Flint. The quantity of GM jobs in Flint provided for an frugal boom town in the 1960s and 1970s. Money from General Motors trickleddown from the workers to either part of the economy of Genesse county. Thepopulation was on the rise which meant more homes, roads, and businesses. Itwas any to good to be true. When Roger Smith (then President of GM) decided torelocate numerous jobs from the Buick City, it was time for Flint to pay thepiper. The large dependency on GM brought upon a rapid decline in the economyunparalleled by any city in United States history.The removal of jobs from GM caused many problems in Flint. DororthyReynolds gave many statistics which proved how much the decline of GM have Flint.She pointed out that since the removal of GM jobs, Flint has become the 2nd nearly dangerous city in America while being the sixth most segregated. The lack ofec onomic development since the early 1980s has also had a terrible impact onthe children of Flint and Genesse county. Thirty percent of the children inGenesse county live at or below the poverty level where the graduation rate inthe schools has shrunk to 57%. Mrs. Reynolds also pointed out the fact that yet three new home developments have been started in the last 18 months. RubenBurks was also invited to share his opinions on the catastrophe surroundingFlint. Unfortunately for the audience, his blood with the United AutoWorkers was at a level to where he couldnt complicate on his negative GM opinions.