Flint Expatriates

13/03/2026

Halo Burger is set to reopen in downtown Flint at its original location, sparking excitement among local burger lovers eager for their favorite meals once again.

13/03/2026

It's good to have an MIT study back you up, but if you lived in Flint in the '70s and '80s you probably already knew this:

"A new paper adds to the understanding of NAFTA’s costs. In it, economists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Chicago found that American workers in communities that were more exposed to competition from Mexican imports saw a significant shortening of their life spans after the trade deal went into effect in 1994.

The new study concludes, for example, that in the first 15 years of NAFTA, about 3 percent of 45-year-old men lost a year of their remaining life expectancy as a result of the trade deal. The researchers saw increases in mortality across most major causes of death, including illness, drug overdoses and suicides. The overall trends particularly affected working-age men, and were more pronounced in the Southeast and parts of the Midwest, like Michigan."

A study tracks how the North American Free Trade Agreement and trade competition with Mexico led to earlier deaths for American factory workers.

14/02/2026

It's easy to explore my old Civic Park neighborhood in Flint via Google Street View. Twenty years ago, the experience was more nostalgic than distressing. A digital trip down memory lane. 2402 Bassett Place and the neighboring house at 2406, once owned by the Bowden family, looked pretty much the same, even though the surrounding blocks were already in serious decline. But it was only a matter of time before Bassett Place caught up with the rest of Civic Park.

Click on the link to read the rest and see the photos on the Flint Expatriates site.

https://www.flintexpats.com/2026/02/charting-decline-on-flint-street-with.html

01/10/2025

17/09/2025

I'm clearly having a little trouble coming to terms with how Flint is portrayed on Etsy. Clearly we've got bigger things to worry about. I should probably just let it go.

An indepth look at the past, present, and future of Flint, Michigan by journalist Gordon Young.

17/09/2025

Flint as you've never seen it before, courtesy of Etsy.

An indepth look at the past, present, and future of Flint, Michigan by journalist Gordon Young.

03/07/2025

Unpacking some boxes and uncovered this classic Flint artifact that I collected from my temporary front yard in Carriage Town while researching "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City."

"I tossed the phone down, got dressed, and ventured outside for what had become my morning routine. Each night, someone unfettered by bourgeois concerns about recycling deposited an empty pint bottle of Seagram’s Wild Grape in the front yard of my temporary residence. For the uninitiated, it’s “Extra Smooth Premium Grape Flavored Vodka.” I dutifully picked it up before breakfast, arranging it with all the others in a corner of the front room, figuring I’d throw them out once the pattern was broken. Years of Catholic school had made me unwilling to depart from ritual."

www.teardownbook.com

14/06/2025

https://www.facebook.com/braunn/posts/pfbid02WHU6ZMf3QAsZSxnMdn8aVU17o7NUFt9YUnCQ4vaGr2HEnTHA1u3QYHBt9DjuJ4PFl

16/02/2025

I'll take the Woody Coupe in antique white, please.

16/02/2025

With postcards like this one, Gary is clearly not suited for employment with the Flint tourism board.

11/02/2025

The Michigan Mitten...with emphasis on the thumb.