East Village, Flint

The East Village is a neighborhood located on the East Side of Flint, Michigan, bounded on the west by Downtown Flint, north by the Eastside (State Streets), east by Thrift City and the south by Kent Park and Sugar Hill [ [http://www.sph.umich.edu/yvpc/evaluation/yvis/block.pdf Flint Block Clubs and Neighborhood Orgnizations, College and Cultural Neighborhood] ] . It is the site of Flint Central High School, Mott Community College, the Flint Cultural Center and their affiliated institutions. The neighborhood is occasionally confused with the Eastside, due to their proximity and similar names. Along these lines, East Villagers sometimes identify themselves as East Siders.

Location

There is some ambiguity as to specific neighborhood boundaries. Broadly speaking, the neighborhood is bounded on the north by Robert T. Longway, the south by I-69, the west by I-475, and the east by Dort Highway. Within this area, however, there are several smaller neighborhoods that some consider separate from East Village. These include the area north of Court Street and west of Crapo Street, named Central Park [ [http://www.sph.umich.edu/yvpc/evaluation/yvis/block.pdf Flint Block Clubs and Neighborhood Organizations, Central Park Neighborhood Association] ] , and the area south of Court Street and west of Gilkey Creek, known as the Interchange Neighborhood and Fairfield Village [ [http://www.sph.umich.edu/yvpc/evaluation/yvis/block.pdf Flint Block Clubs and Neighborhood Organizations, Fairfield Village Neighborhood Council] ] . The area is sometimes referred to as the "College Cultural area," but this is an informal designation rarely used outside of real-estate listings. In the narrowest sense, then, East Village consists of the neighborhood bordered on the west by Gilkey Creek and Mott Community College, and on the other sides by Longway, Dort, and I-69.

The Name "East Village"

This title came about as an informal designation by area residents after the 1976 founding of East Village Magazine. Editor Gary Custer has stated that the name first appeared July 3, 1976 on the initial issue of the publication. Being east of somewhere, specifically downtown, and following Marshal McLuhan's ideas that advanced communications had created a "global village," the name was born. Custer said that the whole concept was that East Village was a state of mind, not a physical place.

History

Proximity to Downtown and scenic locales like Woodlawn Park and Thread Lake helped transform the early East Village into an enclave of the wealthy, particularly south of Court Street. The area went through a troubled period in the 1960s during the successful challenge of housing compacts that prevented African Americans from moving into the area. In the 1950s and 60s, construction of I-69 and I-475 somewhat isolated the community from its neighbors; in particular, Lapeer Road and Dort Highway are now the only connections between the East Village and Kent Park and Sugar Hill to the south.

Present day

Today, the East Village is one of Flint's better known smaller neighborhoods, being the site of Mott Community College, Central High School, and the Flint Cultural Center. While the area suffers from the same population exodus that has affected Flint generally, housing values have remained fairly stable. This is partly due to the expansion of Mott Community College, which took advantage of the recent demolition of St. Joseph Hospital to build a Regional Technology Center. The East Village is more racially integrated than much of the city, but remains predominantly white.

References

External links

* [http://www.eastvillagemagazine.org/ East Village Magazine]
* [http://central.flintschools.org/ Flint Central High School]
* [http://www.flintculturalcenter.com Flint Cultural Center]
* [http://www.flintarts.org/ Flint Institute of Arts]
* [http://www.thefim.com/ Flint Institute of Music]
* [http://www.flint.lib.mi.us/fpl.html Flint Public Library]
*Flint Timeline Project: [http://www.flint.lib.mi.us/timeline/civics-buildings-01-00/stjoseph.html St. Joseph Hospital]
* [http://www.flintyouththeatre.com/ Flint Youth Theatre]
* [http://www.longwayplanetarium.com/ Robert T. Longway Planetarium]
* [http://www.mcc.edu/indexmain.shtml Mott Community College]
* [http://www.flintschools.org/sarvis/index.htm The Sarvis Center]
* [http://www.sloanmuseum.com/ The Alfred P. Sloan Museum]
* [http://thewhiting.com/index.aspx The Whiting Auditorium]