Mapping Flint: Understanding Flint Geography

Editor’s Note: This is part of the Mapping Flint series from cartographer Alex B. Hill, a self-described “data nerd and anthropologist” who combines mapping, data, and analytics with storytelling and human experience. He is the founder of DETROITography and author of “Detroit in 50 Maps and Great Lakes in 50 Maps.

FLINT, Michigan — Flint, to me, has always been about family and cars. 

My great-grandfather worked for Chevrolet in what became better known as “Chevy in the hole.” My grandfather worked at the Flint Assembly Plant and was an active member of the UAW. My grandmother’s family opened the first Chrysler dealership in the Flint area in 1926 before running the Oldsmobile dealership.

Both of my parents grew up in Flint, with stories of attending community schools, watching the Spark Plug Parades, and ice skating at Atwood Stadium. Actually, five members of my immediate family were born at St. Joe’s hospital, which closed in 1997. My dad bought his first home on Bradley Avenue Hills, the same area of Crim notoriety. 

My childhood was spent visiting the city’s Cultural Center, taking trips to the Flint Institute of Arts, the Longway Planetarium, or the Flint Public Library, learning to swim at Hurley Health and Fitness, running the Crim, and taking classes at Mott Community College. I attended Powers Catholic when it was on the North End, and I often volunteered at the St. Luke Center. Most of my family lived in areas of the South End near Miller Road, Thread Lake, and Bristol Road.

Thinking about all the Flint places important to my own story, I tried to come up with a way to quickly reference the city’s geography. North, Downtown, and South area helpful geographic divisions. Specific ZIP codes are easy to know from family and business addresses.

How do you represent Flint? What are the ways that you reference where you are in the city?