Happy June Everyone!
Flint Residents for Stronger Neighborhoods (FRSN) will be hosting its next meeting on June 12th at 6:00pm at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (711 S. Saginaw St.). The mission of FRSN is to advocate for quality, effective urbanism in the City of Flint.
Founded to advocate for the adoption of Flint’s new zoning code, today we work to make sure that we are building a community that provides a quality urban lifestyle for all of our residents. Specifically, this means that FRSN advocates for policies and developments that improve walkability, transit access, and allow people to live diverse types of urban lifestyles in Flint. This can mean lower density neighborhoods with larger lots and access to transit and neighborhood centers within walking distance, or it can mean high density neighborhoods of rowhouses, townhomes, apartments and more with a diverse mix of uses. We need to provide our neighbors with options of how to live, whether that is in a single family detached home, a duplex, a rowhouse, or an apartment building.
On April 27th, we worked with a coalition of organizations and residents to welcome nationally acclaimed author Nolan Gray to Flint to discuss his book Arbitrary Lines: How Zoning Broke the American City and How to Fix It. Hosted at Café Rhema, this event focused on the racist origins of zoning, how zoning codes have weakened our cities throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, and what changes we can make as a community to advance inclusive, equitable policies that help to build the kinds of places we all want to live in. You can see pictures of this event at https://www.facebook.com/FlintRSN/, and we plan to host similar talks in the future!
At our next meeting, FRSN will be discussing a few key issues. First are potential improvements that can be made to the zoning ordinance adopted last year. We believe that while the new code is a major step in the right direction, we still have a long way to go to ensure that our laws governing land use reflect the needs of Flint residents. Secondly, we will continue to advocate for the City of Flint to adopt a Complete Streets Ordinance, meaning that when road work is required that all users be considered, whether they walk, bike, drive, or have mobility challenges. Too many of our roads today are built for a single purpose – driving fast. We believe that we can change this to encourage diverse kinds of transportation in our city.
If you are interested in getting involved, join us on June 12th! Simply enter through the doors facing the Masonic Temple. Due to construction, the church is accessible from Brush Alley behind the building. Food and refreshments provided, and all are welcome. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/flintrsn and if you have any questions, email us at flintrsn@gmail.com or call (810) 358-7886.
