Jamie Dimon’s daughter falsely uses Mideast photo to smear Flint, MI as ‘apocalyptic’
The daughter of JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is hot water over a recent column that alleged Flint, Michigan, was “apocalyptic” and used a photo of a run-down Israeli street as evidence.
In her PolicyMic article titled “This is America’s Most Apocalyptic, Violent City — And You’ve Probably Never Heard Of It,” Laura Dimon writes that Flint — which was the birthplace of General Motors — “drowns in the hell that has become of much of America’s Rust Belt.”
The article includes a number of photos that show Flint in shambles, but readers soon discovered that several of those photos were of other locations.
A Reddit thread criticizing the article first pointed out that something wasn’t right.
“I thought I was hallucinating at first, but this picture is not actually from Flint,” Redditor samiam25 wrote. “I know this because I lived in the place pictured almost my entire life. It’s a city in Israel called Ramla. I’m really confused as to why this picture is featured in the article and I’m a little creeped out.”
A Google street map view proves that the photo matches the street in Ramla.
Dimon was also forced to replace a photo that turned out to be of Detroit after an email exchange with the website Deadline Detroit.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/30/jamie-dimons-daughter-falsely-uses-mideast-photo-to-smear-flint-mi-as-apocalyptic/
= new reply since forum marked as read
Quite charming 
although the chili dogs don't come even close!
When steeped in an air of exceptionalism and unfathomable wealth, being flaming ignorant doesn't matter... for example: consider GWB!
I say we vote them off the island.
Many African American leaders have expressed the belief that Flint faces a future of gentrification that will eventually force poorer African Americans out as they will be unable to purchase the higher price homes and that rents will increase to an unaffordable level.
These individuals point to Washington DC, Cleveland and other urban areas where development under the name of urban development has changed the nature and indeed the color of neighborhoods.
The area around Hurley and Carriage Town has had many homes demolished. These college students are able to purchase homes, even federally subsidized homes, at low costs because they have not realized their earning potential yet.
Most of the lofts downdown have been built with a $100,000 price tag in mind and those that are rentals are also commesurate in cost. While not excessively priced they are out of range for many who would like to leave the high crime areas. Plus many minority families were caught up in the reverse redlining scams and are so deeply under water, they cannot leave.
For some the only option is to leave their mortgages and buy a HUD home or a Land bank property that is cheap and can be repaired easily. White families and minorities alike are buying thse homes. Former mansions on Welch blvd. have sold for $5,000 to $8,000 but have required the ability to afford to make the necessary repairs.
Walling has said the downtown area needed 500 new homes to accomadate the needs or downtown workers. Smith Village has 50 % of th 83 homes subsidized and the rest are to be sold at market value.
Meanwhile the unaddressed crime in some areas of flint is driving many residents out and whole areas are available for demolition. Indeed the vandals have left nothing for a rehab and whole blocks of homes are gutted .
Flint is definitely changing, but I bwlieve only time will tell what the long term changes will be. Will the racial makeup of Flint change in a dramatic fashion. Will the ultimate goal become to gentrfy most of downtown Flint?
More college students buying houses in Flint
Published: Monday, February 20, 2012, 7:00 AM Updated: Monday, February 20, 2012, 10:32 AM
FLINT, Michigan -- They were built for auto workers and their families decades ago. Then thousands sat empty for years, havens for crime and neglect.
Now, the city's vacant houses have an unlikely savior: college students...
"It's really weird how everybody is saying 'you got to get out of Flint,'" said University of Michigan-Flint student Brendon Beede. "Well, this is where the cheap houses are."
Beede, 24, bought a five-bedroom, 2,000 square foot house in the city's Carriage Town neighborhood in September for $45,000. He finished an undergraduate degree last year at UM-Flint and is studying for a masters degree in business while also working at the university, which is walking distance.
"I never use my car anymore."
His new home was restored by the Flint Neighborhood Improvement and Preservation Program, or NIPP, a non-profit group that remodels homes. The home has all new heating, electrical and appliances, Beede said.
"They basically knocked everything down to the studs and remodeled everything," Beede said.
The program also gave him the adjacent vacant lot, which he uses as a parking lot.
Beede lives alone in the home, but friends stay over often. The home has served as a sort of promotional tool for the city's redevelopment efforts. When friends visit, they're often shocked at how nice the house is and what he paid for it.
He is part of a growing network of 20-something friends and classmates who have bought homes in the city, he said.
Flint-area Realtor Chris Theodoroff has noticed the boom.
"We've seen a number of younger people, period," said Theodoroff, who also serves on the board of directors for the Flint Area Association of Realtors. "Some are still students."
Theodoroff said the uptick in young home buyers began about five years ago, as declining property values translated to good deals. About two years ago, realtors started to notice more young home buyers who were still college students. In many cases, a parent will help with the purchase.
Flint is already a cool place for young people to live, he said.
http://flinttalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=9849
Following on the heels of Detroit:
It may also be helpful to acquaint yourself with some true facts about Detroit. Like for instance, though we do have high levels of crime and many dangerous neighborhoods, contrary to popular belief we are in fact NOT the most violent city in the country. Sorry, that award goes to our cousin Flint, MI, though we do come in at number two.
Another fact that you may have missed: large scale gentrification is already in the works here as hot spot neighborhoods hike property taxes and big name investors swoop up buildings and blocks, pushing out longstanding businesses, organizations and residents while changing the entire dynamic of these areas. It’s made painfully clear when tax dollars go towards the corporate opening of high end grocers and sports arenas, while resources for those in need remain scarce.
http://sheliveswithanappletree.wordpress.com/tag/detroit/
