Applied Community-Based Research

The Flint Study

 

Current census estimates indicate that Flint’s population stands at just under 97,000 people, down from a peak of roughly 196,000 people during the mid-1950s. Only a small fraction of other large Americans cities, among them Detroit, have experienced such outsized losses in population density. Like Detroit, Flint—wielding the moniker of “Vehicle City” against Detroit’s “Motor City” banner—once had a sprawling industrial base fed chiefly by the presence of General Motors, an automaker which once employed over half of Flint’s residents.

What is Flint in 2019? What will it be a decade from now? The Flint Study, also known as the Flint Community Engagement Project, aims to better understand these intricate questions–the ebb-and-flow of local development, growth, disinvestment, and recession–and how change and opportunity manifest over time. The project, initiated in the summer of 2017, involves a series of community-focused interviews and surveys with residents and community stakeholders in Flint. Endeavoring to move beyond academic tropes around Flint’s “broken windows,” this research employs a strengths-based typology in engaging with participants, balancing the pursuit of sociological insights with the pursuit of meaningful public policy applications and bi-directional communication.

The Flint Study is led by Jerel Ezell, PhD, MPH, a native of the Flint area and an assistant professor in Africana Studies at Cornell University.