Accustomed to Decline, One Neighborhood in Flint Bucks Trend

"In a city that is synonymous with faded American industrial and automotive power, Carriage Town's success is both unexpected and inspiring. A persistent group of long-term urban homesteaders - along with newer arrivals eager to live near a downtown showing signs of life - has restored dozens of Victorian-era houses and buildings in the last 20 years. While many Flint neighborhoods feel all but abandoned, in Carriage Town home ownership has increased 10 percent over the last decade, according to Census data."

Locals have been buying up cheap property and restoring houses, and more than $47 million in public and private financing is being invested in the 30-block Carriage Town neighborhood.