My hometown: Saginaw, MI

[NorthAndre]

It's a bit long (70 photos) so I did my best to optimize.  Saginaw, the town where I grew up, is located 100 miles north of Detroit.  Originally a booming industrial town, the population has since dwindled below 60,000 residents.  With the city in debt, change has been difficult, as well as shaking off the label has the 14th most dangerous metro in the U.S. 

Its history is similar to Detroit's with the rise and fall of the American auto industry, struggling race relations, rampant crime and gang activity, suburban sprawl, and of course the slow renaissance of downtown and surrounding neighborhoods.  While improvements are happening, there are still many strong neighborhoods.  The city is so polarized, that many visitors re-tell entirely different experiences of their visit.  I will illustrate these differences.

These photos are from recent return trips back home over the past year.

"SAGNASTIAN" FOREVER!

1  I-675 Interchange into the city.     I-75 is closed indefinitely due to a construction accident on the Zilwaukee bridge last year.


2  Zone 1


3  More Zone 1.  Yeah, terrible name for a neighborhood


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22 General Motors' Malleable Iron Plant


23 General Motors' Malleable Iron Plant


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29  Fresh Ta Death!


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39 Historical Museum


40 Downtown Library


41 Waterworks


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43 Zoo


44 Saginaw Valley State University Student Housing


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49 Neighborhood Revival


50 Neighborhood Revival


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55 My old street


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69 I-75/Zilwaukee Bridge [closed]


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END

[Robert Pence]

Powerful stuff, kind of jarring to view in the morning before coffee. Strong contrasts, excellent camera work as usual.

[ink]

Awesome!

[LAsam]

Rough looking town, great looking photos!

[conovercourt]

I grew up up the Dioxin River (Tittabawassee) from Saginaw in Midland. I knew Saginaw when it was a great little city.
You should point out the big divide between the former Saginaw City (West Side), and East Saginaw (East Side and Downtown). The last shots were on the still viable West Side of the City of Saginaw. The situation is much like Benton Harbor /St. Joseph.

Closing my eyes, I can still see the money, and the bill whooshing through the pneumatic tube to the cashier's office in Morley Brothers, Downtown Saginaw.

Thanks for bittersweet memories, Hayward.

[ProkNo5]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!   You can tell it was once beautiful.  What the hell is wrong with the people in this country?  We've abandoned beautiful places like Saginaw, Detroit, St Louis, Over-the-Rhine, etc, etc, etc, way too many places to count, for places like this:



We seem to have entirely lost the concept of PRIDE as americans. 

[David]

I like Saginaw

[ColDayMan]

The Lorain of Michigan!

[ink]

Lorain wishes it had that downtown.

[-tina]

love the Faygo truck in pic 30

[westerninterloper]

anyone else see "OHIO" in No. 32?

great work, btw.

[MyTwoSense]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!   You can tell it was once beautiful.  What the hell is wrong with the people in this country?  We've abandoned beautiful places like Saginaw, Detroit, St Louis, Over-the-Rhine, etc, etc, etc, way too many places to count, for places like this:



We seem to have entirely lost the concept of PRIDE as americans. 

Honey, that could be in tacky @ss Beachwood, Richmond Hts. or those home adjacent to the airport, etc., here in Metro Cleveland.

[NorthAndre]

Hey, I have a friend in Richmond Hts!  i'm telling on you!

[MyTwoSense]

Hey, I have a friend in Richmond Hts!  i'm telling on you!

As if I care.  I'm still reeling from my last visit to Richmond Hts.

[David]

That development AJ posted is actually pretty nice compared to most of the crap they build. If it were more accessible to a mixed use environment and had more variety in housing (with garages in the back), I wouldn't complain.