It begins with a bike

Flint, Michigan is a place that owes both its boom and decline to the automobile. I’m told that once upon a time it was a bustling little city, where everyone owed his or her happiness to America’s love affair with the car. Like many love affairs, it didn’t last.

Buick City, once the flagship factory of General Motors is no more and the land where this giant once stood is now one of the largest brownfields in the US. It’s said that at it’s highest in the late 1970’s GM once employed approximately 80,000 local people. That number is now below 8,000.

I’ve heard that Flint’s nickname “the Vehicle City” is actually not a reference to the many cars that have been produced in the city over the years, but actually to when Flint’s main industry was making horse drawn carriage vehicles.

So what’s this blog all about then?

I have recently returned to Flint after an absence of six years. In that period, Flint and I have both changed a lot. Many of the city’s problems remain, but there are also visible changes to this place and hope feels much more tangible than before.

As for me, well after living in a community house in London and attempting to pursue an ethical and simple way of life, I knew a return to Flint would not be easy. You might say I left as a child and have returned as a man, but I don’t really know what that means. I do know that I have returned to Flint with a much greater awareness of who I am, and how my life and my choices impact the world and the people I share it with.

I gave up eating meat, and after six years of living life with no car I decided to keep things the way they are. I am now the proud owner of a beautiful red Schwinn road bike that is my main method of transportation and exploration of the streets and roads of mid-Michigan. As a cyclist, sharing the roads of with big SUVs and bigger trucks isn’t much fun, but I don’t plan on giving up anytime soon.

I should state quite clearly from the beginning that I realize the name of my blog is not entirely correct. Officially a vehicle is defined as a device or structure for transporting persons or things, so that means my bike is most definitely a vehicle. However, I just like the title plain and simple. I know what it means to me, and the challenge of living without a car in a city whose entire identity has been formed around the car is something I take seriously.

So here’s hoping I can traverse these roads free from collisions with other larger, smellier vehicles. Stick around to hear more of my adventures.