Located along the Flint River, 66 miles (106 km) northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan.

Flint was founded as a village by fur trader Jacob Smith in 1819 and became a major lumbering area on the historic Saginaw Trail during the 19th century.

[13][14] From 2014 to 2019, Flint faced a public health emergency due to lead contamination in parts of the local water supply as well as an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease.

[15][16] The acute lead crisis has been addressed as the city has secured a new source of clean water, installed modern copper pipes to nearly every home, and distributed filters to all residents who want them.

The Flint River had several convenient fords which became points of contention among rival tribes, as attested by the presence of nearby arrowheads and burial mounds.

[18] In 1819, Jacob Smith, a fur trader on cordial terms with both the local Ojibwe and the territorial government, founded a trading post at the Grand Traverse of the Flint River.

The first Ladies' Library Association in Michigan was started in Flint in 1851 in the home of Maria Smith Stockton, daughter of the founder of the community.

Durant experienced financial ruin in the stock market crash of 1929 and subsequently ran a bowling alley in Flint until the time of his death in 1947.

[27] Since the late 1960s through the end of the 20th century, Flint has suffered from disinvestment, deindustrialization, depopulation and urban decay, as well as high rates of crime, unemployment and poverty.

Many factors have been blamed, including outsourcing, offshoring, increased automation, and moving jobs to non-union facilities in right to work states and foreign countries.

Examples of their efforts include the following: Similar to a plan in Detroit, Flint is in the process of tearing down thousands of abandoned homes to create available real estate.

[41] On March 20, 2012, days after a lawsuit was filed by labor union AFSCME, and a restraining order was issued against Brown, his appointment was found to be in violation of the Michigan Open Meetings Act, and Mayor Walling and the City Council had their powers returned.

[41] On August 3, 2012, the Michigan Supreme Court ordered the state Board of Canvassers to certify a referendum on Public Act 4, the Emergency Manager Law, for the November ballot.

Brown made several actions on August 7 including placing a $6 million public safety millage on the ballot and sold Genesee Towers to a development group for $1 to demolish the structure.

[41] Two lawsuits were filed in September 2012, one by the city council against Kurtz's appointment, while another was against the state in Ingham County Circuit Court claiming the old emergency financial manager law remains repealed.

[50] Earley formed a blue ribbon committee on governance with 23 members on January 16, 2014, to review city operations and consider possible charter amendments.

[57] On January 22, 2016, the Receivership Transition Advisory Board unanimously voted to return some powers, including appointment authority, to the mayor.

[58] The Receivership Transit Authority Board was formally dissolved by State Treasurer Nick Khouri on April 10, 2018, returning the city to local control.

These neighborhoods were the center of manufacturing for and profits from the nation's carriage industry until the 1920s and are the site of many well-preserved Victorian homes and the setting of Atwood Stadium.

[70] The building became unused in later years and fell into severe disrepair: a cautionary sign warning of falling debris was put on the sidewalk in front of it.

Typical of southeastern Michigan, Flint has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb), and is part of USDA Hardiness zone 6a.

The 2009 Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram II, born and raised in Grand Blanc, attended his final year of high school at Flint Southwestern Academy.

NBA champion Glen Rice, Eddie Robinson and three-time NBA champion JaVale McGee, and Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma all hail from Flint,[84] as do Morris Peterson, Mateen Cleaves, and Charlie Bell (four of the five starters from Michigan State University's "Flintstones" 2000 National Championship team).

[87] On January 14, 2015, the Ontario Hockey League's Plymouth Whalers were relocated to Flint after a sale of the team to the owner of Perani Arena for the 2015–16 season.

The Uncommon Sense was a monthly publication featuring investigative journalism, political analysis, satirical cartoons, and articles about Flint music, art, nightlife and culture; it stopped publishing in 2007.

The hyper local news website focuses on Flint City Hall, solutions journalism and public health in addition to their work covering neighborhoods and telling community stories.

It has since relocated south into the Detroit market, changing its city of license to Farmington Hills and increasing its power to 50,000 watts.

Amtrak provides intercity passenger rail service on the Blue Water line from Chicago to Port Huron at the border to Canada.

While CSX ceded control of their former Saginaw Subdivision north of Plymouth to LSRC in 2019, they continue to operate trackage rights trains over CN from Flint to Port Huron several times per week as of 2020.

Flint rap, greatly influenced by Detroit drill, is characterized by bouncy drums, menacing melodic elements, and commonly a tresillo rhythm in the 808.