My City June 2021

MYDOWNTOWN

What’s Up Downtown BY PETER HINTERMAN PHOTOS PROVIDED BY WHAT’S UP DOWNTOWN

It’s a Saturday night and Downtown Flint is packed with pedestrians.The Capitol Theatre is hosting a show, Flint Local 432 is rocking, a local rapper is performing at Riverbank Park, Brush and Buckham Al leys are flush with art and poetry, and the Flint City Bucks are playing a pivotal match at Atwood Stadium. What do you do? Where do you go? Maybe you hit the Flat Lot for the silent disco or visit Flint City Hard Cider to enjoy a drink and an acoustic set? The point is that you have options and Flint’s Downtown is as vibrant and accommodating as it ever was.The best part: the majority of the Downtown excitement has been created by area residents who had an idea and the drive to make it happen.The first step toward this reality is the recently-launched What’s Up Downtown. The initiative is the result of the year-long efforts of Flint Director of Placemaking, Kady Yellow, and her team.

GRASSROOTS

“I believe in a grassroots approach to placemaking,” she says. “What’s Up Downtown provides support for socially directed pop-up activities and space activation within guidelines. We will connect you with the appropriate place and program

to make your idea happen.”With What’s Up Downtown, residents have a chance to transform their own Downtown spaces into areas that reflect Flint’s true talent and heart. “In Flint, something special is brewing and the paths that lead to a cultural renaissance are there,” says Yellow. “The people who know best how to celebrate an area are its residents. We have the spaces for people to come in and activate with simple events or promotions. The process of community buy-in is implicit for the growth of a city focused on a hyper-local economy.” With What ’s Up Downtown, Yellow hopes to

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