Land of Oz

Saginaw

Let me tell you a little bit about the town I live in. I moved here almost nine years ago after retiring from the USAF. The reason I moved here was that I was looking for a small state university in Michigan to attend and Saginaw Valley State University fit the bill. And I have to say that SVSU was all I hoped for. Small classes and mostly good professors who taught themselves instead of using teaching assistants.

The city of Saginaw isn't quite that successful however. It's a textbook example of a rust belt city gone bad. In the 19th century it was the lumber city. A ton of millionaires in the city, beautiful houses and city, and lots of jobs. In the early to mid 20th century automobiles made their mark. The nation's oldest Buick dealer is here and at one time several big industries that supported the auto industry gave great jobs to blue collar folks. These folks made a great city with theatres and stores. The Saginaw River splits the city and once was the economic lifeline of the city. It connected the sawmills to the Great Lakes and the rest of the world. Now the river splits the city in more ways than one.

With the decline and fall of the American auto monopoly, the industries are mostly gone leaving either brown sites or empty factories. The money is gone and downtown Saginaw borders on a ghost town. Empty lots and abandoned buildings give it a feeling of some bombed out Middle Eastern city only with grass. South of the river is mostly minorities - mostly black. Almost weekly is a shooting or stabbing and every couple of weeks someone is murdered. A big hotel on that side recently lost a bunch of business because of some violence nearby. While the city officials said it wasn't really dangerous, one of the suggestions to the hotel was to build a berm around it. I suppose armed guards and razor wire wouldn't have been surprising.

It's sad because Saginaw was once a pretty nice place. There are still great looking buildings withstanding urban decay. The original post office (now a museum) and library are gorgeous stone buildings that resemble French castles. There is still one of the original theatres (Temple Theatre) downtown that has been renovated and looks great. Unfortunately, it's situated in an area of the city, that most don't feel safe visiting. And yes, the city says it isn't really dangerous, but that's the side of the city where life is cheap.

The riverfront holds great promise. Not so much as a business avenue, but it could fit nicely into leisure time use. It still connects to the Great Lakes and boating is still big. Housing is cheap and there are still absolutely gorgeous houses in the city. They are getting rundown, but could still be rescued with not that much work. Old houses from the turn of the century full of great woodwork and showing off the attention to detail in residences that is now only found in the most expensive of houses. My 1908 house has great 8 inch wide wood trim inside, a full front porch, nice wood colonnades inside with leaded glass display cases and more. It seems that the future of Saginaw is in the medical field. There are several big hospitals in the area with more being developed. Housing is cheap and for the most part life is quiet and moves at a comfortable pace.

Saginaw has lost a great deal, but still holds promise. Jobs are hard to find, but costs are low. You can hop on the freeway and be in Detroit in a couple of hours - if you want to. Plunk your boat into the river and be cruising the Great Lakes in no time at all. Hunting and fishing abound with more deer than you can though a bodyshop at. Maybe the city's turning around - I hope.

2fers: Saginaw Public Libraries and City of Saginaw