Ten years ago, the safety of drinking water came to the forefront nationally because of a crisis in Flint, Michigan.
There were high levels of lead and other contaminants in the city’s tap water because of a series of mistakes made when the city changed the source of its drinking water.
A decade later, Flint’s water system has been largely repaired, but fixing the city’s image remains a work in progress.
For decades, Flint’s image was as a prosperous city with a robust auto industry.
It’s an image promoted in a film produced by General Motors in the 1950’s.
“It looks like an ordinary day in the USA. But in the city of Flint, Michigan….all is excitement,” intoned the film’s announcer.
But Flint’s image as “the Vehicle City” came tumbling down by the 1980’s, as GM closed auto plants and the city’s fortunes waned.
Flint’s image was further tarnished by extensive news coverage of the city’s lead tainted drinking water.
Video of turbid water pouring from kitchen taps, people waiting in long lines to get bottled water, and toddlers crying as nurses pricked their fingers to check their blood lead levels, were the new image of Flint.
It’s been a decade. Tests today show Flint’s water is drinkable.
But the images of decade ago are largely what remains in people’s minds today.
“'Oh, you’re from Flint. How’s the water?' Is the very next question that they ask me,” said Amari Steward.
Her job at the local chamber of commerce is to attract conventions and tourists to Flint. Steward said when making her pitch to potential conventioneers, it’s about answering their questions to get them to think beyond the city’s reputation as a place where you can’t drink the water.
Since the water crisis, that’s a difficult job. But not an impossible one.
In his studio, Travis Crossley limbered up his fingers playing his electric guitar, before he starts another day as a tattoo artist.
Crossley is also busy these days making plans for the Tattoo City Tattoo Convention this summer in Flint. He’s expecting 400 tattoo artists and maybe 5 thousand attendees, though he admits there is some reluctance by some planning to attend.
“You know people think that the water’s not drinkable. That’s just simply not the case,” said Crossley, “That one situation should not define this community.”
Crossley said to move beyond the water crisis Flint needs a rebranding.
Sheila Rondeau agrees. Rondeau is a marketing strategist with MOGXP, which specializes in corporate image building.
Rondeau says in order for Flint to change its image, there are things the city must do, including finishing the job of replacing lead pipes. Although the city has replaced more than 10,000 pipes, there may still be hundreds that remain in the ground.
Rondeau said city leaders also have to change their approach to change Flint’s image.
“They have been on the defensive so long…at a certain point…they have to go on the offensive,” said Rondeau.
Rondeau compares the task ahead for Flint to improve its image to the transformation Pittsburgh has undergone. She points to the Pennsylvania city’s transition as a late 20th century symbol of industrial decay to 21st century high tech hub.
While city leaders pursue the path of changing Flint’s image, Flint residents find they are still dealing with their own battered self-image.
“Do you know what it’s like to be embarrassed to say where your church is? To be embarrassed to tell your family that I go to church in Flint?” asked Bishop Chris Martin.
Martin leads the Cathedral of Faith church on Flint’s north side. He said many of those who attend his church are still struggling today with the stress and anxiety from the water crisis and the effect that has had on their faith.
“It destroyed a lot of our parishioners’ confidence,” said Martin.
Even after the last of the city’s lead pipes are replaced, some worry it will be years before many Flint residents will have some level of closure and be able to think positively about themselves and their city.
