Flint/Tri-Cities

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Map of the regions of the Lower Peninsula, the Flint/Tri-Cities area is highlighted red.

The Flint/Tri-Cities area is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The Flint/Tri-Cities region has two subregions, The Thumb and the Greater Tri Cities. Flint's population is 124,943, the fifth largest city in Michigan, the combined population of the Greater Tri-Cities (Saginaw, Midland, and Bay City) is 398,482. Genesee, St. Clair and Lapeer counties are located in Detroit–Ann Arbor–Flint Combined Statistical Area.

[edit] Economy

Straw Bails in an area field

The Flint and Tri-Cities area, as well as most of Michigan is dependent on automobile manufacturing. Rural areas grow crops such as sugar beets, navy beans, corn, fruits, and fish from the Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron.

[edit] Business

Several large corporations have operations in the Tri-Cities. The Michigan Sugar Company, which is a cooperative owned by 1250 farmers, operates factories in Bay City, Caro, Croswell, and Sebewaing.^[1] General Motors operates the Flint Truck Assembly factory in Flint and Powertrain plants in Flint, Bay City, and Saginaw. The Dow Chemical Company world headquarters is based in Midland. Delphi Corporation operates Delphi Saginaw Steering Systems in Saginaw. S.C. Johnson and Son has a manufacturing facility in Bay City making Ziploc products.

[edit] Geography

See also List of Michigan state parks and geography of Michigan.

[edit] Counties Included

[edit] Geographic features

The area has many lakes and rivers.

Cass River has many branches, one of which flows into the Shiawassee River in the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge at 43°22′42″N, 83°59′04″W less than a mile from where the Shiawassee merges with the Tittabawassee River to form the Saginaw River
The Saginaw Bay forms a low basin known as the Saginaw Valley, which covers most of the region.
Lake Huron rests in the far eastern portion of the area, known as the thumb

[edit] Transportation

[edit] Airlines and Airports

Scheduled airline service is available from MBS International Airport^[2] near Midland, Michigan and Flint Bishop International Airport.^[3] The only international airport in the thumb area is St. Clair County International Airport about 6 miles outside Port Huron.

[edit] Highways

[edit] Interstate Highways

Interstate 69 cuts through the southern area of the region. It starts at the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, and runs through Flint.
Interstate 75 connects this region together. It runs through Bay City, Saginaw, and intersects with I-69 in Flint. I-75 is very busy, bringing commuters north form Metro Detroit to the Mackinac Bridge and into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Interstate 475
Interstate 675

[edit] U.S. Highways

US-10 bypasses Midland and terminates at I-75 in Bay City, merging into M-25.^[4] Viewed from an east-west orientation, it provides a mainly westerly road across Northern Michigan from Bay City off I-75 toward Ludington.
US-23 comes out of Ohio merges with I-75 south of Flint, and then breaks away at Standish. It then proceeds north, along the Lake Huron shoreline to the Mackinaw City.

[edit] Michigan Highways

M-13 is a 72.22 mile north-south highway that cuts through the bay region of the U.S. state of Michigan. The southern terminus is at I-69 south of the town of Lennon with its northern terminus located south of Standish. It is a shorter alternative route, instead of I-75, from Bay City to US-23 in Standish.
M-15
M-19
M-20
M-21
old M-21
M-24
M-25 is a highway of an arc-like shape closely following the outline of the Thumb along the Lake Huron/Saginaw Bay shoreline between Port Huron, Michigan (junction I-94, US I-69, and I-94 Business Loop and Bay City, Michigan (junction US I-75, US-23, and US-10.^[5] It is generally a scenic drive.
M-29
M-30
M-46 is a cross peninsular road, running across the mitten and the thumb -- from Port Sanilac on the Lake Huron shore; through Saginaw near Saginaw Bay; and then on to Muskegon on the Lake Michigan shore.^[6] This east-west surface route nearly bisects the Lower Peninsula of Michigan latitudinally.
M-47
M-53 (Van Dyke Road) is a gateway route to The Thumb of Michigan, carrying vacationers to the resorts and cottages on Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron in the vicinity of Caseville and Port Austin. It goes up the middle of the Thumb, and directly connects in Macomb County, Michigan to the M-53 expressway. It is an important route for agricultural and manufactured goods.
M-52
M-54 The Dort Highway, A main road leading into Flint replaced by I-475
M-57
M-58
M-81
M-83
M-84
M-90
M-136
M-138
M-142

[edit] Rail

Main article: Michigan Services

Area Amtrak stations are in Lapeer, Port Huron, Flint and Durand. Local railroads are the Grand Trunk Western Railroad, CSX Transport, Canadian National Rail , Pere Marquette Railway, and the Huron & Eastern Saginaw Valley Railroad.

[edit] Media

[edit] Newspaper

Daily editions of the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News are available throughout the area.
Editions of the Bay City Times^[7] and Saginaw News^[8] are available in the Tri-Cities area.
The Flint Journal^[9] has daily editions in the Flint area.

[edit] Radio

The Flint/Tri-Cities area lies within three radio media markets.

[edit] Broadcast Television

Television in Tri-Cities and Flint is mostly produced from the Flint/Tri-Cities Television Market. Far eastern areas such as Lapeer County, St. Clair County and Sanilac County lie in the Detroit Television Market. Areas like Genesee County can view programing from the Detroit and Flint/Saginaw media markets.

[edit] Flint/Tri-Cities

WSMH, Fox 66
WEYI, NBC 25
WJRT, Abc 12
WNEM, CBS 5
WFUM, PBS 28

[edit] Detroit Area

WJBK, Fox 2
WDIV, NBC 4
WXYZ, Abc 7
WWJ, CBS 62
WTVS, PBS 56
WKBD, UPN 50

[edit] Principal Cities

Flint's Genesee Towers

Tri-Cities
- Saginaw
- Midland
- Bay City

[edit] See also

List of Michigan county name etymologies
Michigan
the Thumb area
The Greater Tri Cities
Metro Detroit

[edit] References

^ Michigan Sugar Company
^ MBS International Airport
^ Flint Bishop International Airport
^ Bessert, Christopher J.. US-10. MichiganHighways.org.
^ M-25 end point photos.
^ M-46 Endpoint Photos.
^ Bay City Times
^ Saginaw News
^ Flint Journal]

[edit] External links

v • d • e Metro Detroit

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Suburbs over 80,000	Canton Township • Clinton Township • Dearborn • Livonia • Sterling Heights • Troy • Warren • Westland

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Outlying focus cities	Ann Arbor • Brighton • Flint • Howell • Lapeer • Monroe • Port Huron • Windsor, Ontario

Focal & outlying regions	Southeast Michigan • Flint/Tri-Cities • The Thumb • Northwest Ohio

Counties in MSA	Lapeer • Livingston • Macomb • Oakland • St. Clair • Wayne

Counties in CSA	Genesee • Monroe • Washtenaw

:See also: Michigan

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