I was actually shocked. It was my first trip to South Bend and the images you always have are the Notre Dame picture postcards.
Full disclosure: I once lived on the outskirts of Flint. I actually felt very sorry for the people there and what had happened to their community.
South Bend is actually an interesting story on how a city fails.
The last republican mayor was Lloyd Allen who retired in 1972. Luckily I went off to college in 1976 never to return to live.
South Bend had a plethora of industry....Bendix, Honeywell, Studebaker, Allied Signal, South Bend Watch Co, South Bend Lathe, South Bend Toy, Obrien Paint, the list was endless. All gone or a shell of what they were.
South bend is now nothing but resteraunts, and service providers. The population in 1960 was 132,500. The population now is 101,00.
Contrast that to Fort Wayne....In 1960 the population was 178,000, today it is 254,000. The town is far more conservative politically than SB and industry flourishes.
Talk about a tale of two cities.