Numbers don’t tell the whole story about South Bend and 'Mayor Pete,' this economist says
With Pete Buttigieg enjoying significant buzz over his dark-horse presidential candidacy, it is an opportune moment to consider his time as mayor of South Bend, Ind. I do so with the critical eye of an economist who has visited, studied and written about the city for more than a decade.
Population loss has been hard on South Bend. A study published earlier this year by my research center reported that the average home there was worth less than it would cost to rebuild it. In his book, “Shortest Way Home: One Mayor’s Challenge and a Model for America’s Future,” Buttigieg mentions a home he owns in the city that cost a mere $60,000. That same home would be worth between 10 and 15 times that amount in almost any major city in the United States.
How Buttigieg has been transformational Faced with an archaic and ineffective economic development apparatus, a global university that did little locally, and dim economic prospects, Buttigieg convinced the city to look forward, not backward. The tool he used was the closed Studebaker plant, which ceased operations in 1963, nearly two decades before the mayor was born.
South Bend’s Rotary Mayor Pete’s leadership style also involved a dramatic change in citizen involvement in civic affairs. The best evidence I have of this elusive trait comes from a talk I gave to the South Bend Rotary last year. I often gives these talks, and it should come as no surprise that Rotary luncheons in the Midwest are mostly comprised of older men and their fathers. This is a demographic tragedy given the importance of the Rotary in a healthy civic culture.
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