Big Enough, Small Enough - South Bend in Transition

Big Enough, Small Enough - South Bend in Transition

South Bend is haunted by deep wounds in the city’s past while grappling with its fragile future. For more than 50 years after Studebaker closed it has struggled to determine its identity, but it is beginning to change rapidly. What type of place is South Bend to South Benders in 2020? Rustbelt city? Miniature Detroit? Or has it shaken off the cloak of failure and begun to reinvent itself? Is it a beta-city? College town? A big little town? A small big city? And what happens in the middle of this transition when the mayor of our city seeks an unlikely run for the Presidency? In what ways does it build unity but also highlight the divisions within it, complicating the story we tell of ourselves?

Big Enough, Small Enough - South Bend in Transition
  • Big Enough, Small Enough - South Bend in Transition

    South Bend is haunted by deep wounds in the city’s past while grappling with its fragile future. For more than 50 years after Studebaker closed it has struggled to determine its identity, but it is beginning to change rapidly. What type of place is South Bend to South Benders in 2020? Rustbelt ci...