Last Thursday evening, the three of us who write this blog were lucky enough to be a part of the audience for the live television town-hall style event on WNIT. This episode of "Ask An Expert" focused on the question "South Bend: Thriving or Dying?" and featured a panel of experts on our city and economic development in addition to an audience full of community leaders and active citizens. The idea for this television event was sparked by the Newsweek article that recently ranked South Bend as the 8th most dying city in the country, and the discussion that took place dynamically highlighted the multi-faceted nature of our response as a city, as a community, and as neighbors.
We were honored to be a part of this audience and more importantly a part of the discussion, especially since we believe our blog makes a pretty compelling case for the striving-side of the debate. No consensus was reached that night as to whether our city is thriving, dying, striving, or fighting, but rather we all learned a little bit more about what our city has been through and what issues must be confronted next. You can find more information about this program here on WNIT's website.
I was born and raised here, spent some time away, and came back. I'm glad I did. We have our problems, but we also have a lot of great things going for us, and we choose how we react to and enjoy what is available to us.
ReplyDeleteI saw you on the WNIT show. Kudos to you for helping keep this community vibrant.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the mention Tracy! You ladies are the bomb!
ReplyDeleteI have lived in many different places. South Bend is FAR from the worst of them. Unfortunately, when talking to people around here or reading the comments on local media websites, you would think this is a third world country. I wish people around here would expand their world view a bit. I can think of MANY places that are FAR more dying than here. As I worked myself up the corporate ranks, I had to live in many of those places. Schenectady, NY comes to mind, as do Rockford, IL and Toledo. People need to quit focusing on the negative and realize that this is a good place to live. Yes, we have our problems. However, these problems are on a national level. Unemployment is rampant everywhere. Crime has been going down in big cities but INCREASING in medium and small cities for the last decade or so. This is a national trend. In many states, our 'failing" school system would be just fine, as those states chose to dumb down their standards than address the issues at hand. Indiana has one of the strongest curriculums in the nation, which is why its test are harder to pass. We lived in the elite school system in Tennessee before moving here. When i enrolled my children (straight A, honor student band geeks) in the SBCSC, they were actually BEHIND the curriculum.
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