I live in South Bend. While I feel some of this video is accurate you only showed one side of town. I noticed you stayed on the west side you never crossed Michigan St. The neighborhoods over there are in much better shape. My three kids graduated from South Bend schools and all went to college and are doing fine. In my opinion if your going to do a video about a town show all sides of the town not just a narrative you wish to spin.

This is what happens when manufacturing jobs are moved oversees. This is evidence of the long term affect when companies move jobs oversees to get away from a decent wage here to slave wages somewhere else.

Omg..My freind just moved there from Los Angeles. He is originally from Michigan, his mom is living there, and need care so he moved up to be closer to her. He landed a great apartment in the downtown area, he was very relieved. I went for the first time this summer, it reminds me of Michigan. I will be going to visiting my friend there more. It's no different than what's happening in all cities across the country..🤷🏾‍♀️

I was hoping to see some of my old hangouts when I lived there in the 1990s, but apparently you didn’t even make it out of the Westside. It’s like driving down South Stony Island Avenue in Chicago and trying to convince an audience that all of Chicago is like that.

I see that when the guy in the interview mention the slum lords, the interviewer quickly went to "WHAT ABOUT THE CRIME" yeah slum lords are also one of the factors that our neighborhood looks so bad

For the record SB has many neighborhoods that are well kept,instead of focusing on the negative (which is everywhere) let's shine some light on the positive in the city... there are communities that stick together and help one another, home owners that work hard to take care of their properties, and a pride that runs deep... no crime or poverty will ever strip the love and dedication true South Bend residents have... we're a breed of our own that shines as bright as the sun... Much love to SB❤👑

When did the population of South Bend fall by 50,000? The population of the city in 1920 was 70,000, peaked at around 132,000 in 1960 and is currently estimated at around 102,000.

I’ve grown up in South Bend area and am currently living there now and I’ll admit drugs is still a big issue here, but I think this video sort of paints a bad picture on a city that is slowly crawling back to life because it certainly has come a long way in the past ten years. I understand this man doesn’t live or even spend any time here other than driving around some rough areas in his car. But small businesses are coming back, it’s economically making a comeback as well and it’s becoming more of a progressive place to be. This guy said he was downtown which in reality he did not drive through downtown at all and instead went down Indiana avenue (south), former location of studebaker employed development some 60 years ago which is now the most run down side of town so I think his narration is definitely a little exaggerated. This town is far from perfect and has a long way to go still, but I don’t think this video is a accurate depiction of what South Bend is all about.

Why didn't you drive in on 30 (Main Street) instead of Lincolnway? Would've given a different impression. The West side was always rough.

I was just there last week. its not as bad as you're making it seem

I’d love to see a video of you consulting some folks about where they should move to!

I'm a '60's kid. I grew up in NW Indiana. This is what happens when all of our manufacturing jobs go overseas. Who in the hell wants to live there or stay when there are no jobs? I watched Gary, IN turn into a shithole. The steel mills were the place to work way back when. Most of that went overseas. It's very sad. What were once thriving beautiful areas now are ghettos.

Deindsutrialization screwed up so much of the Midwest. There's way too many places like South Bend, Youngstown, Dayton, etc. who peaked in the 60s and 70s. Reminder that things such as poverty and crime are much more nuanced than whatever party the mayor belongs to.

The HELLS ANGELS has a chapter in South Bend

Thanks for posting this. I worked in the subject area for many years so this brought back a lot of memories. At the 8:19 mark, the brown building on the right was a gym once owned by local celeb Tom Lynch who was a professional wrestler in the AWA and a former Mister Indiana. One of the members actually went on to wrestle Andre the Giant on Monday Night Raw.

I live in South Bend, been here my whole life.... Although everything he's sayin is true.... I love my city... I'll be here for life✌❤🙏🙏🙏

I noticed you pretty much stayed on westside of south bend. There are some improvements and new construction going on in the east race area. It's still sketchy but there's some nice scenery to take in while you're waiting for police or ambulance.

I do appreciate that you showed the issues and highlighted the history behind south bend but I do think that it would also be helpful to show off areas like downtown and notre dame and the nice neighborhoods around the river to show the juxtaposition and to show how small these areas really are

I was born at Memorial Hospital and raised in South Bend the majority of my Life. Things may have been rough but it is what YOU make of it in this city like every city. I went to St. Joseph elementary and ended up Graduating from Penn Highschool in Mishawaka, IN. I love this city because of the history i have there. My grandparents both retired from The University of Notre Dame. I will always love South Bend because of the good memories i have. Although the city is dying...and has been.

I see lots of houses on the market in Indiana are being bought up and prices are going up very fast . Many people are moving from Chicago to Indiana

My sister has lived in South Bend for 30 years..near Notre Dame..nice area..no problems

I was born and raised in south bend myself. ITs so hard to belive how everything changed here. It just brings a tear in your eyes...You see these same streets you seen long ago and things got worse over the years. I remember long ago Notre Dame kicked a good amount of people out for them to grow their collage student areas. My grandma is one of them I had to move her down south where I currently live. Its been hard for her yeah but she got used o it. Seeing these bricked roads makes me sad it just so unreal to see it all again. I still love South bend and I always go back to visit family. Just theres soo much than this you should've show.

The boarded up liquor store at 6:59 is just two blocks from where my grand parents lived on Brookfield. If you would have crossed the street there on Johnson, 2nd house on the left would be where my aunt lived. That area was a large Polish neighborhood. As a kid I remember going to Kreamo in the afternoons and getting a free loaf of bread at the back door from their overruns for the day. It always smelled like fresh bread there.

I seen the abandoned businesses and remember the warnings about corporations which was another nail in a dying town's coffin. Your neighborhood hardware, autoparts, paint, furniture, clothing, curtains, rugs, dishes, linens, wallpaper, shoes, baby stuff/toys, bikes, tv/electronics, bridal, bakery, butcher, grocer, candy, coffee, diners and corner bars=no driving drunk, gone to super stores that carried all the above. Also, mom and pop stores were not worried about bottom lines, at any given time the shop owner would give something with the purchase or just give something. Made me sad.

As a 40 year resident in the area, i can confirm the first half of this video. There are large sections of south bend that are straight no go zones. Been that way my whole life. Its a mess, for a whole host of reasons. We can blame politicians. We can blame industry leaving. There is plenty of blame to spread around. But ultimately, people need to start taking personal responsibility for where they are and where they are going...

Drive around the absolute worst parts and town and interview your friend from another country. That is some thorough investigation. You should pay me to watch this.

Nice video of my temporary hometown. You should unbox Washington DC and LA and Las Vegas next.

I live in Mishawaka, a town right next to South bend, and have to drive around their on a daily basis. It can be bad, but it has some good parts.

I think in the near future you're going to make a lot of "what the hell happened to" videos.

I grew up there and my family worked at Bendix. I pray they get South Bend fixed up. I will never forget where I came from...

Be careful. So sad. Love your videos ❤✌

Thank you for showing south Bend Indiana !

I heard a couple Chinese owned factories have moved to America because of low wages/cheap American labor. What a shame.

The Mayor went to Washington DC.

Used to live in Culver, had fond memories of South Bend, key word had, seeing you drive past places I once visited, only to see them gone, the entirety of Indiana has just been slowly falling apart, it makes me sad to see my home state like this

Please, do more videos in the streets and roads!!!!

Inaccurate, didn’t go to any of the good parts, legit stayed on the west side for almost the whole time.

The west side of South Bend has always been rough. I have lived here my whole life. You drive down the worst streets in the worst places and think that is the whole town. There are much nicer places than you are showing. Too many drugs, too many shootings, homeless, drugs, all of that is absolutely true

Thanks Nick!

I know exactly where you are at in that first shot. I've been there literally hundreds of times in my life. That speedway used to be really lousy, then they did some serious remodeling to make it look nice.

There is so much more to South Bend than what’s acknowledged in this video. The only areas and facts mentioned are the areas in need of assistance and are in the works of being helped. There are so many people here making a difference and coming together to help one another for our town and all of humanity. If you’re looking to research South Bend I’d recommend reaching out to a other digital media and people that live here. If it’s not your kinda place no reason to fascinate on what you don’t like about. Move on to find your true home and share your happiness from there.

the area you drove around was one of the poorest areas of my town,,,,,, you never stopped and talked to anyone that actually lives here this is not a good representations of a city if you cant even talk to the people who are actually here everyday....we use to be hard workers........seriously....

Living in South Bend, from every corner of the state, this is EXTREMELY interesting to me.

Can't wait to see the episodes on Gary and Indianpolis..

Per Michael Moore, the city of Flint Michigan has voted Democrat for 84 years. 😬

The SB tour should have shown all sides of the city instead of just the West Side, to emphasize the contrasts of different areas. And getting people who have lived in the city from the 10950s/60s even 70s for their perspectives. I liked Javier. He gave a true account.

Looks exactly the same as it did when I grew up there 35 years ago. Except Pezas Bar is closed and Chets is now Bootlegges and the Dunham Inn changed its name. That old brown Chevy truck at the 9 minute mark has been parked there since I was 12.

The house I used to live in is a block away from Fassnacht Street on the corner of Sibley and Wilber Streets and this side of town is so depressing looking. Back in the day it was a wonderful area to live in.

The shooting rate is a little low, it's an every day thing according to the shared news stations. South Bend and Elkhart are two places to straight up avoid. It's spreading into Mishawaka, can't even go to JC Penny without a bullet proof vest 🤦.

Actually this is 40 years of a “conservative” tax structure that scrapped the incentive to invest at home & allowed businesses to invest abroad with no repercussions….

Lived in South Bend for 20 years, I live in the South Side of South Bend, not much happens here, but a lot of things happen on West Side which is what you were driving into at the beginning, but I'm all good down here

6:17 The Hell's Angels of South Bend location!!!!!

Take away all the jobs and this is what happens. Ever been to Gary or Hammond?

I lived in South Bend for a month for a gig. I was assaulted while out for a walk, for seemingly no reason. I left the state shortly after. Awful place.

I like older stuff so I like the history of south bend but I agree with you on most stuff

They have a nice studebaker museum and notre dame is a neat school, and the baseball stadium is cool too

Rundown, depressing, these people have been forgotten.

i spend all day everyday(sleeping in my car a lot of nights) all around sb for work and surrounding cities but i live in a much smaller conservative town 20 miles east of sb. beautiful and run down areas in every town. i feel the real problem is corrupt over paid and under worked politicians/government officials living the high life on our tax dollars.

Thank you. A lot to digest.

I lived in South Bend in the 1950's and early 60's. Sad to see the deterioration. Loved seeing the Kreamo bakery you drove past, we lived close to one and when they were baking, the smell was glorious. We moved to California in 1964.

I do love the brick roads, such an underated aesthetic to places. Not sure if it fares well to weather but I wish more places had it. Quite a shame, I see the beautiful buildings and houses but half the buildings I see could be nice but are damned

Misleading video, though there is certainly urban blight common to similar sized cities, South Bend's core is revitalizing anchored by the Renaissance District, Four Winds Field, East Bank, Howard Park, SJ County Library, and significant downtown growth/development. There are grassroots neighborhood redevelopment projects, such as 466 Works, Cross Community in Near Northwest, LaSalle Square with Success Academy, Brown Community Center, Western Avenue upgrades, and more. I live outside South Bend, but choose to work in South Bend. Yes, SB has serious issues needing addressed further, but it has committed Community members that have brought SB back from where it was a decade ago. South Bend is a city making a serious and real comeback!

Nick, I really like your videos. You are very engaging and your talk keep us really informed. Thks so much.

@nick johnson, can you make a video on NWI Indiana (Dyer, Schererville, Saint John, maybe even Crown Point and Cedar Lake added in)

*Excellent and interesting Dashboard tour with a optimistic interview and excellent narrative ! Thanks for sharing Sage & Nick* 👍🇺🇲

I live in the city trust me that’s pretty much the low income part of the city

Do you have a video about valparaiso, indiana?

So cool

South bend is not a bad place to live its what company you keep and thats in any city

I can see why mayor Pete got promoted after that stellar job he did there. 😂

I was born in South Bend and spent the first ten years of my life there. My grandfather taught at Notre Dame. We lived on the eastern outskirts, in the McKinley Terrace development, not far from Town and Country Shopping Center (I remember when it opened!). We left in April of 1967 for New Jersey, then Connecticut and finally to metro Denver. I can still get around town without a map, but downtown is nothing what it used to be. Back then, Michigan St. was the main artery, with traffic going straight through. Frankly, I'm glad I don't live there now.

Ahhh my sleepy home town of, Roanoke In, has been being gentrified for the last 15 years or so and it is nice. I never realized how small it was population wise until I just looked it back up.

I used to be a limousine driver in chicago and lots of my clients had homes near here which I didn’t understand. These people are multi millionaires. I don’t see why anyone would voluntarily live near these places ; & the guy at 7:44 is speaking facts. you see nice homes then abandoned vacant homes all in the same city. it’s so strange.

Wow, I always imagined South Bend being some preppy college town like Ann Arbor or Madison. It looks more like Gary-Lite. Sad!

I used to work in South Bend at a Goodwill there . I lived in Mishawaka Indiana at the time back in 92 and 93. Where we lived in Mishawaka you walked crossed the street you were in Southbend .

Huh, I'm from Valparaiso and have only gone to Southbend a few times but only in the university area. I had no idea the rest of the city was so shotty.

South bend looks like this because of Deindustrialization and urbanization. Literally all of the white people left in the 1970-00s . But what came in the westside was Hispanics. The neon or hood you drove passed for like the first 7 minutes is called Little Mexico. If you lived in the area you would know that population is going up a lot here in the Westside

When you see Mike Pence ask him he was governor of that state !😉

Go uptown by notre dame and saint joseph high school it's pretty nice up there

Not really familiar with South Bend, I may have visited there once, however this video is somewhat of a good depiction of the USA at large. You did not have to drive through the more affluent sections to get your point across. In Phoenix, which is the closest large city to where I live, is experiencing a huge amount of growth, but the population of have nots, is also a part of the growth. At this time, I am watching everything go up in price and many people are less inclined to work. I have to work more hours to save myself, because the dollar has gotten that much less, relative to a year ago. Interesting video and interview, it reminded me of any other rust belt city in the upper Midwest, western PA, or Western NY state.

Literally he's making this place sound like Gary. Only parts of South Bend are bad, I live in the area so I can confirm it.

Bootyjuice did a great job!

Love your videos, but check your directions bud! South Bend is in the NW corner of the state. Like when you said Dayton wrong, too. Dayton is definitely on the West side just north of Cincinnati!! Keep doing your great videos 👍🏼

Awesome! I live in Elkhart.

It's crazy how you pretty much left out every good aspect and every nice part of the city. And you know what would make your video better is if you added the information on how to change some of these things and situations in our city. Or the fact that in these bad areas with high poverty and homeless there are countless places to get a free hot meal daily and food pantrys to get non perishable, and, where those places are. considering your driving around you could even show these places. If I was somebody in my own City struggling and I saw this video the only thing it would make me do is feel more helpless and hopeless because there's no good information in it.

South Bend needs to be reminded of the definition of insanity. Insanity is when you keep reelecting the same politicians but expect different results. Nothing will change until the city decides to move in a different direction for a change.

This is a great channel. I appreciate what you do.

Did you get a chance to see Shipshewana about 30 miles east on US 20? It's an Amish stronghold

Maybe go to some good towns or towns that are booming rn. It would be cool to see some towns now that are like how these towns were when they were booming in the mid 1900s.

Damn Nick’s been really dropping the ball lately. Love his videos but now it seems he’s focused on shoving his agenda to the viewer, which didn’t seem like the case before. I liked you because although you’re right leaning, you always seemed to try to be unbiased and only present the facts. Nowadays, you find a blue city, drive through the worst parts you can, and make some comment about why democrat leadership is so horrible. But you never address the fact that all the most populated cities in America are Democrat run and despite their issues (every city has them), people prefer to live in Democrat led cities anyway. Why is that? It’s not like people can’t live where they want. We have cars and trucks and trains and so on. People can settle wherever nowadays. That in the land of the free, people prefer to live in cities where they feel more free. Guess it’s hard to do that in red cities with strict HOA rules, low minimum wage, anti cannabis laws and a very “normie” culture where you feel shamed and judged for expressing yourself. So it seems Americans just want to live in cities where they can live and let live, which is the blue cities.

Spent sometimes in South Bend 15 years ago and it looks even worse then it did then!

Dalmatian is a good depiction. There are small pockets of kept up, maintained homes but they are few and far between. Plus, the better neighborhoods are on a downhill slide.

Yeah I live there and there’s definitely a bad part of south bend but you didn’t even show the nice part of south bend like mckinley terrace

So did u go to south bend or did u just stay on the westside? You didnt go anywhere by downtown and you keep showing the worst side claiming it to be downtown.

So no Pink Houses by John Mellencamp during the drive?

My Mother's Family used to live on South Bend. My Great Grandfather and Grandfather used to work at the Studebaker Factory. My grew up there and went to High School there as well. We used to go there every year to Visit my Great Grandparents until my Great Grandmother passed away in 1985.

Like I said this is my hometown and where he's driving, we've had Town Halls to ask the mayor at the time Pete Buttigieg to use that Surplus money to fix up the northwest side in the Westside but he decides to put in roundabouts lights and decorative brick. The man in this video is driving on the Northwest and West side of South Bend and what we call Little Mexico where it looks bad. Those people that live in that area they all have jobs. They work hard, and they try to do the best they can to keep whatever little bit they have. I know I lived in that area.

I used to collect on delinquent cable bills in the greater South Bend/Mishawaka area. When you go to SB you cannot believe that a school as prominent as Notre Dame is in the middle of this hole. You can tell that it used to be a manufacturing/shop city. Once those businesses packed up and left for cheaper labor the fabric of the city was ripped apart. There’s nothing a mayor is going to be able to do to stifle the downfall. If/when the area rises up again it will be because several businesses, corporations decided to take a chance on the area. It’s a long road back.

I used to live in the tan house with the brown roof on the left at 6:08 Glad I don't live anywhere near there anymore. But it was better than living in Miami Hills, where I moved from as a kid.