South Bend ranked 25th best place to live in the U.S.

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- A new U.S. News and World Report list puts South Bend as the 25th best place to live in the United States. But would its residents agree?

ABC57's Annie Kate found out there was a mixed bag of reactions from the community!

"Oh, it was good to see that, it was really good to see that," said Nancy Sinnott. "I don't that I was that surprised, but it was really good to see."

Sinnott met her husband, Joseph, in college at the University of Notre Dame. Twenty-two years ago, they made the city of their alma mater, South Bend, home.

"I do think there's been a change in the 22 years we've been here," said Joseph.

"Yes, I think there has been a turning point," Nancy said. "It's definitely different than it was when we first moved here, and we're very comfortable here, having Notre Dame so close, and all the activities that are available."

They see South Bend heading in the right direction.

Jeff Rea, President and CEO of the South Bend Regional Chamber, agreed.

"The South Bend area is on radar screenings it wasn't on before, we've got a couple of great job announcements, we've got the university very involved in a lot of things, we've got major expansions in our healthcare systems. We have major housing projects happening in our downtowns," Rea said.

He said he was pleasantly surprised to see South Bend rank so high.

"I think it was a nice affirmation over the work that's been happening over the past decade to improve this community," Rea said.

The magazine looks at four categories. One being the quality of life. This includes crime rates, education, healthcare, and more. Two being the value index. How affordable is the city? This looks at the housing affordability index and price parity index. Three being desirability. This is looking at surveys and migration data. And the fourth being the job market index. This is the unemployment rate plus household income.

"We had a wake-up call a few years ago when Newsweek put us on the 'dying cities list,'" Rea said.

But Rea said St. Joseph County saw population growth for the first time in six decades in the 2020 census.

"At the end of the day, the real indicators are, are people moving here?" he said.