How is South Bend? (Mishawaka, Granger: fit in, rent, crime)

[sina1358]

Hi,

I am moving to South Bend to attend Notre Dame university. How is it in South Bend, I mean the people, crime, weather (sepecially in winter), city, stores, etc.

Thanks

[domergurl]

If you go to ND, you will know the campus and University Park Mall. The campus is very insulated and most of what you will do or need will be either on campus or within a mile radius of campus. You'll love it there!

[BU191433]

It does snow a lot. You get quite a bit of lake effect snow.

[ethunsberger]

I was born and raised 5 minutes from South Bend, Granger Indiana is a really nice area to live in and only a couple minutes away. If you have any specific questions feel free to ask.

[skumar814]

Hi,
I've lived in South Bend the last 5 years. Previous to that I was only 20 minutes across the Michigan border. The people, for the most part, are friendly and good natured. Weather I'm not a big fan of. Spring, summer, and fall are wonderful but the winter is long, cold, dreary, and gray. Winter seems like it never ends! Crime is pretty bad. My daughter attends one of the better South Bend neighborhood schools and in one week, there was like 4-5 shootings I believe. But, we live in the Notre Dame area and it is a nice area. South Bend is pretty hit and miss. One block can be a good area and the one next to it awful. Right now unemployment is terrible. My family is actually planning on moving back to Michigan soon. If your living near ND I think you would like it for the most part.

[bc219]

I live in Mishawaka and it is nice, I only rent in South Bend, I would not live there. There are good areas though, like right by Notre Dame, and a couple other small areas. If I were you I'd live right by the campus (which is very expensive) or in Mishawaka or Granger OR south or west of town in the county (outside of the city).

[jbbean]

Don't forget the clay township area.
My parents live off of HollyHock It's nice, super clean and within 5 minutes of ND

[stx12499]

What is your age? undergrad or graduate? If you are more specific, I can help you more. As domergurl said, ND is a big bubble, especially if you are an undergrad. They don't even allow freshman to have cars (at least it used to be that way). South bend is not very nice to be blunt, but I would not feel in "danger" there. The area around campus is mostly safe, except for areas south of campus that deal with petty crime. These are usually unlocked party houses. Around 70% of students live on campus which is beautiful, so there isnt hardly any college town vibe at all. The area didnt even get its first Starbucks until around 2002. That said, by all means go there, its an amazing school, and the campus environment is wonderful. There are plans to clean up the area south of campus and build a pedestrian corridor, but it hasnt materialized in the full to my knowledge. Downtown is what it is, pretty dead, about 3 bars you will rotate thru in your college career, and an increasing number of decent restaurants. La Salle Grille would fit in any large city. UP mall is your typical small metro area mall, located on a big box retail strip with demographics similar to any suburb USA. This area in the SB region is known as Grape Road in Mishawaka.