South Bend Mayor James Mueller gave a very upbeat State of the City address Thursday evening, ticking off a long list of successes.
Mueller, delivering his fifth annual State of the City, this one from Riley High School, said the local economy continues to be resilient.
"We have weathered the economic storms of the pandemic, supply chain disruptions, high inflation, and most recently, historic, aggressive economic tightening by the Federal Reserve," Mueller said.
Mueller said last year the city saw more than $393 million of investment into buildings and homes, what he called a staggering figure. That economic growth continues to grow the city’s population.
"The latest estimates for South Bend project that in the first two years of this decade, we have exceeded the total population gains from the last decade."
But for those who haven’t thrived, the chronically homeless, Mueller said the city is pressing forward with its controversial project to build a homeless intake center off Bendix Drive.
"Our low-barrier shelter service, Motels4Now, needs a permanent home. But let me make one thing clear. We must keep pushing forward. We cannot go back to large tent encampments in South Bend. We need to finalize a site soon. Failure to act is not an option."
