<p>South Bend isn't exactly your "place to be" when you've got a light day of classes or a weekend to kill (if you've got the time, go to Chicago, seriously), but there are definitely places to go or things to do in Mishawaka or even Michigan. Surprisingly, South Bend has a good number of fine restaurants that are a good break from SDH, for those birthdays or anniversaries, or when your parents come to visit. Also, it seems to me that a lot of students enjoy going to the mall on weekends, so it's pretty normal to say the least. </p>
<p>One thing though, is that South Bend is NOT the place you want to wander around, not knowing where you're going. My friend and I once took the wrong bus from the mall and ended up at SB's downtown station at 8:30 at night and it was NOT an adventure... some parts of South Bend (especially come nightfall) just get creepy. Just be careful as you would be in any town. </p>
<p>Besides that, I personally don't have a problem with South Bend. As a freshman, I go off campus usually once a week or every two weeks (party, shopping, restaurants, friend's houses) and it's always been enough for me.</p>
<p>I want to preface my comment by stating that my opinion certainly does not match the majority of Notre Dame students. While I do not completely regret my choice to attend ND, there are many aspects of my experience that make me question my original reasoning for attending the school. I graduated from Notre Dame last year, and I will tell you that South Bend is a hellhole. And it's not that I came from an urbane hometown...I grew up in the suburban Midwest, which isn't exactly a cultural hotspot. </p>
<p>My boyfriend lived in a very popular townhome development south of campus that was right next to an abandoned hospital and a meth house, and random people would knock on their door asking for money. Idiot intoxicated Notre Dame students deciding to walk home from Club 23 at 3 AM were occasionally attacked. One guy in particular was attacked with a brick and had his wallet stolen. And I almost forgot about the two students who were shot in a drive-by in front of Club 23 by some local dude who they refused a ride home. </p>
<p>I would say that a certain amount of crime would be tolerable if the area had other things going for it. However, unless you view the chain restaurants along Grape Road as fine dining and the Pleasureland Sex Museum in Mishawaka as a cultural attraction, then I think you may be disappointed. I had a car since second semester freshman year and my roommate was from South Bend, so I explored the city often and had a much deeper understanding of the city than the average student, who pretty much never left campus. </p>
<p>For most people, they choose to attend due to its unique campus life. If that's what you're looking for, then don't worry about the fact that South Bend has nothing to offer. However, I drastically underestimated my desire for an urban campus, and if I could redo the past four years, I would probably not attend ND. I felt that my education was excellent, and I met many interesting people, but I feel that I could have grown considerably more as a person by attending a school that was different, both in the student makeup and the city type, than where I grew up.</p>
<p>I have many other critiques of the school that could be said but don't make any sense for this post. I feel that too many students are not critical in their analysis of Notre Dame and fail to note any negatives, as this would somehow cheapen their experience. I hope that prospective students get in touch with a variety of alumni, from the overly enthusiastic to the extremely cynical, before making a decision. This doesn't just apply to ND-this should apply to any school.</p>
<p>South bend is not a bad town....but it can be pretty boring!!. If you are the kind of person who likes to attend a variety of cultural and sports events, then you better plan on going to Chicago a lot!!! Which is a lot of fun but it can get expensive and time consuming.</p>
<p>I think you really have to be honest about how much time, money and energy you have to leave campus. Thinking back on my college years, the campus and its immediate surrounds was pretty much our whole world. Why go to the downtown symphony when you could attend the university symphony for free? Why bother going to the movies off campus when they had a really good movie for $1 on campus?</p>
<p>My husband had the same experience. If it is the right school for you, it can be in a hellhole and you'll still have a great time. He attended school in Grinnell, IA and had a blast. I had a blast in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Talk about yer hellholes. If that is possible, then South Bend is going to be just fine.</p>
<p>Mombot, have to agree with you regarding time spent off-campus. As I have said so many times before, son does not appear to have the time to be off-campus much. Workload just does not allow it. No, he is not miserable, nor does he spend all of his time studying. When he was home at Christmas visiting with HS friends that are scattered all across the country, he did not indicate that many of them spend time off of their campuses either. The only one was a friend in Washington, DC whose campus is pretty much in the middle of the city. While it might be nice to attend college in more of an urban setting, son chose the college life of ND based on how he felt about the campus, among other things. No, South Bend is not a very exciting place, and even less exciting right now (cold, snow and ice!) We joke and say that the best restaurant in town is South Dining Hall when we visit. But, son will not be there forever and I think as mentioned earlier, the sense of community, level of academics and security of the campus are just some of what attracted son to South Bend. It is not for everyone and visiting before making this kind of commitment can be very important.</p>
<p>I noticed that someone asked if South Bend is really rural. A quick Google shows that the South Bend/Mishawaka area had a 2000 population of 256,000. Definitely not rural.</p>
<p>It's not rural at all, but it isn't the big city. It reminds me of a lot of college towns like Tuscaloosa, Eugene OR..there is some local industry that has seen better days, a city of about 100,000 to 200,000 that is small enough for the college to be the dominant employer, and a lot of suburban strip mall type infrastructure near campus with retail, inexpensive motels, and restaurants. </p>
<p>Downtown South Bend has some older buildings that have been restored, and there are some really pretty neighborhoods with big old houses and trees.</p>
<p>I do not believe that our soph student thinks that SB is horrendous--cold and snowy, yes! But, our student knew that when he chose to attend ND--he wanted snow. And, while it seems there has been more snow this year, I believe he thought that it was much colder last winter, but maybe that was because he had to adjust to the frigid temps since it was freshman year! No one should blindly choose to attend ND without looking at ALL aspects of the University--including the weather!</p>
<p>Last summer, I took a drive through the city during the day time. It was a bit rundown. It was what I expected it to be: just a classic rundown, somewhat bland rust belt city. Again, I've only visited the city once. The weather isn't as bad as people make it out to be. Who doesn't want four distinct seasons or a little snow? South Bend is actually really quite warm compared to the upper Midwest.</p>
<p>what are you talking about? south bend is freezing and it doesnt get a whole lot colder in the US but i still love ND anyway...like you said youve been there once</p>
<p>I'm talking about Minnesota, wisconsin, north dakota, UP Michigan. These places are considerably colder than SB. Just this past Friday it got down to -6 in Minneapolis. Earlier in the winter minneapolis dipped into the -20s several times. It hasn't been warmer than 40 degrees for about 10 weeks. And places like Duluth, International Falls, or Grand Forks they usually have over a dozen day's where the temp never gets above zero. Compared to SB, the upper midwest is considerably colder.</p>
<p>So are we comparing nth degrees of bad and worse? No one goes to ND for the weather. It hasn't been above 40 here in more than 10 weeks either. The biting wind is the worst, and it's usually windy, along with the cold temps and lake effect snow. The wind chill is 12 right now.</p>