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More People: How South Bend Lost 50,000 People in 50 Years

Presented by Joe Molnar

Explore the story of South Bend’s population decline since the mid-20th century through this presentation by Joe Molnar, local history researcher and proud fourth generation son of South Bend.

South Bend, like so many other cities in the Rust Belt, has experienced large and sustained population decline since the mid-20th Century. This is an experience often spoken of in passing but little understood. The story of South Bend's population collapse touches on a variety of central themes in the American story: White Flight, Suburbanization, Declining Household Sizes, and so much more. In this presentation we will explore the topics not usually understood when speaking of demographic collapse, touching on a host of issues. This presentation is inspired by the article series More People written by Joe Molnar and edited by Mike Divita, which can be found here: https://westsb.com/features/morepeople