SOUTH BEND, Ind. _ On Jan. 1, Pete Buttigieg's second term ended, and the "Mayor Pete" era in South Bend was over. In the Democratic presidential candidate's telling, he presided over a Rust Belt comeback story in Indiana's fourth-largest city, a metaphor for what is possible elsewhere in America.
Before Buttigieg took office in 2012, downtown had been moribund for decades. Aging, abandoned homes dragged down spirits in poorer neighborhoods. Unemployment was high, wages low, evictions common. White residents were fleeing by the thousands. A Newsweek article declared South Bend, population 101,860, one of America's "dying cities."
Today, unemployment in the greater South Bend area is less than 4%, down from nearly 10%, development has accelerated in the city's downtown, and the population has stopped shrinking. Local business boosters recently raised street banners that said, "Thanks Mayor Pete."
"South Bend's trajectory has been transformed," Buttigieg said in his farewell address to the city's Common Council on Dec. 9.
That's the resume that Buttigieg is promoting to make the jump from mayor to president. It's a part of his appeal to Democrats who are anxious to win back Rust Belt voters who defected from the party in 2016.
But there's a hitch. Among residents of color, who make up nearly half of South Bend's population, reviews of Buttigieg's legacy are noticeably mixed _ some positive, some outright hostile.
The local criticism has taken on national importance in the Democratic primary, where he has struggled to attract voters who aren't white. It's a weakness that's been offset by Buttigieg's significant support in the two states that hold the first nominating contests, Iowa and New Hampshire, where black and Latino voters are deeply underrepresented compared to the Democratic Party overall.
"Pete isn't ready to lead the free world, a world of huge diversity and tremendous need. He is not ready. That's all I can say behind that," said Common Council member Henry Davis Jr., one of Buttigieg's most vocal critics, who unsuccessfully ran against the mayor in 2015.
But other black leaders have rallied to Buttigieg's side, including the area's NAACP president, Michael Patton, who has said he's "grateful to Mayor Pete" for his work.
Life remains a struggle for many South Bend residents. Poverty is still stubbornly high, and homeless residents are a regular sight.
The greater South Bend area "has become more segregated between White and African American/Black residents since 2010," according to a forthcoming regional housing report prepared by South Bend and neighboring Mishawaka. (The report did not examine segregation data in South Bend alone, though the city is by far the most populous town in the metropolitan statistical area that was analyzed.)
The city also has "one of the highest foreclosure rates in the United States," with an eviction rate that is "extremely high," the report said. In South Bend, racial discrimination is the primary reason tenants cite when making fair housing complaints, bucking the national trend, where disability is the most common complaint, according to the report.
Buttigieg's campaign defended his record, saying that he devoted resources to a variety of programs to create affordable housing, fund home repairs and increase shelter capacity for homeless residents, while pointing to some forces that were beyond the city's control.
"Indiana has pretty hostile laws toward tenants, unfortunately," campaign spokesman Sean Savett said of the city's foreclosure and eviction numbers.
Seymour Barker, 74, of Granger, Ind., who helps run a community development corporation, 466 Works, that receives grants from South Bend to help build new housing on the southeast side, said "the city has supported us every step of the way, and it's all happened under the administration of Mayor Pete."
"I can't tell you the experience of other African Americans under him, but that's been our experience with him," Barker said.
