- So does every business in Michiana AND they pay taxes. Your argument is old and is misleading. ND should still pay…directly…it’s fair share. Plain and simple as that. They have been caught cheating out of taxes and other such payments due to governments. Anyone that believes ND doesn’t violate things…knowingly…until they get caught and then pays up is naive at best. I suppose we could all just bury our heads in the sand and watch “Rudy” to stay in denial. The new ND (Inc.) isn’t Hesburgh’s ND anymore, not by a long shot. Do you really think that 99% of the ND football players who “volunteer” for anything would do so if not for the pressure put on them for PR purposes? They just basically show up for the photo op. Maybe I am being a tad cynical after receiving ND list serve e-mails regarding the tragedy in Haiti…shameless. The reality is ND is less than a drop in the ocean of help….donate to the Red Cross instead!

- Enough about that, the real question is, will there be a double dip in real estate prices in Michiana like recently reported in Boston, Atlanta, and San Diego? Will persistent unemployment and the return of traditional mortgage lending standards continue to drive down demand, and thus housing prices, in Michiana?

Crime and jobs are national issues and not just South Bend issues. All cities face these challenges. If you want to live in Chicago, you will pay $300-500 per sqft plus one of the highest sales taxes in the country and the city has many crime issues. In New York, you will pay $900-1,000 per sqft for residential in Manhattan and they have terrorism fears every day. All areas have their pros and cons but it is what you make of it.

Mishawaka has better city government and bar none the downtown re-development project is beyond expectations, it is a pity that it really launched after the credit bubble burst but it takes years and years to implement such a masterful plan. Perhaps Mishawaka could annex SB? But they are too smart for that! LOL

Glad you found a home you really like. But you have to ask yourself, why are homes here so much cheaper than in DC that you can buy one with just the equity from your old place?

It’s sad that you have to be so negative. Why do you continue to stick around if you hate the area so much? People complain that we don’t do “enough” to attract new businesses, etc. Then, when we do, they complain about what is being sought and how to do it. If you are so well educated, then perhaps you could offer some insight as to what needs to be done? (I’m not trying to be a smart alec. I TRULY want to know what you think.)

Incidentally, people said the exact same thing about nanotechnology and tech parks when I lived in Albany. It takes 5-10 years to notice the impact of these initiatives to the community. Any nanotech center will tell you that. The research takes that long to be developed in order to have a true impact. When I went back to visit friends in Albany last year, I was actually SHOCKED by the development that has happened because of the nanotech industry. We were chosen as a center of nanotech. The only one in the midwest. It may take a while, but it WILL eventually add to our community. Next, we just have to get everyone to buy into it. Manufacturing is dead, and people need to get over that. There are jobs around if people will get off their butts and get an education. My brother in law is actually having a hard time finding local people to fill jobs at his place of employment due to lack of proper education. ALL of his new hires come here from out of town. Many of the other colleges are now offering degrees in nanotech, technology and other areas that our area desperately needs. Give us a chance. We aren’t any different from any other rust belt city trying to reinvent itself. I wouldn’t get so much on the defensive if you didn’t almost seem to revel in the fact that his area has it’s challenges.

- Well, I have some information from the “inside” and I stick by my comments. For me, ND’s problems can be summed up in what they did to Demetrius Jones…to strong arm the kid like that is truly unbelievable and terribly immoral. As a Domer, I was ashamed. Sadly, he is just one person on a long list.

- Someone forwarded me this article…the comments tell it all…

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0205-problem-craig–20100204,0,1538315.column?page=1

On the recent ND departures, I have learned in my career that there are always two sides to every story and the employer’s story never gets told because of confidentiality.

I am very grateful for all that Notre Dame continues to do for the community. The retail portion of Eddy Commons has been a success so far in my opinion. I joined the fitness center and have been amazed by all the customer activity with so few tenants currently open. Based on temporary signs, it looks like there are a couple more restaurants that will open before the start of the 2010-2011 academic year.

- Never going to happen, never. I remember years ago what Fr. Hesburgh told me why ND never pursued a medical school and what he told me is even more applicable today (conversation is confidential). Sure there will be some limited joint projects since the medical field interacts with so many other areas of study, but it will remain limited. The joint venture with IU has been around for decades so that is not a new development. Moreover Innovation Park was “forced” on ND as a part of a larger negotiation, it is ND’s unwanted stepchild that will surely be neglected except for limited political reasons. If any profs move here because of it, it is mostly for the $$$ for patents and the like that they could develop. Nano tech is already being hotly pursued by much larger research universities around the world…ND is playing catch up here. Just like the performing arts center with a big name director who leaves disillusioned by what the ND admin does and the restrictions placed. Just look at Weis, and how he only bashed the ND admin upon leaving. I am afraid ND has become so myopic that they can only admire themselves in a hand mirror but can’t see beyond that. ND is a big fish in a very small pond (South Bend)…a pond that is getting smaller every year. All the tax breaks in the world won’t pull people and businesses away from Silicon Valley and similar areas. It just isn’t going to happen even with a new Chipotle Mexican Grill at Eddy Street Commons…heck, it won’t even attract people away from the Chipotle Mexican Grill in Mishawaka…even though it is in “South Bend’s newest shopping, dining and entertainment destination is now open!”

If Notre Dame continues tiptoeing towards a full blown medical school where physicians and engineers could work on front edge cancer treatments and other practical applications of nanotechnology discoveries, Innovation Park could fill with startups. Such a scenario would nicely pull together Notre Dame’s desire to be known as a world-class university, and its Catholic character with a stated goal to make a positive impact on the world at large.

Ignition Park is already an improvement on the Studebaker’s rubble that littered the site a few years ago. But I hope the city isn’t counting on any tax revenue from the project for many years. I did see that at least one member of the redevelopment commission is wary of landbanking the site for decades at the expense of existing but less glamorous businesses.

I don’t think either Park will create many jobs in the next few years, but much of the recent growth in the county has been tied to medicine or education. Those fields may offer the area’s brightest future.