A Presidential Campaign Built on Rust Belt Revitalization

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg is hoping to ride a track record of urban revitalization success to the Oval Office.

2 minute read

April 16, 2019, 9:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


2020 Presidential Campaign

mayor Pete Buttigieg campaigns in Concord, New Hampshire earlier this month | MaverickPhotos / Shutterstock

Patrick Sisson analyzes the track of South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who recently announced a campaign for the Democratic nomination for president.

Buttigieg's supporters often lionize him for helping to revive a dying town—a characterization many locals take issue with—or getting people to believe in South Bend again. But his impact on the northeast Indiana city, known by many as the current home of Notre Dame and the former home of Studebaker, has been a little more nuanced.

An analysis of his time in office does shows the millennial mayor adopting, and often successfully implementing, the contemporary strategies experts point to when advising locals on how to (re)build better urban communities. 

Sisson's analysis is organized in the following categories, with a lot more detail included in the article.

  • Placemaking and street redesign helped revitalize downtown
  • Turning vacant lots into new development
  • Building an economic base for the future

Planetizen is not endorsing Buttigieg’s candidacy for president, but continuing an ongoing effort to highlight the position of housing policy in the upcoming presidential election. Previous posts have focused on the campaign platforms of Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), Corey Booker (D-New Jersey), and Kamala Harris (D-California).

Planetizen has been closely monitoring federal housing policy under the Trump administration, mostly organized under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development tag.

Friday, April 12, 2019 in Curbed

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Use Code 25for25 at checkout for 25% off an annual plan!

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

May 7, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

People biking along beach path with moored ship in San Diego, California.

San Diego Adopts First Mobility Master Plan

The plan provides a comprehensive framework for making San Diego’s transportation network more multimodal, accessible, and sustainable.

May 2, 2025 - SD News

Front of Walmart store with sign.

Walmart Announces Nationwide EV Charging Network

The company plans to install electric car chargers at most of its stores by 2030.

May 7, 2025 - Inc.

Pump station with blue pipes coming out of concrete wall in Seattle, Washington.

Seattle Builds Subway-Sized Tunnel — for Stormwater

The $700 million ‘stormwater subway’ is designed to handle overflows during storms, which contain toxic runoff from roadways and vehicles.

May 13 - City Observatory

Sign for Deschutes National Forest in Oregon.

Feds Clear Homeless Encampment in Oregon Forest

The action displaced over 100 people living on national forest land near Bend, Oregon.

May 13 - The New York Times

Seeing the Better City

Is This Urbanism?

Chuck Wolfe ponders a recommended subscription list of Substack urbanists and wonders — as have others — about the utility of the "urbanist" moniker.

May 13 - Resurgence: A Journey via Substack

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.