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respectively, compared to South Bend's median price of only $93,800. For the same period, <br />Chicago`s median price was $263,300 and Indianapolis stood at $125,900. South Bend`s <br />ACCRA cost of living index for the second quarter of 2004 was 95.3, which was I0.8% below <br />the nationwide average. A further breakdown of South Bend`s cast of living index for this period <br />was as follows: grocery items - 87.8; housing costs - 91.5; utilities - 108.5; transportation - 96.8; <br />health care - 102.3; and miscellaneous goods and services - 96.8. <br />The City of South Bend continues to place high emphasis on a growing and diversified local <br />economy. It has been active in developing ten industrial parks, offering itself as aloes-cost <br />alternative to the Chicago metropolitan area to companies engaged in light manufacturing, <br />distribution and services. More than 240 businesses operate in South Bend`s industrial parks, <br />including companies engaged in metalworking, plastics, warehousing and distribution, and <br />professional services. <br />The South Bend Community School Corporation serves all of the City and some of the <br />surrounding area and has a current enrollment of approximately 21,797 students in grades <br />kindergarten through high school. An estimated 4,441 students attend private ar parochial <br />schools within the City. The ten institutions of higher education and technical training located <br />within the South Bend area have a total enrollment of approximately 28,893. Over the years, the <br />University of Notre Dame has provided a stabilizing influence on the economy with a very <br />significant economic impact upon the community. <br />South Bend has continued to progress in its growth since 1842, when Father Edward Sarin <br />named his rustic log chapel "Notre Dame du Lac" and began to teach the local Indians. Today, <br />the chapel has grown into the University of Notre Dame. In 1852, H.C. Studebaker started the <br />industry of making wagons and horse drawn buggies that evolved into the manufacturing of the <br />Studebaker automobile. It made the name Studebaker synonymous with the area of South Bend. <br />Another industrial firm that would later become the area's largest began in 1923 when Vincent <br />Bendix began manufacturing automotive brakes. In 1929, the company became the Bendix <br />Aviation Corporation, and now, as Honeywell (formerly AlliedSignal Inc.), is a leading <br />manufacturer of automotive and aerospace products. <br />Other special attractions within the South Bend area include the Olympic-class East Race <br />Waterway and the East Bank area; the newly renovated Morris Performing Arts Center, which <br />provides for the Broadway Theater League, the South Bend Symphony Orchestra with the <br />Chamber and Pops Orchestras and the Southold Dance Theater and Patchwork Dance Company; <br />the South Bend Civic Theater; the Studebaker National Museum; the South Bend Regional <br />Museum of Art; the Snite Museum of Art at Notre Dame; the Northern Indiana Center for <br />History; Copshaholm/The Oliver Mansion; the College Football Ha11 of Fame; Century Center; <br />Potawatomi Zao; the Morris Conservatory/Muessel-Ellison Tropical Gardens; Healthworks! <br />Kids Museum; the Farmers' Market; the Belleville Softball Complex; the Firefly Performing Arts <br />Festival. The Caveleski Regional Baseball Stadium, a 5,000-seat facility which opened in 1987, <br />is rated among the best in minor league baseball. It had record crowds during its seasons of play <br />with the South Bend Silver Hawks, a minor league team of the Chicago White Sox up to the <br />1997 season. During 1997, the City signed on with the Arizona Diamondbacks and looks <br />forward to continued success with its program. <br />vi <br />