Near North Side

Harter Heights, the neighborhood historically closest to the University of Notre Dame, has always been one of the most desirable neighborhoods in the City. Add in all the excitement of the new Eddy Street Commons, the easy walk to campus and shopping, and you have an excellent place to live.

A Notre Dame graduate coming back to take a job at his alma mater after a 24-year Navy career picked a house in Harter Heights rather than the outlying subdivisions his Realtor recommended.

"If you're going to live in South Bend and you're part of the Notre Dame family, you might as well live close by," he said.

"We knew that, to take advantage of all it has to offer, you have to be close by," his wife added. "We knew we wouldn't drive the 20 or 25 minutes every night."

The couple's sons live nearby, drawn like many others to the quality of life in the nearly century-old neighborhood across Angela from campus and within easy reach of downtown. The area is enjoying a renaissance of younger families moving in and homeowners investing more in restoring the architectural gems built on the historic ground.

Owners' documents start with an 1826 Indian treaty that gave the land to Indiana and include the 1855 transfer to the Peashways, whose children were under the guardianship of Thomas Stanfield in 1865. The land went to the Leepers in 1870 and was platted as 200 lots of Harter Heights First Edition in 1916.  The Harter Realty Company bought full-page ads in the South Bend Tribune to attract home buyers to the new development.

The near-northside neighborhood includes a variety of housing stock, including various period revival style houses, as well as homes in bungalow, Craftsman, American Foursquare vernacular, and Cape Cod styles.

"There's a ton of history in this area," said one longtime resident. "Most of it was built in the 1920s."

"You could get on your bike and ride downtown," he recalled. "Leeper Park was very close. I walked to school every day," from Madison School to St. Joseph's High School to the University of Notre Dame. "When I got married, I looked for a home in the neighborhood. I've actually lived in three different houses in the neighborhood."

Now his three children are growing up in Harter Heights.

"It's a fairly well-defined neighborhood," he said. "It's big enough they can travel a few blocks in every direction."

Neighbors include several local leaders and dignitaries.  More young families are moving into the neighborhood, encouraged partly by the 'University's significant investment in the surrounding area.

Notre Dame has created a partnership with home buyers to build numerous grand houses designed to blend with the area's historic homes on Notre Dame Avenue and intersecting streets.

"We like the neighborhood a lot," said a local attorney, who has three young children. "We chose it primarily because of its location -- close to Notre Dame and downtown, where we work. We love the old houses, architectural variety, and mature trees.

"We like that the neighbors know each other and are involved in the neighborhood. Every year there are block parties and Halloween parties for kids. In the summer, the sidewalks are busy with kids riding bikes, people walking dogs, and neighbors going for walks." The average sale price is $140,000 with homes selling at $300,000 and above.

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Department of Community & Economic Development
Division of Community Development
227 W. Jefferson Boulevard • Suite 1200 S
South Bend, IN  46601
574.235.9660 • Fax: 574.235.9469