face. when pete buttigieg was growing up in south bend in the 1980s and 90s, the abandoned studebaker factory shuttered two decades earlier loomed as an empty reminder of the city s industrial golden age. another remnant of the bygone era was south windbend s aging abandoned housing stock which became a focal point for the young mayor. the simple mathematical truth is we have too many houses in our city. and many houses are in such disrepair that they will have to be demolished but this is not only a demolition program. we should rehabilitate those houses that can be saved even as we tear down the ones that cannot. a year into the job, mayor pete launched an ambitious redevelopment initiative to raise or repair the city s vacant and blighted homes. he called the plan a thousand houses in a thousand days. so when i was running for office one of the biggest issues