Anybody moved from FL to New Bedford, Ma. (Cambridge, Framingham: crime, schools)

[c. costa]

I'm from Palm coast Fl. and I was thinking of moving to new bedford to be with family. I moved from there when i was young and visit often. I love it, but alot of people tell me that Its a bad place to live. Palm coast is a small city, and very boring. Not a place for me.

By the way I'm portuguese, which I know new bedford if filled with

[professorsenator]

New Bedford is known as an old, run-down industrial town with a lousy local economy. Per capita income is significantly below average, crime is relatively high, schools significantly underperform. NB has some charms, but overall it is probably one of the lesser desirable places in Massachusetts. Be sure and line up work before you move there--there is a dearth of good quality jobs.

BTW, the neighboring suburban town of Dartmouth is pretty nice. Many people who work in NB actually live in Dartmouth.

[macmacmac]

Hey---

I'm also Portuguese and grew up in New Bedford, now living elsewhere in Massachusetts. I still have family in NB. I have to agree with the previous post - there are pockets that are nice but overall the city is just depressed. Try surrounding communities either east (Fairhaven, Mattapoisett, Marion - big $$, though) or west (Dartmouth, Somerset). Good luck.

[brightdoglover]

The second-largest linguistic group in Massachusetts is Portuguese, not Spanish. There are a lot of Brazilian immigrants in the area (especially Cambridge and the Framingham area). There are Cape Verdean people in the city, and I think South Shore.
There are Portuguese communties in the major cities and their environs. There's no shortage of places for Portuguese to be all around. Unless there is some specific reason to move to New Bedford, I'd look elsewhere. (Oh, and there's a significant Portuguese population in Providence, RI, too).