Use these questions to think more about how you would describe your community...
  - Where do people in your community gather or socialize?
  - How and where does your community access services (healthcare, transportation, educational services, etc.)?

Examples of activities and services: Shopping areas, schools and universities, libraries, parks, lakes, rivers, places of worship, healthcare services, public transport, local nonprofit organizations, etc.

Your response: This part of New Bedford is a busy commercial coorridor around Acushnet Avenue, with many "mom and pop" stores. It is a walkable area, with dense population and multi-family houses (double and triple deckers). In this area people gather and socialize in Riverside Park and Brooklawn Park and in churches such as St. Anthony of Padua and Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Perpetual Help and St. Joseph's Catholic Churches, and the Feast Grounds (related to Immaculate Conception Church), and social clubs such as ethnically defined, Portuguese community such as the Medeiran Club, Portuguese Sports Association Club, etc. A number of storefront churches continue to emerge on Acushnet Avenue.

Use these questions to think more about how you would describe your community...
  - What are the cultural bonds in your community?
  - If your community has a shared history, what is it?

Examples of cultural or historical interests: Religious groups, ethnic groups, languages, age groups, immigration status, historic or arts districts, etc.

Your response: In this part of New Bedford, it is the "gateway" of the gateway city of New Bedford. Generations of immigrants have settled in this part of New Bedford: French Canadian, Portuguese, Azorean and Medeiran Portuguese, and more recently the Mayan Kiche Guatemalan community, and other Central American communities (ex. Honduran, Salvadoran), and more newly arrived Cape Verdean immigrants. Currently both the Guatemalan and Portuguese communities are influential in the community.

Use these questions to think more about how you would describe your community...
  - Where are residents employed?
  - If there are environmental concerns in your community, what are they?

Examples of economic or environmental interests: Tourism industry, agricultural workers, mining town, manufacturing center, polluted natural resource, unemployment problem, etc.

Your response: Members of this area of New Bedford, esp. the Central America community are employed in seafood processing and in tire recycling and warehousing. Manufacturing and the service industries are also major employers. Environmental concerns include the Acushnet River being a PCB contamination site from manufacturing along the river. The site has been dredged, and is still a part of a flood zone. Because of the dense nature of the neighborhood and the older housing stock, cooling has been an issue in terms of keeping a densely packed area cool - overheating is an issue putting residents at risk.

Use these questions to think more about how you would describe your community...
  - What should politicians and/or map drawers know about your community?
  - What are the needs of your community?
  - Is there anything else you want to tell us about your community?

Examples of needs or concerns: Keep community in the same district or separate into multiple districts, shared policy concerns, need for a social service, relationship to other nearby communities, issues with current district lines

Your response: This area of New Bedford has suffered many years of dis-investment and lack of attention by elected officials. Key institutions like healthcare and banking institutions have dis-invested from this neighborhood. There are ongoing issues of blight and neglect in city services in the neighborhood. There is a lack of representation among elected officials to reflect the composition of this neighborhood, both locally and at the state level.