A Portuguese Heritage District: A Proposal for New Bedford

A waterfront view of downtown New Bedford. Photo from downtownnb.org

New Bedford, Massachusetts, the old ‘whaling capital of the world,’ as we know from Moby Dick, is looking to redevelop its downtown and waterfront. When I was a kid growing up in the North End of New Bedford in the 1950s, the city was in decline and the idea that people from Boston or Providence would drive to downtown restaurants in New Bedford was laughable. But it’s happening now. Now…