The mingling of "Cape Verdeans, Portuguese,Puerto Ricans and Yankees" Almeida describes atNew Bedford High is representative of the city'sdiverse population.

In spite of New Bedford's scarce job market,immigrants continue to flock there.

Some see promise in the city government'smunicipal improvement campaign. But Teixeira saysshe remains skeptical.

"We keep saying we're on the verge of economicdevelopment," Teixeira says, "but I'm not surethat's really going to happen."

Just Around the Bend

But Stephen L. Furtado, an aide to NewBedford's recently inaugurated mayor Frederick M.Kalisz Jr., says changes are already in the worksfor New Bedford's economy.

"This is not a community of doom and gloom,"Furtado says. "It's a community that's beingenergized and has a lot of optimism."

With a recently designated historic park and a$126 million aquarium planned for the downtownarea, Furtado says New Bedford hopes to developtourism as its newest source of profit.

With I-195--the main thoroughfare from New Yorkto Cape Cod--running right through the middle ofthe city, New Bedford is seeking to serve as astopping point for weary travelers.

An expansion of the regional airport's runwayis already in the works, and an industrial parkmay be in New Bedford's future.

"We're in a bit of a transition period where wehave to look for new economic opportunities,"Furtado says. "We have a long history of successand prosperity, and we can be successful andprosperous again."

Rogers says New Bedford's history of successfultransitions is the most important thing toconsider when assessing the city's chances foreconomic rebirth.

"We've gone through so many cycles," heexplains. "We were once the richest city in theworld because of whaling, and then we had thelargest textile industry in the United States."

"When those times passed us, we moved on to thegarment industry," says Rogers, who has alsoserved as New Bedford's state representative forsix years.

Today, many city leaders are looking beyond thearea's traditional industries.