The \u201cP\u201d word has long haunted Fall River. \u201cPeople come to the city, see the Braga Bridge and waterfront, the historic buildings, and say, \u2018Hey, this place looks like a mini-San Francisco\u2014this place has so much\u00a0potential!<\/em>\u2019\u201d says Patrick Norton, executive director of Narrows Center for the Arts. \u201cAnd we have been hearing this word \u2018potential\u2019 for, let\u2019s see, I\u2019m 59, so, for about 58 years. But I can say, because I grew up here and stayed, that I know Fall River is now moving forward, sort of in spite of itself. We\u2019ve had five or six really bad mayors and, obviously, one guy last year went to jail.\u201d<\/p>\n One cause for optimism is the new South Coast Rail station slated to open downtown later this year, enabling direct public transit from southeastern Massachusetts to Boston for the first time since the 1950s. Other major infrastructure changes are also under way\u2014like the demolition of Route 79 that will open access to 15 re-developable acres along the appealing Taunton River waterfront. \u201cThis whole area\u2019s going to explode,\u201d says former city councilor and attorney Dave Dennis, who has been part of the planning effort. \u201cIn my opinion, that will be the new downtown, the new center of Fall River.\u201d<\/p>\n Add to that a percolating arts-and-culture scene\u2014more than 100 artists live or work in the city, with many more working in the region\u2014coalescing around tourism-focused groups like Creative Arts Network (founded by Dennis) and newer organizations like\u00a0Viva Fall River\u00a0and the Fall River Arts and Culture Coalition (FRACC). For leaders of this once-thriving textile hub\u2014a place otherwise known for the nineteenth-century Lizzie Borden ax-murders trial, more recent political scandals, and poverty\u2014these promising changes are way overdue. \u201cPeople in Fall River have been working hard,\u201d says Norton, \u201cand right now, a lot of what we\u2019ve been talking about for about 30 years is finally happening.\u201d<\/p>\n So, what does this city of 94,000 people, poised for a renaissance, offer? From monuments, naval vessels, and Portuguese-American culture to historic house museums and rehabbed mills, Fall River is a patchwork of un-obvious treasures\u2014rewarding precisely because it hasn\u2019t been dolled up for sightseers. \u201cIt\u2019s the only city in America whose city hall straddles an interstate highway (I-95),\u201d Viva Fall River\u2019s executive director Patti Rego says. \u201cI don\u2019t know why they did that, but it\u2019s ours, and ours alone. There\u2019s a real authenticity here. Fall River is a good place to be pleasantly surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n
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