South Coast (Massachusetts)

, Northern Bristol and eastern Plymouth counties).

Economy

The "South Coast" label was born as a public relations effort to counteract the perceived stigma of former terms like "Greater New Bedford" or "New Bedford-Fall River," which conjured images, in many Massachusetts residents' minds, of depressed mill towns with run-down buildings and high unemployment. Local boosters, including "The Standard-Times" newspaper, began using the term in the mid-1990s in an effort to attract business to an area with "the Cape's climate," "better infrastructure" and "relatively low land prices," according to "Standard-Times" publisher William Kennedy.Jurkowitz, Mark. "Renaming the 'Armpit'". "The Boston Globe", June 5, 1997.]

Transportation

The major highways through the area are Interstate 195 (from Providence to Wareham, Massachusetts) and U.S. Route 6, which is the older route connecting Providence to Cape Cod. Highway access to Boston is provided by Route 24 and Route 79, both of which end in Fall River, and Route 140 which connects New Bedford to Route 24 in Taunton. Limited public transportation is provided by the MBTA and the Greater Attleboro Regional Transit Authority. There is a proposal to connect Fall River to Boston via commuter rail, but it has not yet been approved.

The South Coast is home to Massachusetts' longest bridge, the Charles M. Braga, Jr. Bridge, which connects I-195 from Somerset to Fall River.

Media

The term "South Coast" reportedly began with weather forecasts by Todd Gross on WHDH-TV in Boston. New Bedford's local daily newspaper, "The Standard-Times", picked it up in the late 1990s, and other media have followed suit, albeit not without some protest by longtime area residents who protested the manufactured name.

Other newspapers serving the area include "The Herald News" of Fall River; "The Standard Times" with an online entertainment subsidiary "southcoast247" of New Bedford; the "Taunton Daily Gazette"; "The Providence Journal"; and, for regional coverage, "The Boston Globe" and "Boston Herald". Much of the broadcast media in the area is local to metropolitan Providence and Boston.

WBSM 1420 AM serves as the premier news and talk radio station for the Southcoast.

ee also

*Fall River, Massachusetts
*New Bedford, Massachusetts
*Taunton, Massachusetts
*Dartmouth, Massachusetts
*Somerset, Massachusetts
*Swansea, Massachusetts
*Westport, Massachusetts
*Fairhaven, Massachusetts
*MetroWest, another region with a recent name

References