Why do so many in New Bedford, hate New Bedford?

“We become what we think about.” – Earl Nightingale

This is a great quote and reminds me of the many people that live in New Bedford that hate the city so much. Post something positive about the city and you’ll have a long line of New Bedford residents tearing it down. There’s a crab metaphor that perfectly represents these people:

“Individually, the crabs could easily escape from the pot, but instead, they grab at each other in a useless “king of the hill” competition which prevents any from escaping and ensures their collective demise.”

Earlier this year I wrote an article title ‘8 reasons New Bedford is a better destination than Newport‘ – it wasn’t an article saying that New Bedford was better than Newport, it was an article pointing out what I felt were 8 things that made New Bedford a better destination. I’m certain someone could provide more than eight reasons why Newport is a better destination, but that doesn’t mean my reasons are any less relevant.

Unfortunately, it was mostly New Bedford residents that chimed in on Facebook tearing apart the article. This wasn’t an isolated case, almost anytime you post something positive about New Bedford, an army of crabs will swarm to tear it apart. We posted the article three times on our Facebook page here, here and here. Check out the comments for yourself – instead of Newport coming to defend Newport, it was New Bedford people defending Newport and verbally destroying New Bedford.

This seems to happen every time I try to portray New Bedford in a positive light. Tell people crime is down? Liar! Tell people unemployment is down? No way! Show people a new harbor walk? Why isn’t that money used to fix the roads. It’s a tiresome game.

Why do so many New Bedford residents like to tear down any positive news or articles about the city they live in? I guess the popular quote “misery loves company” would be appropriate. Miserable people simply like to make others miserable, instead of rising up to a positive level, they bring other people to their misery. Social media seems to bring out the worst people and they seem to be the most vocal.

My advice for miserable people that hate their city so much – move, keep quiet or contribute in a positive way. Do some soul searching and find out why you are so miserable. Go out of your way to be nice to others and see if it comes back to you. When you see something positive about your city on social media – like, share and comment on it. See something negative about your city? Offer improvements. We become what we think about, and our city becomes what its citizens think and talk about. Let’s become a positive city, there’s so much to love and be proud about.

Make sure you check out the comments on social media responding to this article – you’ll see what I mean.

Newport