Location Location Location

So, a big part of this whole thesis thing seems to be narrowing it down. I picked the topic, picked a case study/city, but then my problem became "I am interested in everything & there is an unbelievable amount of things to try." Since tourism/travel includes direct & indirect industries {aka: everything -i.e museums & other historic sites, food, transportation, etc} & the definition of sustainable is so vast {I narrowed my personal definition down to local & low-impact} & New Bedford has so many different areas -even more if you're including neighboring Dartmouth, Fair Haven, Acushnet, etc - this has really been that hardest part of this thesis, so far.

I narrowed down Sustainability to tourism for local people & low-impact {to save the future from possible mistakes & to reduce costs}. Now, my geographical area has been narrowed down, as well. I'm focusing on historical organizations & businesses {for the definition of travel/tourism} located in the New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park. My area of concern might also include two nearby historic districts, the New Bedford Historic District {aka waterfront & old downtown} & the Central New Bedford Historic District {downtown}.

From what I have gathered so far - & this will definitely change as I do some more cutting, sleuthing & as I start visiting the area {first trip down for research & not Memere visiting purposes will be on Wednesday, although Memere visiting will, of course, be included} - these are the historic, & otherwise, organizations & businesses that I will be concerned about in terms of Web 2.0 recommendations {I'm working on a spreadsheet - my goal for today}:

Sites associated with the historical park:

1. Whaling Museum

2. Mariner's Home

3. Schooner Ernestina

4. Rotch-Jones-Duff House & Garden Museum

5. Bourne Counting House

6. Sundial Building

7. Seaman's Bethel

8. US Customhouse

9. Double Bank

10. Samuel Rodman Candlehouse {aka Rodman Candlworks}

11. Waterfront Visitors Center @ the Wharfinger Building

12. Park Visitor's Center

Map of New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park outlined in green {larger image}:

Sites associated with downtown New Bedford/in 2, above stated, historic districts & not in the national park:

There are lots of places & sites in the downtown, so here I'll just do a quick run through. A thorough list can be found by clicking the link to the map below.

1. 2 antique stores

2. 3 banks

3. 3 bed & breakfasts

4. 2 colleges/universities

5. 4 festivals

6. 10 galleries {art or otherwise}

7. 5 hotels/motels

8. 5 museums {New Bedford Art Museum, Fire Museum, some sites listed with the national park, etc}

9. 15 points of interest {Buttonwood Park Zoo, Ocean Explorium, Artworks!, some sites listed with the national park, etc}

10. 20 eateries

11. 15 places to shop {including Travessia Winery}

12. 7 services

13. 4 methods of transportation

Map of downtown {larger image located in PDF directory}

Ok, so even after defining a geographical location the whole narrowing down thing is still complicated. The historical sites are easy to locate, but since travel/tourism encompasses a whole mess of things there are still a lot of sites to keep track of. I may end up narrowing this down to 5-ish places to eat/shop/transportation methods to keep it simple & focus on all the sites in the national park. Since visitors to the national park would most likely venture into the nearby downtown for food or shopping before, after, or during their visit.