The City of Brockton is a major urban community south of Boston with a rich industrial history. Brockton was the shoe manufacturing center of the region from the late 18th century through the 1950s. In the Civil War, it was claimed that half of the Union Army wore boots made in Brockton. At the height of the shoe industry in 1929, more than 30,000 people were employed by shoe manufacturers in a city which dominated the world footwear market until after World War II.

Since being incorporated as a city on April 9, 1881, Brockton has steadily grown in population and significance to become the only city in Plymouth County. It straddles the cities of Boston, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island. Brockton was the site of pioneering in electrical power in 1883 when the third electric power station in the country was opened under the supervision of Thomas Edison. In 1884, Edison returned to witness the opening of the City Theater, the first in the world to be lighted from a central power station. In 1893, Brockton developed a sewage disposal system for inland cities. Like so many of Brockton's innovations, other communities throughout the world followed Brockton's lead.

Today, Brockton is a changing city, symbolizing a veritable mix of peoples. It is home to significant Irish, sub-Saharan African, English, and Caribbean communities. In addition, the city is no longer dependent on manufacturing. It is a service center for its own people, as well as neighbors from many of the same towns where hundreds of its factory workers once lived. Service -- educational, health, and social -- is its biggest industry, providing more jobs than any other business sector. 

Yet, even with the wealth of diversity, history, and facilities in Brockton, there is room for change. Brockton's crime index rating is well above the national average. Food Insecurity with Hunger (a term researchers use to indicate that households experience prolonged periods without adequate food and severe instances of hunger) exists in high concentrations in Brockton. And, the city's unemployment rate is above the national average. Lacking a "vision," or roadmap, for commerce, trade, and business, Brockton has a fragile and underdeveloped economic base.

In Massachusetts, Brockton is one of the cities with the highest percentage of HIV and AIDS diagnoses within younger age groups. Brockton also has a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students and an approximate 30 percent high school dropout rate. In terms of local politics, residents of this distinguished city have yet to see their diversity reflected in its own governance. It is time for a change -- essentially, time to reshape the fabric of Brockton, Massachusetts.

Location: Southeastern Massachusetts, bordered by Easton on the west; Stoughton, Avon, and Holbrook on the north; Abington, Whitman, and East Bridgewater on the east; and West Bridgewater on the south. Brockton is 20 miles south of Boston; 30 miles northeast of Providence, Rhode Island; and 208 miles from New York City.