Where We Live: Election 2012 in Massachusetts Cities and Towns

 When Jared Bowen visited Fitchburg, the empty storefronts he saw on Main Street indicated an economy in decline. But despite the slump, many residents placed hope for recovery in Fitchburg State University, the area’s largest employer.

Lord's Department Store is the symbolic heart of downtown Medfield. You can go there to buy greeting cards, or Medfield memorabilia, or a one-dollar ham-and-pickle sandwich at the lunch counter in the back. In a big-box age, Lord's is a throwback — a term that applies to Medfield as a whole.

Fishing is no small matter in Gloucester — it’s big business. The Cape Ann Seafood Exchange can handle up to 40,000 pounds of fish a day, and the careers of the fishermen who haul that catch are of vital importance to the community.

The picture of Fitchburg’s promise is one of gleaming buildings, new construction and bustling activity. But for the most part, it’s a city saddled as the picture of problems featuring a landscape of the major domestic issues dominating this presidential election cycle including rundown neighborhoods, shuttered businesses and rising crime.

Gloucester Harbor is quiet these days — a far cry from the thriving port that used to bustle from dawn to dusk. Most boats sit idle, confined by federal rules that limit when they can fish and what they can catch. And as Gloucester’s best-known industry struggles, the mood in the city is bleak.  

This map shows each community we've traveled to in our Where We Live series. Click on a blue tack to learn the story of a town we have visited. To see what's still ahead, click on the red tacks — those are the communities we will visit next. 

Does the "American Dream" still exist in Massachusetts? A MassINC report has mixed news on whether residents feel secure and optimistic about their ability to achieve their goals. But perspectives change depending on where you live. In our second installment of the "Where We Live" series, which ran Nov. 14–18, 2011, WGBH News told stories of optimism, sadness, struggle and success from eight Bay State communities on 89.7 Boston Public Radio and WGBH 2's "Greater Boston."