Smith’s North is a patchwork constituency that has been transformed since the last election.Patrice Minors won it for the Progressive Labour Party against the United Bermuda Party’s Michael Dunkley in 2007.Senator Dunkley is now challenging the Economy, Trade and Industry Minister in hopes of winning the seat for the One Bermuda Alliance.Loyal Hill, Valley Heights and Aerial View sit in the west of the constituency. A stand-alone residential swath, the area includes businesses like the Inferno nightclub on North Shore and Dunkley’s Dairy inland.There is a central green belt of Penhurst Park and extensive farmland before the more affluent Jennings Land neighbourhood, where the Whitney Institute Middle School is the main landmark along Middle Road.Flatts Village is the constituency’s residential and business hub, followed by an Eastern stretch taken from Hamilton Parish as far as Commonland Point Road, just west of Shelly Bay, where wealthier properties dot the shoreline of Harrington Sound and Flatts Inlet, and middle class neighbourhoods run inland from North Shore Road.With the slice gained from Constituency 6, won comfortably by Wayne Furbert for the United Bermuda Party in 2007, Smith’s North looks to be tilted more in the Opposition’s favour this time around. Another boundary change since the last election has shunted Northridge Close over to Constituency 13, along with Loyal Hill Crescent and Loyal Hill Road — taking out a good portion of a tight-knit residential area that’s considered a safe bet for the Progressive Labour Party.The Royal Gazette spoke to voters in the district, starting at the Northwestern corner of Smith’s North, where Foothills Road and the Railway Trail mark the new boundary.A 34-year-old area resident agreed that Loyal Hill was a PLP stronghold but added: “I think the election will be close here.”Saying he’d “definitely vote”, he preferred not to go into the specifics of whom for — but both candidates had made a good impression on him.Ms Minors had knocked around on his door while he was out, he said, and left her card behind at his home“Dunkley I like. Just recently he sent me a birthday card — this is the third year I got one. I like how he talks. He comes across nice.”An 11-year resident of the neighbourhood, he said it was “pretty quiet — no real issues, nothing too much going on; nobody has tried to break into my house, no gunshots”.Asked about national issues, he said: “I’m a little concerned about the economy. I work as an electrician and sometimes I don’t get 40 hours in a week. It’s just gone slow. Rent and food are expensive — I wish I could just win a lottery.”A female resident opined: “People want change, but they’re afraid to vote for the other party.“You know what you have but you don’t know what you’re going to get. I believe a lot of people will not vote in this one.”Another woman who lives in the area said: “I did want to vote in this one, but I think I missed it.”She said she hadn’t registered in time, adding that her family had traditionally discouraged voting on religious grounds.Identifying “rising crime” as her top concern, she said: “This is one of the most important things, and I don’t know what either of [the parties] are saying about dealing with it. In my opinion, it’s got to be addressed.”She said she believed the switch to middle schools and the introduction of CedarBridge Academy had encouraged crime.Both candidates had visited her house she said, adding that the neighbourhood was PLP-inclined.The area was quiet and “middle” in terms of income, she said.Crime and disruption from the vicinity of the old Gravity nightclub had died down.“It was pretty bad a couple years back,” she noted.A short drive East lies Jennings Road, where a couple in their early 40s told The Royal Gazette they intended to vote OBA.“We’re both managers,” the man said, giving construction as his field of business. His wife works in the reinsurance industry.They said Ms Minors had paid a perfunctory visit, but Sen Dunkley had arrived on their doorstep three weeks after they moved into the neighbourhood last year, with a pamphlet to get them on the electoral roll, and had dropped by a few more times since.Ms Minors, the woman said, “knows already how this area is going to swing”.Despite that she said: “The whole thing overall is going to be close.”The woman’s top national concerns were Bermuda’s debt and having equal human rights; crime was also important.“There are a lot of break-ins in Jennings Land, and security is a big issue in this neighbourhood,” her husband concurred, calling the economy and Government’s financial management record his top worries for the Island as a whole.“I’d like to think the OBA is going to get this constituency,” he said.Just over the hill in Flatts, a long-term male resident who said he was “between 40 and 50” identified himself as “traditionally PLP”. Asked if he would vote, he replied: “That’s a good question. I haven’t decided yet.”He said the election this year was “an important one”.“I do hate to say it but Premier Paula Cox was the Minister of Finance. She could have stopped a lot of things. Now here we are in this big debt, and I don’t know when we’re going to get out of it. I’m not doing better now than I was ten years ago. People are lucky to have jobs and businesses are shutting down.”He said he was unhappy with the educational system’s switch to middle schools and “the two major senior schools”, which he said had encouraged gangs and crime.The construction worker said: “I’m not hurting, but once the hospital is finished, I think work will be hard for me.”Flatts had seen improvements, particularly in the main thoroughfare, but he said: “That would have happened anyway, no matter who was in power.”Musing on the political landscape, he said: “I’m not sure of either party right now. Everybody wants to be the boss, that’s what it comes down to. Nobody wants to listen to the other.”Both parties, he said, had “a few who know what’s going on, and the others don’t seem to have a clue”.He said Sen Dunkley “seems more popular” in his area; he hadn’t seen Ms Minors.“Maybe she came around when I wasn’t here. I didn’t even see her last time, and I voted for her.”Across the inlet on Studio Drive, an elderly resident said: “In this area, we’ve been fortunate. Crime, so far, has not affected us. We are fairly comfortable as a couple because we are both seniors, retired for a number of years now.”She said a drop in the price of everyday goods would be welcome.“Truthfully, I am looking for a change,” she said of the December 17 count. “I have been pro-UBP and this time I’m pro-OBA.”“I’ve always voted. It’s my duty. My husband likewise. Both candidates have been here, and I’ve given my views to them. I’m just waiting for the 17th.”Somersfield Academy is the polling station for Smith’s North on election day.