Portlander
Senior Member
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2010
- Messages
- 2,517
- Reaction score
- 5,459
Years ago I started a thread that ranked the top 15 cities of New England by importance which received plenty of interest and spirited debate so I thought I'd eliminate the three densely populated states to the south and focus on the more remote portion of New England. My rankings take into account all of the attributes that make up a city including population, entertainment, restaurants, education, shopping, culture, natural beauty, tourism, skyline, history, transportation, economic importance and overall relevance to the region. The northern New England cities I would actually prefer to LIVE in would be a little different from this list.
1) PORTLAND, 2) MANCHESTER, 3) BURLINGTON, 4) NASHUA, 5) BANGOR, 6) PORTSMOUTH, 7) LEWISTON, 8) CONCORD, 9) BRATTLEBORO, 10) DOVER
Where to rank Lewiston, Maine's second largest city was a difficult decision. When included with Auburn its stature is more prominent but I prefer to judge it on it's own merit and have never sipped the "twin cities" marketing kool aid. They are no more related to each other than Portland/South Portland, Bangor/Brewer, Manchester/Bedford or Burlington/South Burlington. Portland and Manchester was a close call but my tie breaker came down to PWM surpassing MHT in airport passenger counts along with having AMTRAK service along with a port gave it an edge in the transportation arena.
Honorable mention: Rutland, Augusta, Montpelier, Keene, Waterville, Presque Isle, Bennington
1) PORTLAND, 2) MANCHESTER, 3) BURLINGTON, 4) NASHUA, 5) BANGOR, 6) PORTSMOUTH, 7) LEWISTON, 8) CONCORD, 9) BRATTLEBORO, 10) DOVER
Where to rank Lewiston, Maine's second largest city was a difficult decision. When included with Auburn its stature is more prominent but I prefer to judge it on it's own merit and have never sipped the "twin cities" marketing kool aid. They are no more related to each other than Portland/South Portland, Bangor/Brewer, Manchester/Bedford or Burlington/South Burlington. Portland and Manchester was a close call but my tie breaker came down to PWM surpassing MHT in airport passenger counts along with having AMTRAK service along with a port gave it an edge in the transportation arena.
Honorable mention: Rutland, Augusta, Montpelier, Keene, Waterville, Presque Isle, Bennington
Last edited: