Portland Maine is Overrated (by the locals) - S. Richards. Date of travel: Sep 2008
First, let me state that I have been in Portland for 4 years for business. I was interested when I was stationed (from Providence R.I. )here because I had heard great things from people I knew from the Portland area. The past 4 years have been a let down. Portland is small, and not just small, it's tiny. Providence is a small city, but Portland is far smaller and the attitude here is that of a very small town. Now, if you're looking for a quaint quiet getaway, Portland may be for you; but my experience has been unpleasant (as I'll explain below). The things I particularly disliked are as follows: Local Attitude: Don't get me wrong, Mainers are nice people, friendly for the most part, and helpful. But they sure are snobby about their little city. I commented on the lack of diversity here (Maine has the highest non-Hispanic white population in the U.S. and that trend is evident in Portland), I received MANY attacks about MY ignorance and how Portland is fine the way it is. They are VERY proud of there city and try to flaunt it all the time, but civic pride and hubris are two different things. Portlanders exhibit hubris. They are too proud of the city and choose to ignore problems with it (i.e. lack of diversity). They seem adverse to change, and as a result, little has changed in the past few years I've been here. If you mention something wrong with Portland, it will draw some VERY aggressive negative attention no matter how accurate your point is. Arts/Culture: One thing every Portland Travel brochure will tell you is that Portland is a hub for arts and culture. This is a stretch. The Portland Museum of Art and galleries are nice, but they're no better than what you'd expect in a city around this size in New England. The bottom line is that while there IS an arts scene (performing as well as visual), it's not any better than what you'd find in Salem, Lowell, New Bedford, Gloucester, etc. Restaurants/Culinary Arts: Again, something locals and travel brochures rave about that Portland fails to follow through on. Portland has a LOT of restaurants for a city of 63,000, but the Quality doesn't come close to matching the Quantity. Out of all of the restaurants, I would award very few a rating of 4 out of 5 stars (in fact, the only one I would consider for that is Fore Street), and none for a 5/5 rating. The quality of seafood is particularly disappointing considering the focus of Portland on their working waterfront and maritime history. Nightlife: Again, a big let down. I don't expect a city of 63,000 to Party like Boston or NYC, but Portland disappoints big time here. Last call everywhere is 1am, and the diversity of nightlife is non-existent. The only night scene here is the Sports Bar/Dive Bar/Pub Scene (which by itself isn't terrible). Anything referred to as a "club" is a sports bar with a few tables cleared and a DJ. No dress code, no interesting decor, nothing. The primary "area" to go to is the "Old Port" which consists of about one block of converted back-alley (Wharf St.) with several (about 7) bars facing it. Each Bar is about the same (read: divey, sloppy, and overall boring), with the only variation being a DJ or bad cover band depending on the place. Some other bars off of Wharf St. include White Heart, the Asylum, Stadium, and the Big Easy; same applies to them, no dress code, dumpy environment. That's it. Nothing upscale, no real Dance Clubs, nada. It's dive bars or nothing in Portland. Smaller cities like Newport RI and Portsmouth NH offer equally as good or better nightlife. Finally, Retail/Shopping: Again, claims about Portland's shopping are common in travel guides. However, it's years behind the typical metropolitan area. The stores available in town and at the Maine Mall (and vicinity) in nearby South Portland are mediocre and common place in most areas in the U.S. Upscale shops are nowhere to be found, and the downtown area boasts mostly local gift shops for the tourist crowd but not too much else. One bright light for me is the variety of used bookstores which I always find fascinating, but again, no better than in most New England cities. Chain retail at the mall is out of date. Popular stores tend to show up about 5 years after they appear everywhere else. For example: (Not that I shop at any of these places) The state's first Apple Store opened in September of 2008 and it's the smallest one I've ever seen. Hollister strangely doesn't exist here, H&M is slated to open this fall and Forever 21 opened in September. These stores have been popular everywhere else, and JUST opened their doors here. The likes of Neiman Marcus, Nordstom, Lord and Taylor, Saks 5th, etc are nowhere to be found nor are plans in the works for them. Designer shops are limited to Coach (in the Maine Mall) and again, no plans for others. Outdoorsmen will like L.L. Bean located in Freeport (small shop in Downtown Portland) and Cabella's in Scarborough. Mass transit (only bus) is not widely available and is not used by most people. This is a VERY Auto-Centric town (which I guess in the norm for an American city of 63,000). The Amtrak Downeaster is a terrible option for commuters but can be a fun day trip for tourists looking for a train ride. It take 3.5 hours to get to Boston (as opposed to 2 by car) and suffers from frequent delays (it takes a back seat to Freight Rail in Maine and NH and is second in line to Boston's MBTA commuter rail trains which it shares track with in MA). Some good things about Portland are that the people are friendly (again, if you don't mention any problems with their city), and it's very quiet and quaint (if that's what you're looking for). It's MUCH cheaper than Newport RI, Cape Cod or the Islands for a weekend getaway, but it doesn't offer the same type of options that those places do. It's small and easy to navigate on foot or by car, so if you've never been, you won't have trouble finding your way around. My bottom line on Portland, Maine: Pleasant and Quiet, but being 2.5 hours north of Boston and far away from anything else, it's too isolated for me. The things that interested me as described by locals(Dining, nightlife, arts/culture) were a complete let down and could be found in much better form in many other small cities (even ones considered to be blighted or run-down) throughout New England. I am looking forward to leaving for good.

Portland (Maine) - Chad. Date of travel: Jun 2005
I like Portland. A town with a happening music and art scene. The waterfront is cool but the commercial fishing culture has slackened and moved to less overfished waters. A few colleges in the area and a young energy town. A good place to engage in the more civilized aspects of life, before going into the wilderness up north.