Best Cities in Maine for Young Professionals

Maine has always attracted young professionals looking for the location that best fits their lifestyle. These well-educated, environmentally-aware, socially-conscious people are drawn to the lower cost of living, the four seasons of outdoor activities, and the somewhat slower pace than that found in major cities.

With the recent economic downturn, even more young professionals are looking at Maine's small cities as the best places to restart their careers away from the intense job competition, high housing costs and high-pressure pace of cities like Boston or New York.

Maine has other cities with plenty to offer young professionals. The twin cities of Lewiston and Auburn are experiencing a rebirth. Bangor benefits from the nearby University of Maine. But three areas in Maine stand out as the best cities for young professionals.

Portland

The state's largest city, and the hub of most of its commerce and industry, Portland, Maine is the destination of choice for most young professionals. While the insurance and financial sectors have taken their lumps along with the rest of the country, Portland has a thriving legal community, a growing healthcare market, and a surprisingly diverse manufacturing base.

With just 64,000 people in the city itself, but nearly a quarter million in the region, Portland is small enough to avoid traffic nightmares but large enough to support a vibrant arts and culture community. The Portland Museum of Art is recognized as one of the country's best small-city museums. The Old Port district has a variety of galleries. The city boasts an array of award-winning restaurants that are gaining national acclaim.

The lifestyle choices are hard to top. Young professionals can choose to live in the heart of the very walkable city or, within minutes of downtown, live either on the ocean's rocky coastline or a quiet wooded lakeshore.

Brunswick

Less than a 30-minute commute from Portland in one direction and 30 minutes from Lewiston, the second-largest of the state's cities, in another direction is the town of Brunswick, Maine. Here, young professional life inevitably seems to be affected by the influence of Bowdoin College. Once the home of such luminaries as author Harriet Beecher Stowe, poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Civil War hero Joshua Chamberlain, Brunswick is the quintessentially-eclectic college town. A highly-educated population gives rise to strong literary and cultural activities.

The town itself could be out of a Norman Rockwell painting, with a population under 25,000, it retains a small-town Maine Street - with an "e" - and a central village green. A wide variety of restaurants line the street, along with shops, boutiques and the country's only remaining professional musical stock theater. Nearby, the quiet college campus lies beneath towering pine trees.

Camden-Rockland

The advance of the digital age, and the resulting increase in telecommuting, now allows young professionals to live far from major cities. They can remain connected by computer but still live the exact lifestyle they choose. For many of these high-tech young professionals, the Maine coast has proven to be the best choice. For those who must make an occasional appearance in the home office or visit with clients, the international airport in Bangor, Maine is less than 60 miles away.

Both Camden and Rockland are the kinds of small cities you find on picture postcards. Mountains gently slope right to the edge of the Atlantic, small town life still revolves around working fishing harbors, and active outdoor activities like hiking or kayaking are available everywhere.

Young professional residents here get to experience the best of both worlds - the summer splendor that attracts so many tourists to Maine, and the quiet, simple life that's left once the tourists go home for the off season.