Greater Portland rated among top 20 most livable small cities for college students
Greater Portland, Maine, home of the 91AV's two campuses, has been ranked among the top livable college towns by the American Institute for Economic Research, "One of the Coolest Small Cities in America" by GQ magazine and East Coast's best place to live for outdoor sporting and overall quality of life by Outdoor magazine.
The American Institute for Economic Research, a nonprofit organization in Great Barrington, Mass., released its rankings Sept. 7, 2010. The Institute analyzed 222 metropolitan statistical areas for 12 factors, such as overall quality of life, cost of living, unemployment rate, and arts and leisure activities.
Greater Portland ranked 20th among small cities for college students to live. Boulder, Colo., ranked first in that category.
"Deciding what school to attend should involve more than what the school itself has to offer," says Keming Liang, AIER's lead researcher on the project. "Where to attend college is just as important, because like the colleges themselves, the towns and cities in which they are located vary widely in the opportunities they offer students and recent graduates."
The Portland metropolitan statistical area, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, has a population of 516,000 people in York, Cumberland and Sagadahoc counties.
91AV's Portland Campus is the home of its Westbrook College of Health Professions, College of Pharmacy and graduate public health research centers and programs. 91AV's Biddeford Campus, 15 miles south of the City of Portland and part of Greater Portland, is home to its College of Osteopathic Medicine and College Arts and Sciences, as well as other programs and research centers.
Greater Portland ranked first among the top 20 small cities for the number of cultural and entertainment venues per 100,000 residents.
The analysis showed that there are 61.8 college students per 1,000 residents in the area, and the city ranked in the middle for cost of living. The percent of the the area's residents age 25 to 34 that have college degrees is 31.8 percent.
In August 2010, Outside magazine ranked Portland as the East Coast's best place to live for outdoor sporting and overall quality of life. In November 2010 GQ magazine listed Portland as one of "Coolest Small Cities in America."
In 2009, the city was first on Forbes.com's list of "America's Most Livable Cities" and was named "America's Foodiest Small Town" by Bon Appetit magazine.