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Yeah, that's one element that New England does better than the coast of the NW (in general though I find the small towns of New England not just on the coast to be more pleasant than most of the US). The old coastal ports along the New England coast are interesting looking towns with a lot of charm. I haven't even had a chance to explore all of Maine, but from what I've seen the state is crawling with nice coastal towns.
In comparison a lot of the towns along the Oregon Coast or Olympic Peninsula tend to be sort of bland or even a little dumpy. Not all of them, there's nice historic towns like Port Townsend or Astoria or Cannon Beach--and there's some fairly nice villages on the San Juans and around Puget Sound. Though a lot of NW coastal towns feel fairly beat up, though it makes sense given their history as rough and tumble logging or fishing towns--or more popular locations feel overly touristy in a cheap way like Lincoln City(some of the larger places like Victoria, BC or the bigger cities though are a much different story). There's a lot of shabbier looking towns in great locations though. Oceanside, Oregon is a small village with a great location on the side of the hills above the beach.
I think the Oregon Coast could be accurately described as "West Virginia-by-the-sea".
Well the natural beauty found in the PNW is unmatched, though it's all aesthetic. I've spent a good amount of time along the Oregon coast and just wasn't totally captivated by anything other than the visuals. I was surprised with how, err, backwards things can be there. The New England coast is just a more cozy, more convenient place to be in comparison.
I have been to every state in New England and every state in the Pacific Porthwest (I haven't been to BC though). I went to Maine this summer for the first time. In terms of natural beauty, the Pacific Northwest blows New England away, it isn't even close for me. I was underwhelmed by Acadia National Park. The view from Cadillac Mountain was beautiful but the rest I didn't find very impressive.
Recreation would be a tie in my opinion.
I think New England has better towns and small cities but I prefer Seattle to Boston.
I don't eat seafood but Maine has a huge lobster fetish which gets fairly annoying in my opinion.
Pacific Northwest has a better coastline in terms of beauty and ruggedness.
New England has a better coast line in terms of cute towns, and villages.
The main thing, is that the PNW coast is mostly barren and pretty depressed economically. None of the major cities are on the "actua ocean" Both Vancouver BC, and Seattle are situated at the southern end of the inside passage.
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