Small New England Cities: Mystic vs. Portsmouth vs. Salem vs. Portland vs Newport (living, best)

[RunD1987]

Which of these Cities strives or lacks in these areas:
Proximity to higher education facilities
Best year round weather
Has the mildest of winters
Walk-ability
Proximity to hiking locations
Great for runners, cyclist, and swimmers
Attractions - Museums/Aquariums
Best shopping
Best schools
Proximity to venues/entertainment areas
Best waterfront
Better nightlife/Best grub
Cheapest cost of living
What hospitals are near these Cities

From my experience really only have ventured enough times to be familiar with the Mystic area. Small area in CT that is divided between two towns. It has a great connection to legendary runners like Ellison Brown, John J. Kelly, Amby Burfoot, and Bill Rodgers (Newington bit off to the West ha). Has a few road races year round and a swimming event in the harbor. As far as attractions have the tourist destinations like the Shipyard, Olde Mystic Village, and the Aquarium. More local mom and pop stores in Mystics' downtown area. Mix of various foods. Mix of dive bars and gastro pubs.

As far as shopping and entertainment it's not centrally located in Mystic. Not to far of a drive can go to the Casino's, the mall, the outlet mall, and see concerts/shows at the Casino's.

Weather wise it's probably the best area for CT. Winters are usually less extreme in Mystic area. Less humidity than the rest of the State during the Summer month's.

Walk-ability isn't too bad if closer to downtown area of Mystic.

There are at least 4 to 5 colleges/universities within a reasonable driving time of 15 to 20 minutes from Mystic.

Schools tend to be fair a bit better on the Stonington side than the Groton side of Mystic. Still decent school system regarding Groton. Groton also has a lot more activities for adults over 50/60 years old.

Cost of living is realtively cheap compared to most of Connecticut. Stonington can be a bit pricey along the waterfront. It's a lot easier to find property in Mystic that is a 3bdr/2 bath house not over $225K. Property taxes are low in the Mystic area.

As far as hiking again need to drive a little bit out North, but the largest State Forest in CT is near Mystic. Maybe 20-30 minutes out. Stonington closer to RI does have a beautiful wildlife sanctuary. Going West along the Coast of CT beautiful State Parks to explore.

As far as History have the Shipyard and Fort Griswold.

As far as Hospitals go have Yale New Haven Health and Hartford Healthcare hospitals within 20 minutes of the Mystic area.

Not on the list...Mystic can hop over to New London take a train to New Haven within an hour usually. Then if choose to can go to NYC for a night. Can easily drive up within an hour to Providence about 2/2.5 hrs to Boston. About 2 hours from the Cape.

[btownboss4]

Portland is a bit different than the rest, they might have a couple Suburbs but Portland is the cultural and economic center for about 1,000,000(even though it's MSA is ~500,000) people while the others might have a couple Suburbs they are not really a mid sized city like Portland.

Outside of that I'd have to say Portsmouth while urban amenities between Salem and Portsmouth are similar (barring museums) but Portsmouth is about 1:30 from some of the best hiking in the country in the Whites, while Salem is an additional hour and Newport and Mystic are beyond daytrip range.

Salem and Newport are the only two with colleges within city limits, but Portsmouth is very close to UNH.

[RunD1987]

Portland will agree is on a much larger scale similar to Providence. Will say Providence probably slightly edges Portland on amenities. Portland wins in not feeling like a populated city. Also feel home prices are a lot cheaper in Portland.

I rank Portland with the lowest property cost, than Mystic, than Salem/Portsmouth tied, and than Newport.

[MMS02760]

I would say Newport rates at or near the top in most all the categories save for proximity to hiking locations and cheapest cost of living,




Proximity to higher education facilities - Newport has Salve Regina University within its borders as well as a branch of the Community College of RI. Roger Williams University is close by over the Mount Hope in Bristol
Best year round weather - Newport has the best weather as it has the least season extremes
Has the mildest of winters - Newport and Mystic have the mildest winters
Walk-ability - Newport has its large waterfront downtown, Cliff Walk, and Bellevue Ave
Proximity to hiking locations - Portland and Portsmouth have the closest access to mountain hiking
Great for runners, cyclist, and swimmers - Newport has the best swimming and is good for running and cycling, especially along Ocean Drive
Attractions - Museums/Aquariums Mystic has the best aquarium, Salem has the best art museum (Peabody-Essex) but Newport beats all in the sheer number of attractions - Tennis Hall of Fame/Mansions/Fort Adams/Cliff Walk/Audrain Automobile Museum/National Museum of Illustration/Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals
Best shopping - Newport has probably the largest collection of shops in its downtown
Best schools - I do not have facts but would assume Mystic and Portsmouth have the best public school systems
Proximity to venues/entertainment areas - Newport has the Jazz and Folk Festivals and is not far from Providence, Boston, Xfintity Center-Norton, Gillette Stadium. Salem has limited options in it but has the best access to big city attractions in Boston
Best waterfront - Newport has the most linear waterfront accessible to the public
Better nightlife/Best grub Portland may have the best food sites but Newport probably has more restaurants and nightlife options
Cheapest cost of living - Portland is probably the cheapest
What hospitals are near these Cities - Portland probably has the most (2) and likely the best hospitals. Newport, Portsmouth, and Salem all have community hospitals within their borders.

[Champ le monstre du lac]

Which of these Cities strives or lacks in these areas:


Proximity to higher education facilities: Salem has SSU and Portland has USM. As mentioned earlier Portsmouth is close to UNH.

Best year round weather - Mystic/Newport

Has the mildest of winters - Mystic/Newport

Walk-ability - they all do well here, but I'd say Portland would have the most amenities within walkable range. Salem would have the best public transportation options as its a short train ride from Boston (about 1/2 hour to North Station) and it has a nice historic and walkable downtown area. Portsmouth has a lot of fantastic walkable blocks downtown with a great waterfront as well but the walkability drops off quicker. Most of Newport is very walkable.

Proximity to hiking locations - Portland or Portsmouth are both a short distance to the White mountains.

Great for runners, cyclist, and swimmers - I'm going to say Newport here. The Ocean Drive is a great area for this and the Newport area has the offers the best beaches with warmer water temps for swimmers.

Attractions - Museums/Aquariums: Salem does very well on the cultural relm for museums, particularly the Peabody-Essex museum has a nice endowment of relics from when Salem was a wealthy merchant port, there's the Witch Museum, Count Orlocks Nightmare gallery for those horror flick enthusiasts, the Witch Museum, you can see the Crucible on stage, and Halloween is celebrated teh whole month of October there. Salem's not for everyone though, it's very outside the box. Portsmouth has some museums, like Strawberry Bank. Mystic for the Seaport museum and the Aquarium.

Best shopping: Portland or Salem. Salem has Peabody next city over which has everything retail on 114 by the North Shore Mall. South Portland has a lot of retail. Portsmouth, Newport, and Salem have good shopping downturns for small businesses with their flare on knickknackery.

Best schools: Not familiar enough but Salem ranks kinda low for public schools, even though SSU is there.

Proximity to venues/entertainment areas: Salem for it's proximity to Boston.

Best waterfront: Newport, it has a gorgeous harbor with an incredible display of boats, a beautiful bridge, and scenic rocky shoreline.

Better nightlife/Best grub: Portsmouth and Portland would be my favorites for a pub crawl and dining. Newport has a good selection. They all do pretty well on food since most of these cities are pretty toursity.

Cheapest cost of living: Portland

What hospitals are near these Cities: Salem has North Shore Medical Center with easy access to Boston hospitals. Portland has Maine Medical Center, that's the extent of my knowledge on local hospitals here.