Is Maine’s Largest City One of the Country’s Most Underrated?

Maine's largest city may be a popular tourist destination, but its underrated reputation is still going strong.

At least that's according to a recently published article by the folks over at Cheapism. The lifestyle blog included Portland in its annual list of the most underrated cities in America. That's some pretty great press for the Forest City.

It may seem a little strange to see the "underrated" tag still thrown around Portland, considering all of the accolades the city receives. However, it's also easy to forget just how small the city is compared to its counterparts. I mean, you could probably fit 2,500 Portland's in New York City. My math might be off, but I think you get the point.

Here is a little of why Cheapism chose Portland as one of America's best underrated cities.

 Portland is becoming a bit of a foodie hotspot, Fodors notes, with a restaurant and bar scene befitting a much larger city. Explore the views, parks, and Victorian architecture along the Eastern Promenade, or grab a microbrew at an Old Port pub before heading up the coast for some lighthouse-spotting.

While this is a very nice writeup, I'm not sure it's entirely accurate. Let's look at the foodie reputation. Portland is not "becoming a bit of a foodie town." Portland is and has been a foodie town for quite some time. Tourists have been raving about this foodie town for over a decade. I would argue the foodie town rep had already been coming into place when I came back from college in the late 2000s.

The rest of the writeup is fine, but it does make it sound like these are all new discoveries. And to be fair, they probably are for a vast majority of the reading audience. I fully admit it can be difficult to realize that not everyone knows of Portland's incredible reputation. It's easy to take many of these things for granted when you can experience them every day. However, it's still a very new city to countless tourists that are finally starting to recognize how amazing Portland and the rest of the state is.

It's wonderful to see Portland getting the recognition it deserves. While I wouldn't call it underrated, I understand the national sentiment. Now I'm intrigued to know how this city will be described a few decades from now.