Magazines list Portland among the 'greenest' and best for employment growth

During Spring 2012 two magazines have ranked the Portland area in their top 10 "best" lists.

Portland is the seventh "greenest city" in the United States, according to the readers of Travel & Leisure magazine.

It's also the No. 1 city in America to visit and to live in during the summer, according to the April 2012 magazine's rankings.

The March 13, 2012 edition of Forbes magazine named the Portland, South Portland, Biddeford area as the metropolitan area having the sixth most optimistic forecast in the nation for hiring this spring.

Travel & Leisure

Travel & Leisure writes: "Between the farm-to-table restaurants, homegrown microbrews, and all that lobster, you can literally taste the great outdoors here. A few popular restaurants, such as Miyake or 20 Milk Street at the Regency Hotel, even have their own farms. Voters preferred Portland in the summer over any other city in the survey - the ideal time to fish, enjoy the parks, or stroll the Old Port area."

Forbes

Forbes reported that the net employment outlook for the Portland area is 19 percent for the 2nd quarter of 2012, based on a national survey of employers by ManpowerGroup, an employment services firm.

That number is based on the percentage of employers who anticipate an increase in staffing levels and the percentage who expect a reduction.

Maine's unemployment rate during the recession has been lower than the national average. The national unemployment rate for January 2012 was 8.3 percent while Maine's was 7.0 percent.

According to the Maine Center for Workforce Research and Information, the Portland, South Portland, Biddeford area average unemployment rate for 2011 was 6.1 percent.

Other Magazine Ratings

Portland is often ranked by a variety of magazines in their "best" lists. SmartMoney in 2011 and U.S. News & World Reports in 2010 named Portland one of the best places to retire. Portland was ranked among the top 20 livable small cities for college students in 2010 by the American Institute for Economic Research, and Outside magazine ranked Portland as the East Coast's best place to live for outdoor sporting and overall quality of life. In 2009 Portland was 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. And the November 2010 issue of GQ Magazine listed Portland as "One of the Coolest Small Cities in America."

UNE

The University of New England is an innovative health sciences university grounded in the liberal arts.  UNE has internationally recognized scholars in the liberal arts, sciences, health and medicine, and offers more than 40 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs.  Its two distinctive campuses on the coast of southern Maine offer student-centered interdisciplinary programs in the Westbrook College of Health Professions, College of Osteopathic Medicine, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Pharmacy, and College of Graduate Studies.  The College of Dental Medicine will open in 2013.

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.