New Gloucester is one of 16 Maine communities selected for Down East magazine’s “Best Places to Live” NCAA-style bracket competition this year. Down East says towns were selected based on criteria such as quality of life, affordability, and access to the outdoors. Other communities vying for the top spot include Belfast, Farmington, Blue Hill, Winthrop, Wells, Calais and Windham.
New Gloucester is pitted against Topsham in Round I. Described as “a countryside haven between two metro areas,” New Gloucester is illustrated by a photo of pastoral Cobb’s Bridge Road. Inexplicably, Topsham is depicted with a shot of the historic Pejepscot Mill on the Androscoggin instead of traffic-choked roads after BIW has let out for the day.
The deadline for Round I online voting is Sunday, January 2. Winners advance and square off through subsequent rounds, with the top town to be featured on the magazine’s March 2022 cover. Alas, voting requires email registration, in part to thwart attempts to stuff the ballot box but perhaps also to permit Down East to ‘connect with you,’ as the marketing people say.
Find the full story and town vs. town brackets by clicking this link.
May the best town win!
— Joanne Cole
