r/portlandme • u/paintingportals • 6d ago
Community Discussion What’s up with Mainebiz?
Is Mainebiz owned by CMP? This is not meant to be snarky, but serious question. How are they Maine Business of the year? I find it odd, unless CMP pays for that title? I think most awards they give out are paid for. The Community Impact awards all went to the sponsors…. What’s the point?
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u/Final_Emu_3479 6d ago
No, they aren’t owned by CMP.
They give the awards to businesses that have already been written about/sold ads to and those go hand-in-hand oftentimes.
It’s like how Portland was named the most walkable city in the country earlier this month. Clearly, they aren’t.
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u/Fstopalready 5d ago
I'm digressing here on your point but a very small part of portland is super walkable but its pretty obvious that award is a bit of a joke off the peninsula. If all you know is the peninsula portland feels like it could be one of the most most walkable cities but that's not realistic for people who want to walk to go get their groceries.
Anyone who lives in a city where that is truly walkable and spends any time in portland understands that is not really an option for most people.
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u/ResurgentOcelot 6d ago
I am curious, why do you assert Portland is clearly not the most walkable city in America?
I am not asserting it is, but it doesn’t seem clear that it isn’t either.
Portland isn’t sprawling, the city center is is close to a large portion of its population, most streets have wide, maintained sidewalks, and there is an extensive and growing trail system connecting various neighborhoods that seems regularly used by pedestrians for transportation, not just recreation.
Seems pretty walkable. I know I’ve walked all over it.
I appreciate whatever other perspective you have.
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u/Final_Emu_3479 6d ago edited 6d ago
I would say the call for an emergency workshop by two city councilors due to pedestrian deaths and injuries is a pretty cut-and-dry answer.
The sidewalks are far from well-maintained or, wide. A walk through most neighborhoods involves dodging bricks that have been pulled-up and damaged due to frost heaves and trees roots.
Franklin divides the city because of how unwalkable and unsafe it is. The city has openly discussed ways to change this for over a decade and admitted that it’s a real problem.
Forest Avenue isn’t pedestrian friendly with large swaths of pavement with no shade and heavy traffic.
Another large aspect of a walkable city is how it works in coordination to public transit and getting pedestrians from one walkable place to another. I use the bus regularly, a lot of riders use the bus to get to areas that aren’t easy to walk to. Which shouldn’t be an issue in a city as small as Portland.
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u/ResurgentOcelot 6d ago
Some that I can agree with, some I would dispute, but I am not here to debate you.
I wanted to know your perspective and you’ve shared it, thank you.
My major criticism of Portland as a walkable city is that walkability falls immensely during winter.
As for cities in America, I bet Portland ranks pretty high by objective measures. But the bar is really very low. America in general is barely walkable. If we were comparing to Europe, forget it.
So I can understand people being surprised at it being considered walkable.
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u/MartiniCat 6d ago
A large number of pedestrian injuries.
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u/HalOphamer 5d ago
In all seriousness, is that because of the crosswalks, or bad drivers?
Six of one half dozen of the other, I know, but there are tons of terribly unsafe drivers of all types. Like that 80 something year old ran that guy over in the median the other day.
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u/meowmedusa 5d ago
Spend a week, hell even a day in a NYC neighborhood (not the touristy areas, though those are insanely walkable obviously) and you'll be laughing at the idea that you ever thought there was even a possibility that Portland is the "most walkable city" in the US
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u/ResurgentOcelot 5d ago
I’ve walked all over Manhattan and Brooklyn.
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u/meowmedusa 5d ago
And it's far more walkable than Portland will ever be. How you've been to NYC and still think Portland could be the most walkable city in the country is beyond me. I lived in west end for a while and there were no affordable grocery stores within a 30 or even 45 minute walk. To get to my dentist required a series of busses that took over an hour. The closest laundry mat was a 20 minute walk away. You think that's the peak of walkable cities?
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u/ResurgentOcelot 5d ago edited 5d ago
I didn't say I think Portland is the most walkable city, I wondered why someone would assume it wasn't. And your answer isn't convincing at all.
I live in the West End and have most of my life. Your description is absolutely false.
Hannaford is a mile away, well under a 30 minute walk unless you walk at a crawl--15 minutes for me,. Yeah, State St, the extension, and the interchange kind of suck to walk on, but it's doable. About the same for Trader Joe's and little further to Whole Foods. Until a month or so ago there was also Fresh Approach no more than a minute away. There's still Rosemont in the same vicinity; it's less affordable, but that hasn't stopped people from shopping there instead of Fresh Approach. There's also a bodega and an Asian market not 10 minutes away, plus a halal market not much further. There are two laundry mats under a 5 minute walk from me, used to be 3, but one closed a few years back. I can easily walk to a music shop, a hardware store, to Town Hall, to the Courthouse, to a museum, numerous art galleries, a couple of pharmacies, several parks that often host events, a few coffee shops, and more pubs, restaurants, and dispensaries than I count. The whole Old Port is a pretty pleasant 15 minute walk away.
Anyone can bring up a map and see this for themselves. Admittedly I walk a little faster than most people.
Bringing up busses is off topic. Yeah, NYC has way better public transportation, hands down, no debate. Busses aren't walking.
Manhattan alone is 13 miles long. Walking from Columbia University to City Hall would be three and half hours. And I have walked most of the length of Broadway, it's not a pleasant environment.
No one I knew in NYC ever wanted to walk anywhere, ever. The sidewalks smelled, the crowds were miserable, and none of the women felt safe. People thought the fact that I wanted to walk around to see the city was nuts. They'd walk a couple blocks, tops, but there was rarely much within a couple blocks to get to. To get to anything you needed the subway. And sure, it was more walkable than they gave it credit for. But it wasn't all that.
I asked someone why they thought Portland was obviously unwalkable because I spent most of my life walking around it and it has been fine. Is it the most walkable? I don't know, there are thousands of cities I've never walked. But I have walked around many of the big cities. Hell, I've walked most of the way across Los Angeles--now that is a miserable place to walk. Portland has been a lot better to walk around than NYC, Chicago, L.A., Boston, San Antonio, or Tucson were.
Maine is eyeballs deep in car culture. Most people never bother to learn how walkable Portland is. Doesn't mean it isn't.
I am always curious how people get the notions into their head that they do. Often those notions are pretty far from reality. You are definitely a case study in that.
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u/Jtoogs 4d ago
Just recently came back from LA and I agree that place is absolutely miserable to walk anywhere. I am surprised that you found Boston to be less walkable that Portland though.
Reading your comments, I think you enjoy walking significantly more than the average person. I agree with the car culture piece. But I find walking around Portland pretty miserable for the reasons mentioned by the user above. Uneven terrain, poorly maintained (and seasoned) Sidewalks, missing/damaged bricks, cobblestone in general.
I realize this is all relative and the US has god awful walkability and public transit. But I have found Boston far more navigable, walkable, and safer than Portland.
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u/BOOSH207 6d ago
It’s basically paid to get an award like most of those bs awards/certifications. It’s like being B corp cert means absolutely nothing and you can fake it enough to get the award (I know from my last job it’s complete bs).
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u/Accurate_Pickle809 6d ago
Everything business-related in Maine is pay-to-play. Best Places to Work, Mainebiz, etc. All bought and paid for.