Will Portsmouth Dethrone Portland as America’s Next ‘Coolest’ City?

According to this list of eight cities all the cool kids are moving to, the current title holder has seen it's reign of coolnees come to an end and it's time for New Hampshire's hippest city to step up and take its place.

Thrillest.com has pronounced Portland, OR dead. The once great Rip City is no longer the coolest city in America. In order to replace the void left by the west coast city, the new king must have "a substantial food and drink culture, an emphasis on "artisan" shops, and a considerable number of eccentrics."

That sounds like Portsmouth to me, doesn't it?

The lifestyle blog's explanation as to why Portsmouth made the list feels a little empty:

Portland-worthy restaurants: Moxy, Black Trumpet, Street, The Friendly Toast
The so-called "food revolution" going down in Portsmouth has produced fantastic tapas bars like Moxy, bistros like Black Trumpet, sit-down street food restaurants like Street, and vegan eateries like The Friendly Toast. But if you're more interested in liquid lunches, there are plenty of options there, too -- the town even has its own beer festival for a reason. As for the shopping, you'll find local fabric, candle, spice, and stationery stores, duh. But are these New Englanders quirky weirdos, too? We'll let the "Tweed Ride" speak for itself.

Sure the Portland-worthy restaurants are among some of the more popular spots in the city (or town as most Granite Staters would prefer to call it), but the other details that follow are not a great example.

For starters, the "beer festival" they reference isn't actually in Portsmouth. It's not even in New Hampshire. They sighted a beer festival overseas in the United Kingdom's Portsmouth.

And the Tweed Ride is so far down the list of Portsmouth activities that most people don't even know what it is, or if there's one planned for 2016. I do know the Halloween Parade is about as cool as it gets for Portsmouth or ANYTHING Halloween related.

I would have made mention of the river cruises aboard the Isles of Shoals Steamship Co., and the new Escape Room for unique and "cool" happenings as well.

Nonetheless, we appreciate the recognition Thrillist and keep it coming.