Portland has long been considered a hotbed for young professionals, but there's a new destination for Millenials.

For years, York County's Biddeford has been on the receiving end of more than a few jokes. About a decade ago, the city started to undergo an urban renaissance. Now, according to Census population estimates, Biddeford has become Maine's youngest city. According to the Journal Tribune, The average age of all residents is 35. In downtown Biddeford, it's even younger, at 29 years of age. More than twenty five percent of the city’s 21,400 residents are between the ages of 20 and 34. In the last five years, the city has seen a 22 percent increase in the number of residents between 20 and 24, and a nearly 38 percent increase in people ages 25 to 34.

People flocking to the city has caused rents to skyrocket. According to the Journal Tribune, the average rent of a two-bedroom apartment has increased from $835 to $1,305 a month in the past three years.

A key to development have been the redevelopment of the former textile mills located downtown.Developers have invested more than $100 million in downtown projects over the last six years.

At this pace, Biddeford downtown could replace Portland's Old Port as a new southern Maine destination.

 

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