Mainebiz

V O L . X X X N O. X I X 6 Fact Book / Doing Business in Maine Q UA L I T Y O F L I F E AND WHERE MAINE COULD USE SOME HELP Maine placed in the middle of the U.S. News & World Report ranking of the "best" U.S. states, at No. 28, between Tennessee and Texas. The comparison was based on tens of thousands of data points across 71 criteria. The findings were grouped and indexed in eight categories related to quality of life, including each state's economy, education and health care. In the overall comparison, Maine comes in exactly where it did in 2023. But this year, the 28th-place showing is the poorest among the six New England states and the second-worst in the Northeast, outranking only Pennsylvania, No. 40. What's more, all but one of the other New England states scored gains on the U.S. News list this year. With high internet costs and other downsides, Maine is the 9th-worst state for working from home, ranked at No. 43, according to a ranking by WalletHub. Researchers at the personal finance website compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 12 key metrics, such as internet cost, cybersecurity and the proportion of residents who work from home. New Jersey, Utah and Delaware are Nos. 1, 2 and 3 on the list, respectively, while Alaska is last at No. 51. Two Maine hotels were named among the best 100 in the world by Travel & Leisure magazine. The Norumbega Inn, in Camden, ranked no. 52, and Quisisana Resort, in the Oxford County town of Lovell, came in at No. 85. The Norumbega, at 63 High St., "is a year-round escape housed within a fairytale chateau originally built in 1887. The perfectly-executed cocktails, luxe rooms, and attention to detail from the staff stood out to our readers," the Travel & Leisure description reads. Quisisana Resort, at 42 Quisisana Drive in Center Lovell, sits at the edge of Kezar Lake, and offers a variety of outdoor recreation. The No. 2 restaurant in the country, says Food & Wine magazine, is far from dining destinations like New York City and Los Angeles — and even 150 miles from Portland. Aragosta at Goose Cove, in Deer Isle, ranked second among the 20 best eateries in the gourmet publication's 2024 Global Tastemakers awards. "Chef and owner Devin Finigan's seasonal farm-to-table restaurant in coastal Maine is over 10 years old, but it's still among the most coveted places to eat in New England," Food & Wine wrote in its review of Aragosta. The restaurant ranked only behind No. 1, Anajak Thai, in Los Angeles. Third place went to Semma, in New York. F I L E P H O T O / F R E D F I E L D Devin Finigan, owner and executive chef of Aragosta at Goose Cove in Deer Isle, is shown at work in this photo from a Mainebiz story in 2020. F I L E P H O T O / F R E D F I E L D F I L E P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y, S A R A H S Z WA J K O S, DA M N R A B B I T S T U D I O S The Quisisana Resort, on Kezar Lake in Center Lovell The Norumbega, originally built as a private home, is in Camden on Penobscot Bay.

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