Bar Harbor ousted in Outside online poll

shutdown_3.JPG

BDN pic by Brian Feulner

Bar Harbor (shown above) apparently is not the Best Town Ever – based on the results of a national online poll being conducted by Outside magazine.

The Mount Desert Island town made the Final Four of the contest, which started in early May with 64 towns and cities divided evenly among four regional zones (like March Madness, only for municipalities).

Bar Harbor emerged as the top town in the East, beating out 15 other towns and cities including New York City, Pittsburgh, Providence, and Lake Placid, N.Y. The three other contestants that made it to the semi-final round include Chattanooga TN; Port Angeles, WA; and Eau Claire, WI.

Out of more than 38,000 votes cast on the Outside website, Port Angeles beat Bar Harbor last week by 16 percentage points. The Washington city, which is located northwest of Seattle next to Olympic National Park, received 22,492 votes online while Bar Harbor received 16,143.

For the title of “Best Town Ever,” Port Angeles is facing off against Chattanooga, which was the top vote-getter in the South division and then bested Midwest winner Eau Claire. The champion will be declared after voting is brought to a halt at the end of Thursday, June 4.

Bill Trotter

About Bill Trotter

A news reporter in coastal Maine for more than 20 years, Bill Trotter writes about how the Atlantic Ocean and the state's iconic coastline help to shape the lives of coastal Maine residents and visitors. He writes about fisheries, marine-related topics, eastern coastal Maine communities and more for the BDN. He lives in Ellsworth. Follow him on Twitter at @billtrotter.