Top 50 Most Fun US Cities List Has Only 2 in New England, and Yes, One is in Maine

What makes a city fun? It's something different for everyone, so how does one measure just how fun a city is? And are there any fun cities in New England?

Well, The FW found a list of the top 50 most fun cities in the US, with a formula Stacker came up with through data from WalletHub. New England cities manage to only show up twice. I guess we're not that fun.

So what's the "fun formula?" WalletHub compared the 150 most populated U.S. cities, including two of the most populated cities in each state. They took into account the levels of entertainment and recreation, nightlife and parties, and cost. It goes into even deeper dives, but those are the three key ingredients for the list.
Here's the list of 50, but take it with a grain of salt. I'm not sure that some of these really belong here.

So Portland, Maine ranks number 50 on the list. Portland's nice and all, but one of those factors really should bring its score down below 50th. Remember those three factors?  Entertainment and recreation, nightlife and parties, and cost.

When it comes to cost, Portland is ridiculously high. You can't afford to live, stay or park in the city unless you have bags of money. Want an example?

I'm hosting a pinball tournament at Arcadia on Congress Street in Portland and inviting players from all across the Northeast. Players are dropping out because they got a look at the price of hotel rooms in Portland.

A quick search on Google Hotels for Portland showed anything hotels on the peninsula charging anywhere from $449 up to $671 for two nights. Outrageous.

The lowest parking garage price is $5 per hour. Park all day and that's $50 or more to park your car. Not exactly fun if you ask me.

Your best bet to have fun in Portland? Stay home during the summer and come in the winter. Or better yet, go visit some of Maine's rural areas to the north and west. The scenery is beautiful without a building taller than three stories in sight.