There’s something in the air in Biddeford. Take a walk through its downtown Mills District and you’ll feel it: vintage diner cars, brick walls painted with geometric murals, mills now home to breweries and restaurants that source their ingredients locally. A city of 22,000 people and an economic hub of York County, Biddeford has a deep mill and textile history, which is a central feature of its growth today. Take The Lincoln, Tim Harrington’s bespoke hotel in a renovated former mill. Visitors and locals alike can enjoy a nightcap in the hotel’s swanky Lobby Bar or pair a brew with brunch downstairs at Batson River Brewing & Distilling. Biddeford is booming, and it’s growing with style.
A small coastal city with easy access to beaches, Biddeford is also lauded as one of the state’s best food cities—a hub for creative energy, drawing great minds in food and hospitality to Maine’s southern coast. Heidi Maynard, designated broker and owner at Pack Maynard & Associates in Kennebunk, thinks it’s an exciting place to watch—and an even better place to live. “There are parts of Biddeford that are absolutely gorgeous: Granite Point, Biddeford Pool, Fortunes Rocks. Those have been beautiful, beautiful areas for years, but now the downtown is going through a renewal,” said Heidi. “It’s still a place where you can get some good buys downtown. It’s going to be a hotbed. I think if you look at it over the next three years, it’s going to be a whole different place.”
The city’s renaissance has brought along some of Maynard’s favorite spots. The Mills District has undergone a rebirth with more housing, businesses, and restaurants cropping up—its growth is a feature of the city’s comprehensive plan, the neighborhood selected for its “compact urban livability.” In 2022, Food & Wine named Biddeford one of the country’s “next great food cities.” On a Saturday morning, visitors could put their name in for one of the 15 seats at Palace Diner—The James Beard Award semifinalist that makes flapjacks and deluxe breakfast sandwiches in its classic “Ladies Invited” diner car—and then pick up a pistachio cream latte from Time & Tide Coffee for a stroll downtown. Portlanders make the trip down to Pepperell Mill for an egg and cheese on a wood-fired bagel at Rover Bagel or the tasting menu at Elda, curated from Maine’s seasonal offerings. Heidi counts The Jewel of India and Magnus on the Water among her favorite restaurants in the city.
“Biddeford is probably one of the best places to invest now because it’s going through a drastic change,” she said. “Transition always is exciting because things happen. They’re really starting to enhance the beauty of Biddeford, and I think that’s exciting.”
While the Mills District sits at the heart of the city’s revitalization, there’s true synchronicity between the city’s development and its landscape. A short drive from downtown, the two-mile stretch of Fortunes Rocks Beach connects the scenic Biddeford Pool with the eponymous Fortunes Rocks, a favorite among locals and day trippers alike.
Maynard has helped families connect to the communities around southern Maine for over 39 years. A Bay State native, she spent her summers in Kennebunk as a child and relocated here after college. The magic of Maine was alluring. It’s kept her family here since she moved. Now her daughter, Corey Burns Tracy, is a partner at her firm, too. From her vantage, Biddeford embodies the state’s motto: Worth a visit, worth a lifetime.
While change can bring along worries about costs of living, Heidi feels inspired by the city’s industry; people will continue to be able to move to Biddeford and find work locally. Biddeford is home to the University of New England and Southern Maine Health Care. For commuters, the trip north on 295 to Portland only takes 25 minutes by car.
An artistic city with industrial flair, the City of Biddeford developed a cultural plan in 2020 to foreground the arts in the community’s economic development. Numerous murals color the streets downtown, and City Theater puts on shows year-round.
“The arts are also part of involving, hearing from, and reflecting the needs of the local community,” said Delilah Poupore, executive director of Heart of Biddeford, an organization that promotes the city’s arts, culture, history, and heritage. “Biddeford is making it partly because we haven’t given up the soul of the place—haven’t tried to be another town. The arts, culture, heritage, and language are all part of that.”
