I toured one-bedroom apartments at The Armature, The Casco, and Nightingale apartment complexes.
The apartments had luxury amenities that made me want to leave my home in New York City.
Ever since I was a teenager, I idolized Carrie Bradshaw's New York City apartment and worked hard to eventually be able to call this city home.
In many ways, I've made that dream a reality — I'm a working writer and have lived in a classic brownstone in Brooklyn, New York, for three years.
But I often wonder if other cities can compete with New York in terms of price, especially since I live with two roommates and would love to eventually live on my own.
As a native New Englander, I've considered moving to Portland multiple times in the past thanks to its thriving food scene and scenic streets. While I'm not quite ready to make the leap yet, it was nevertheless enlightening to see how apartments in Portland compare to what I have in New York City.
All of the apartments I toured were in luxury buildings, with amenities like conference rooms, gyms, recreational areas, and even one that had a swimming pool — things that I could only fantasize about while living in New York City.
According to Apartments.com, the average cost of renting a one-bedroom apartment in Portland in August 2024 is around $1,695 a month.
While this is still 10% higher than the national average of $1,536 a month, New York City one-bedrooms run for a staggering $3,801 a month, the site reported.
The apartments I toured were all higher than the average cost in Portland but still lower than the average cost of one-bedroom apartments in New York, which made me question whether Portland could be a better option.
Here's how all three apartments compared in terms of price, location, and amenities.
The first apartment building I viewed was The Armature in Portland's Bayside neighborhood.The Armature apartment building was modern on the outside with wooden accents.
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The Armature opened in the summer of 2023 and has 171 units, including studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments.
The exterior of the building was modern and incorporated wood and stone materials.
The neighborhood felt quiet, but there was still plenty to do within a short walking distance.The Armature apartment building had a spacious courtyard outside, as well.
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The surrounding area could be best described as industrial, with a smattering of shops and stores and a close walk to the Old Port.
A barbecue restaurant and other shops were open right across the street from the apartment building, and a courtyard with benches offered me a spot to rest my feet after walking around Portland all morning.
The building amenity that surprised me the most was the arcade room. The apartment building also
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From a foosball table to arcade games, the room looked like a fun place for residents to hang out. Among its amenities, the building also had a gym and a designated mail area.
There was a nice outdoor area, as well.There was also a grass-covered outdoor courtyard with lawn games.
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A large lawn space with games took up the middle section of the apartment complex. I don't have anything like this in my current neighborhood — the closest public park is about a mile away.
When I stepped outside, the air was brisk and I could hear the cawing of seagulls overhead, something I experienced often throughout my few days in Portland. It felt noticeably more serene than my current digs.
There were multiple different fitness areas and amenities, though the pool was most impressive to me.The pool was the most impressive amenity I saw out of all the apartments.
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The apartment building boasted indoor and outdoor fitness rooms, a yoga room, grills, fire pits, and a lap pool for both leisurely swimming and exercise.
There was also a roof deck with fire pits.The roof deck had sweeping views of the neighborhood.
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The deck was spacious and had a lot of seating for residents to use.
I viewed an unfurnished one-bedroom apartment and thought it was a great blank slate. I thought the living room was spacious and had a lot of light.
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The one-bedroom apartment, which measured 719 square feet, had hardwood floors and large windows that let in ample natural light.
Pricing varies depending on a number of factors, such as when you apply, but this unit started at $2,625 a month when I viewed it in August 2024.
The bedroom was located off the living room and had a large window.The bedroom also had a large window.
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There admittedly wasn't much historical charm to this space — I live in a historic brownstone, so the places couldn't have felt more different.
However, I think the space could be warmed up with some personal touches. For those looking for a blank canvas when it comes to interior decorating, this would certainly fit the bill.
The kitchen was modern and spacious with wooden accents. The kitchen had wood cabinets and modern, black countertops.
I liked the balance of clean, modern choices, such as the white walls and large square windows, softened by the wooden accents and dark countertops that gave it a bit more character.
The apartment had a modern bathroom with black countertops and a rain shower.The bathroom was simple but elegant.
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As with most luxury buildings, the apartment was equipped with a washer, dryer, and dishwasher. While this might sound like a no-brainer to most renters, those amenities can be hard to come by in New York City.
My current apartment doesn't have any of those amenities. In fact, my building, let alone the apartment unit, doesn't even have laundry machines.
The bathroom in the Portland apartment also had a tub and a modern rain shower head, which was a plus.
The second building I toured was The Casco, which was located closer to downtown. The Casco building is the tallest in the entire state of Maine.
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From the outside, The Casco looked almost like a high-end hotel, due to its brick siding and modern marquee. It was also located in what I considered to be a prime location at the top of the Old Port neighborhood, which is close to the water and many of Portland's buzziest shopping streets and restaurants.
I could walk from the building to the water in less than 15 minutes, giving it the authentic Portland feel I was craving.
The apartments were completed in 2023. The 18-story building is the tallest building without a steeple in the entire state and houses 261 units. There are only two other buildings in the state that are taller: Saint Joseph's Church in Biddeford and Agora Grand Event Center in Lewiston, the Lewiston Sun Journal reported.
The entrance to the building was modern, with a grand staircase that gave a luxurious feel to the space.The lobby was modern and inviting, and I was impressed by the wooden staircase.
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It was accented by a few pieces of midcentury-modern furniture and a plant. However, much of the focus was on the staircase and polished concrete floors.
What impressed me the most about this apartment building was the amenities. The gym had treadmills and other exercise equipment.
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The first place I toured in the building was an equipped gym with treadmills, bikes, and other workout equipment.
In New York City, I pay about $30 a month for Blink Fitness, which I have to walk a mile to, so having a gym in my apartment building would be a major step up.
The building had many of the same amenities as The Armature.The sky lounge offered great views of the city.
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In addition to a gym and multiple coworking spaces, the building also had an enclosed sky lounge with sweeping views of the city.
The views really blew me away.From The Casco's sky lounge, I could see all of the downtown area.
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I could see views of the Old Port, the pier, and Casco Bay.
The one-bedroom apartment I toured had views of the water, which was a pleasant surprise.The living room easily had enough space for a couch, coffee table, chair, and media console.
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The one-bedroom I toured starts at $2,520 a month and measures 523 square feet. The apartment was staged when I toured it, which allowed me to visualize how the space could be utilized.
The apartment had a galley-style kitchen with modern cabinetry.I liked the simple white cabinetry that made the space feel more open.
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I liked how the cabinets were a simple white color, which made the space feel bigger and brighter. The kitchen came equipped with an oven, refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher, washer, and dryer.
The bedroom also felt spacious.The bedroom also had great water views.
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The medium-tone wood floors made the space feel warm and cozy, which I preferred compared to the darker floors of the previous apartment. The bedroom also featured the same views.
When I toured, I asked the real-estate agent how possible it is to get these kinds of views in every apartment. From the living room, you could see Portland Harbor.
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While the view varies depending on the floor you live on, many apartments at The Casco supposedly had great views of the harbor and surrounding area.
The bathroom was a little less modern than the last apartment, but still nice.The bathroom had all the essentials, including a tub.
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The same cabinetry from the kitchen carried through into the bathroom, as did the wooden floors. The tub and shower combo was a little less modern-looking, but that wasn't a dealbreaker for me.
Overall, I felt like this apartment was more in keeping with my own personal style than The Armature.I liked the color of the walls and the floors, which made it feel more cozy.
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The apartment was also a little bit cheaper, and I preferred the location. However, I still couldn't get over the amenities of the first apartment building, from the pool to the outdoor courtyard and many, many coworking spaces.
The last apartment building I toured was the most unusual.Nightingale was converted from a 1940s-era hospital into apartments.
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Owned by the same management company as The Casco, Nightingale is housed inside a renovated 1940s-era hospital that was once called Mercy Hospital.
The exterior of the building still looks like a hospital from the front, with many of the original architectural details. The building houses 165 units and several commercial spaces.
The neighborhood was quiet and quaint, made up of mostly historic houses. People could be seen walking their dogs around the block, but it overall felt much less bustling and more residential than the Old Port neighborhood.
However, the side of the building was renovated to create a more modern entrance for residents.The entrance was modern and inviting.
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I was excited to see how this more historic building would differ from the skyscraper-style buildings I previously toured.
Right away, I noticed the building still had that historic hospital feel, with some updates.There were some historic details left over from the original property.
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The real-estate agent told me that the original crest on the floor had been restored during the construction of the apartments in 2023.
A sitting area by the entrance featured an original stained-glass window.Some original details, like stained-glass windows, were left behind.
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This was just one of the unique touches I saw throughout the building. I was also told that, due to historical building preservation rules, the hospital could not be completely gut-renovated when it was turned into an apartment building.
This meant that most of the original structure and details were left behind.
The apartment building had some luxury amenities like a gym, a library, and a pet spa.The gym was spacious and had all the equipment I could ever want.
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The fitness room was clean and updated.
I noticed quite a few spaces for work, including conference areas and work nooks.The apartment building had plenty of coworking spaces.
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Nightingale appeared to place a lot of focus on catering to remote workers, due to the many coworking spaces and the option of getting an apartment with a built-in home office.
As a remote worker myself, this was definitely appealing to me.
The rooftop deck also had a full kitchen for residents to use.The sky lounge had a full kitchen.
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Even though the apartments I saw had smaller square footage than my current two-bedroom apartment I share with a roommate, I liked how the communal spaces added more areas to hang out, cook, or work.
The building also had access to an outdoor deck with views of the city.The deck had views of the surrounding neighborhood.
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The deck had different seating areas and views of the West End neighborhood, which features historic buildings and quaint tree-lined streets.
However, there were some parts of this building that really still felt like a hospital to me.There were some parts that still felt like a hospital.
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In some areas, it still felt like a hospital, which was probably due to the decision not to change much of the internal structure.
However, it appeared that the building management was doing a lot to make the building feel more like a community. Some resident events included paint and sips, resident mixers, and rooftop yoga.
The apartment I viewed had tall ceilings and a modern kitchen.The apartment had an open-plan living area and kitchen.
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The one-bedroom apartment I toured was 649 square feet and cost $2,550 a month. Unlike the other two apartments, the floors weren't wooden and were more of a beige linoleum.
The first thing I noticed about the apartment was the 9-foot-tall ceilings.
The bedroom had an en-suite bathroom and a large closet.The bedroom had a small window.
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While the bedroom was spacious, and likely could be improved with some cozy furniture and rugs, the unstaged apartment felt a touch — for lack of a better word — clinical. There wasn't much light coming in, due to the one small window in the bedroom.
However, the walk-in closet was certainly an asset I don't have in my current apartment. The walk-in closet was a major plus.
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In my current apartment, I keep all of my clothes on a standing clothing rack, so this would have been a major upgrade.
The bathroom was also spacious and had tile flooring.There also wasn't a tub in this apartment.
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There was no tub in the unit, which was a slight drawback considering I love to take baths. However, the washer and dryer would definitely be an upgrade compared to my current apartment.
Despite differing from some of my personal design aesthetic preferences, the space alone and high ceilings were certainly a major plus, and the location was quiet and very residential.
If this was my own personal apartment search, I know exactly which apartment I'd choose.I really enjoyed my experience touring all three apartments.
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The Casco really impressed me with its cozy interiors and sweeping views of the water. I think it helped that the apartment was staged, but I still preferred the finishings and location compared to the other two buildings.
While I don't have any plans to give up my New York City apartment, all three of these Portland apartments had me seriously considering leaving the Big Apple for the slightly slower-paced, seaside city.
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