But not all who enjoy Portsmouth s heart can afford to live there. All four of the 20-something counter workers at the coffee shop Wednesday live out of town. Burho commutes from Kittery, Maine, often on inline skates. Portsmouth has a shortage of affordable housing, confirmed Tom Cocchiaro of the Portsmouth Area Chamber of Commerce. Apartments are expensive, but homes to buy are even more so, he said.
Many young couples rent in the city until they have children.
Then they buy a house in Dover, Rochester or southern Maine and become part of the southbound traffic jams every morning on the highways around the city. To find the typical Bedford resident on a weekday you ll need to head to an elementary school, not a coffee shop. Forty years ago, Bedford had 3,600 residents, less than one-seventh the size of Portsmouth, which had 27,000 residents. Portsmouth is Number 14, with 20,784 residents. Bedford has been growing rapidly for the last 30 years.