LEWISTON – A first impression can impress or depress.

But for most of the approximately 400 Bates first-year students touring the city’s downtown Monday night it seemed to impress.

“It’s quiet and quaint and very nice,” said Crystal Gansukh of NYC. “I’ve never been to a place like this.”

Bates College, the cities of Lewiston and Auburn, the Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council and the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce planned the “Welcome to Downtown L-A” event as part of Bates College’s orientation program.

In Kennedy Park, City Councilor Lillian O’Brien welcomed the first-year students to the downtown.

“We are extremely happy to see all of you here,” she said. “Lewiston is a city on the move.”

The hoard of young scholars broke into groups soon after that for their tour.

The class of 2007 started out at Simones’ where they picked up a free water and Nutrigrain bars or granola bars.

They then checked out City Hall, the Lewiston Public Library and the Sun Journal before later hitting Lisbon Street and the rest of the downtown.

By the Bates Mill, one male student asked of his comrades “Have you been into Auburn yet?”

Christine Woll of Pembroke, Mass., liked what she saw.

“It seems pretty nice,” she said. “I think it’d be fun to come down here. I love going out to eat.”

Valerie LaRiviere of Waterboro eyed a bigger place than her hometown.

“This seems busy to me,” she said. “We have like a general store and a gas station” in Waterboro.

Jessie Ricker of Bridgewater, N.J., was impressed.

“It’s very nice,” she said. “As cities go, it’s beautiful.”

But Ricker had heard about some tension in town-gown relations.

“I really hope the relationship between the city and college can be improved,” she said.

Jane Mellors of Hingham, Mass., liked Lewiston.

“I love Maine,” she said. “It’s beautiful.”

Veronica Helppie of Detroit agreed.

“It’s nice,” she said. “Just like an old town.”

Helppie said she would visit the downtown again during her time at Bates College.

But of Detroit’s downtown, she said, “I never go downtown there.”

Erin Bougie of New Sweden said of Lewiston’s downtown: “It seems pretty quiet.”

“This is kind of a big jump for me to go from (living) in the middle of nowhere to (a city),” she said.

After touring the downtown, the first-year students roamed the Riverwalk over to Festival Plaza for a picnic.

Kay Gonsalves of Lincoln, R.I., offered her opinion of Lewiston.

“I think it has a lot of potential,” she said, adding that it seemed “kind of broken down.”

Paul Badeau, marketing director for the Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council, helped organize the event.

“We want students to feel that it’s happening here in downtown L-A,” he said.