Whats wrong with Lewiston?? (Auburn, Biddeford: apartment, sex offender, low crime)

[Maine-iacWannabe]

My wife and I are considering a move to Maine, particularly the Auburn Lewiston area. Now all of a sudden we are overhearing that Lewiston is NOT a nice are to live in. We cant find any official statistics to back up those claims and would appreciate any advice. Thank you

[Dragondog]

Lewsiton is good place to live- a nice pace of life, low crime, good schools, and low stress. I do not know where you are now located-

If I knew your location- I could rely more info on New England.

[maisy]

My family moved to the Auburn area 2 weeks ago from south Jersey. Lewiston is a little run down, and for the last maybe 4 years a large population of Somalians have settled in the area. This is causing a lot of tension, the mayor even wrote to the Somali leaders a few years ago, because they are draining the welfare system. I understand that some of them provide for themselves, but you can read this yourself by looking up the Lewiston Sun Journal online, or simply googling somalis+maine like I did. Auburn is a nice town and the sourrounding towns that Ive seen are also nice places to live.

[juststoppinby]

I lived in Lewiston for a long time. Lewiston is a bit run down. However, in the last couple of years they city has done a lot to try to revive itself. They are trying to clean up the downtown area. They have taken an old factory and converted it to businesses and several nice businesses have opened up there. They really are trying to bring the area back. Not all of Lewiston is bad. I lived in a great area. The downtown area can be a place to stay away from. Most (but not all) of the tree streets are a bit on the low end side. (Maple Street, Oak Street, Pine Street etc. and no matter what you do stay away from Knox Street.) Again, not all of these are bad and some of them are okay on one end but not the other. If you are looking to buy in Lewiston you will do okay, just check out the neighborhood. My daughter rents an apartment in Lewiston and I told her before she rented the apartment it would be a good idea to drive to the area in the evening and park and watch for an hour or so, especially on a Friday or Saturday night. Watch and see what kind of things are going on. I would not hesitate to move back to Lewiston. If you find something you are interested in, let us know where in Lewiston it is..maybe we can help.

[Maine-iacWannabe]

I am originally from NewYork City, so when you say parts of Lewiston you should stay away from, what exactly does that mean? And Somali's on welfare do seem like a drain on the system, but is there any danger inherant in them being there? I now live in New Jersey and there are towns/cities here that you avoid at night because you might get mugged or killed. Is that the situation in the shadier parts of Lewiston too?

[juststoppinby]

There is no danger from the Somali community. Yes when they all showed up it did put a drain on the community resources I believe. However, I think that you will find that most of that community is really doing well taking care of themselves and have opened business and found work in the Lewiston area. There are always a few that will not, but then there are always a few of every race that will not take care of themselves.
There is really no danger in Lewiston. Like I said before, there are downtown areas you should avoid..however...I am not sure if you have been to Lewiston or not, but, the downtown area is small. Lewiston is not a large city by any means. Have you been to Maine? To Lewiston? What types of jobs do you do and do you have children? Are you set on Lewiston or will surrounding areas work for you?

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by sdstlouis

There is really no danger in Lewiston. Like I said before, there are downtown areas you should avoid..however...

If there is "no danger," then why are there areas to avoid?

Sorry, I'm not trying to be cantankerous. I just honestly don't understand.

[juststoppinby]

Originally Posted by Mark S.

If there is "no danger," then why are there areas to avoid?

Sorry, I'm not trying to be cantankerous. I just honestly don't understand.

I guess that really is a good question. I say there are areas to avoid because I lived there and know that there are some neighborhoods that while I don't consider them dangerous, I would stay away from them simply because they are more likely to have problems. There is a history of more vandalism, graffiti, squealing tires, rowdy neighbors etc. These are things that while they can be annoying and make you feel uncomfortable are not necessarily dangerous. I haven't heard of big crimes in these areas, just more loud disruptions etc. I hope this makes sense.

[markandrain]

My husband and I are spending hours researching New England and the states' online sex offender registries in our attempt to find a safe place to raise our family. Auburn has 81 offenders and Lewiston has 131 offenders FYI.

[hd74man]

Armpits of Maine-

Lewiston, Biddeford, Sanford, and Augusta...

Steer clear...all with brutally high property taxes and zilch for cultural or nightlife activities.

Lewiston is the worst with the influx of Somalians and old French-Canadian
parochialism.

Plenty of other choices out there.