Best Place To Live In Maine (Portland, Bangor: houses, good schools, prices)

[slbradford]

I have recently been thinking of moving to Maine but haven't the foggist idea where to start looking. I've lived St. Louis, Missouri my entire life and would like something different. I like small towns (villages) w/beaches, light houses, houses w/fireplaces, snow in the winter, etc. What types of jobs are available? I've heard good things about York, Maine and York Beach, Maine (same thing?). Help where should I start or does someone have a website they could suggest?

[Mark S.]

Have you seen this yet?

http://www.city-data.com/city/York-Maine.html

Lots of good info there.

The best thing you can do is take a trip. We made a list and went for a visit. Places we thought we'd love, we didn't. Places we didn't even consider, we fell in love with.

Bangor is a nice city. But make no mistake: It's still a city. Not small town.

We really liked Presque Isle, but it's a good long ways from the coast.

Loved, loved, loved Brunswick.

[flycessna]

Boy, for all my complaining I'll admit that Maine has many different areas that offer so much. You have the coast and you have the mountains, you have urban and rural. But with in each of those you have so much more you can choose. Try google (find you spot) you can narrow down what part of the country you want to live in and then take a quiz to find what cities or towns most meet what your looking for. Good luck

[forest beekeeper]

Anywhere North of Bangor is just really nice

[oceanfit185]

if you ask me, Portland

[MaineMathTCHER]

Finding the "best" place in Maine is not possible because each person needs something a little different. To me Washington County coast is the "best" to another person all the possibilities that Portland presents makes it the "best." I think that you must examine your own requirements and see what the crucial attributes that you are looking for in a place to live. Make a list of at least 5 things that you feel makes a place feel like home. In Maine, go beyond safe, good schools, small town feel as most places in Maine have this when you make your list. Think more about the environment that you want-I wanted low housing prices, a working fishing villiage, and a view of the water in a town that still had a bit of an artsy flair. I narrowed my search down to Lubec and Eastport.

[sbclemmer]

TO MARK S.: Brunswick. Could you tell me more about Brunswick?

sb.clemmer@verizon.net

[Elcarim]

Right. It all depends on YOU. We're all looking for different things. Maybe we all need to ask "where would be the best place for......." and declare our desired lifestyle.

For instance, I can run nekkid in Forest's back yard but probably would be frowned upon in downtown Portland!

[corgis]

We spent years finding just the right town for us to retire in - we spent almost 10 years coming to a different part of Maine every summer or fall. We did a lot of research on the computer about Maine and when narrowed our search down to 5 places, we requested information from each Chamber of Commerce.

We have owned our home in Eastport for 4 years now and will retire for good here in a little over 2 years. I love this little island city in Northern Maine. It has a lot of wonderful things to do, not a lot of nightlife but we don't require being entertained or going to nightclubs.

The Salmon Festival is tomorrow, can't wait for that and the Pirate Festival is today. Always something going on here in Eastport.

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by Elcarim

Right. It all depends on YOU. We're all looking for different things. Maybe we all need to ask "where would be the best place for......." and declare our desired lifestyle.

For instance, I can run nekkid in Forest's back yard but probably would be frowned upon in downtown Portland!

True.

You could run nekkid, go nekkid-kayaking, or just watch the chickens foraging for food in the forest while nekkid; all in my backyard and nobody would frown.