BEST Maine town to grow old in (Brunswick, Gardiner: neighborhood, school)

[newenglandgirl]

Originally Posted by halfabuck

Hello newenglandgirl,
We do not as yet. The outside of the house is complete but the inside is still "under construction". We have tried to do a little at a time as finances permit and at the same time attempting to prepare our home in Mass for eventual sale. Don't care much about the market at this point, just want to be able to finally get away from it all and still be able to have some fun. Our next door neighbors have also built a new camp and are extremely nice people. I feel like I'm on a continuous vacation when I do get up to Dexter and just looking forward when I can go out on the lake in a canoe and turn on the ball game with a hook in the water. During the winter when there's a blizzard I just want to put on a pot of coffee and keep the wood stove going. Maybe I'll write a book! Do you have any thoughts?

Just getting back to the Maine forum....

How is the market for selling in Eastern Mass.? Here it is holding, though not easy. I'll DM you about the book!

[newenglandgirl]

I'm still curious about three college towns--Orono, Farmington, Brunswick.

Of the three, I only know Brunswick from many visits.

Can someone please compare these towns in terms of amenities and disadvantages (like flooding, lack of certain things, etc).

Thanks for any input.

[mainebrokerman]

Originally Posted by halfabuck

Hello newenglandgirl,
We do not as yet. The outside of the house is complete but the inside is still "under construction". We have tried to do a little at a time as finances permit and at the same time attempting to prepare our home in Mass for eventual sale. Don't care much about the market at this point, just want to be able to finally get away from it all and still be able to have some fun. Our next door neighbors have also built a new camp and are extremely nice people. I feel like I'm on a continuous vacation when I do get up to Dexter and just looking forward when I can go out on the lake in a canoe and turn on the ball game with a hook in the water. During the winter when there's a blizzard I just want to put on a pot of coffee and keep the wood stove going. Maybe I'll write a book! Do you have any thoughts?

Here's a thought, write a book called
'From Away'
Why Retire in Maine?

or

"From Away"
Chasing the Rainbow to Maine

A collection of short stories, profiling the journey of recent retirees in Maine,

First hand accounts of the attraction to maine, and what the seasonal challenges are, and how folks "from away" fit in. (not a book of second, summer home retirees along the coast but more inland, year-round retirees)

much of the content, and "characters" can be found on this forum

Focus on what maine is to them (characters)

From couples, to single retirees, to folks that transplanted here for their golden years.

[halfabuck]

That is a fantastic idea mainebrokerman. I believe there is a new generation of people who are chosing Maine as their eventual destination. The state is so diverse that it comes with so many questions and uncertainty. I experienced that myself although have a mysterous overall feeling of contentment when I am there. I am still worried about the harsh winters but coming from Massachusetts, how much different could it really be? Some friends who recently moved to Florida asked why I would ever move to Maine and my response was why would I want to live in a place where at 9:00 at night it's just going down to 90 degrees and that somehow I might pull back a stub when reaching into the bushes someday because of some alligator that's hungry. Your suggestions are very inspiring. Thank you.

[halfabuck]

The market in Eastern Mass is not too bad depending on the area. There are a lot of foreclosures but we do see homes selling. On my street in the past year or so there have been about 3-4 houses that seemed to sell within the year. The Realtors are correct I think in advising that the home must be priced to sell. In other words not too low but at a fair price. I would say that in my neighborhood home prices took about a 50k drop overall depending on the condition which is not all that bad.

I have tried to reply to your message but unsuccessful.

[Zarathu]

Originally Posted by halfabuck

I am still worried about the harsh winters but coming from Massachusetts......

If you go to wunderweather.com, you can look at the daily temperature charts for the place you might move to.

For about 14 more days(assuming everything comes together), I will still be an eastern PA resident. For the past 4 years I have checked the temps consistently between Downeast Maine(northern coastal) and PA. Its been consistently about 6 degrees lower in the daytime and 10 degrees lower in the winter in Downeast. But just as often the temps have been the same or sometimes even higher. In the summer, its about 10 degrees lower in the daytime, and 15 degrees lower at night, but the humidity rarely goes above 67% even on the coast. Whereas in PA, the humidity in the summer is often supersaturated 102% and mostly in the high 80's % wise.

Downeast does get more snow than eastern PA, but I bought a monster snow thrower for that. And the roads in Maine get cleared pretty fast.

Winter temps do stay around for about 3 weeks longer in Downeast than eastern PA, and tend to start being colder about 3 weeks earlier. since I hate mowing the lawn, this is a boon for me.

[halfabuck]

Zarathu,
You are certainly the lucky one with your move to Maine only 2 1/2 weeks away. Thank you for the info and according to your estimations there really is not much of a difference in the temperatures. Some of the people in the area I will be moving to tried to "warn me" that it gets much colder up there and has a lot more snow. Coming from the northeast it's my feeling that cold is cold and I've always had snow so what's going to be SO different? You mentioned the difference in humidity and to me that's the real killer. I do not like much humidity and Maine seems to probably have about a week of it a year. I'll also bring my snowblower and woolen shirts. I love it up there!

[daydreamin71]

Originally Posted by Zarathu

For about 14 more days(assuming everything comes together), I will still be an eastern PA resident. For the past 4 years I have checked the temps consistently between Downeast Maine(northern coastal) and PA. .

Lol, I have a few Maine locations on the weather.com app in my phone, and I check them often to compare to NY.

[Zarathu]

I also checked inland. Once you go as far inland as Northwest of Ellsworth, it is colder and snowier. But I was only interested in the coast, and my house is about 1.5 miles from the ocean---or actually Frenchman Bay.

Winter is "all about gear". The right underwear, the right snow blower, the right car, the right chains for your car, the right wood heat, the right gloves....etc. In high temps there really is no gear. I mean there is really only so much that you can take off to stay cool before you just have to have airconditioning.

Coming from hideous summers in PA, and knowing even worse summers in NC and further south, I get so amused when people up north complain that they are dying when the temps get to 80 and the humidity all the way up to 75%. I understand completely, but sometimes its just so funny when you lived further south! I don't let on that I find this humorous. After all when you are used to day temps in the 60's, when it goes into the 80"s that is really really hot!

[aea]

Drive the back roads from Freeport to "Land's End," on Bailey Island.

Bow Street Market (miss the old one) is the starting point, Land's End (the gift/tourist store) is the finish point.

Never mind the shopping in Freeport. Just do the drive. You'll see some gorgeous farms, a little slice of the back of Brunswick (near Parkview Hospital), Merriconeag Farm, Mere Point if you feel like it, or "the back way" onto Orr's and Bailey Island. Walk the island to see the Giant's Steps, and climb Pinnacle Rock if you dare. (I'm nearly 63, and I do.)

If you need a highway fix with strip malls, etc., head back toward Bath via the island road to Cook's Corner.

Overshoot to Bath, or head over to Topsham. Get the lay of the land.

Can be done easily in a day; instant flavor of part of Maine near enough to Portland if you want a city.

Brunswick doesn't do a thing for me--never has. It's OK, in that it's a college town with a pretty good Maine(e) Street, but I've never really figured out who the actual locals are. And I'm not being dense--in 30 years of going there, I've never quite glommed onto it. I think that's just part of college towns--have lived and worked in several.

But Brunswick has a pretty good small hospital. There are churches, good town activities, all the college offers, and...how come no on has mentioned this...the train??? (Or has that project been deep-sixed?)

The train from Boston now runs to Portland, there is an extension planned for Brunswick.

Thing is, Brunswick, even though it's not my fave, has really good senior services. One of the reasons is that it's the nearest town to the islands (aka the Town of Harpswell). Harpswell has a zillion summer people and day trippers, and in the last twenty-five years, until the real estate crunch, has become a retirement haven (don't get me started on the over-development and the water issues--'nuther thread entirely). But the upshot is that in winter, the Harpswell population plummets. If you are not an islander with family, you can live a pretty solo existence--which is just fine until February and you have the flu. A zillion years ago I asked an eighty-something native islander what would happen in an emergency in winter: "They'll send the chopper--get me right over to Portland." Put everything in a whole new light, that did. So although islanders are self-sufficient, they also have pretty good services available. There are a lot of good docs--and geriatrics is pretty well covered.

You want small town, you have to take a loss of "big city" services, but if you can live, and set your expectations, to a smaller scale, you'll do fine.

Mainers set great store by volunteerism. Everyone has to hang together, or in a bad winter, they'll all hang separately. Winters are tough. Fastest way to get to know the locals is to volunteer--at ANYTHING. The church supper. A benefit for a sick kid. The fire department auxiliary summer auction/yard sale. Whatever. Doesn't matter. Mainers won't get in your face, but what you put in, you'll get out, in spades.

I live in a MA coastal town. I'm a half mile from the water. I grew up in a farm town. Been renting on the island for over 30 years. Go up in all seasons. Have made many friends--most through just trying to be a decent neighbor and part-time pair of hands at local events. I have nearly moved to the island four times--thinking about it again. The thing that stops me cold is the winter isolation. It's bad enough where I am, but you have to be a pretty hardy soul to do winter in Maine. The weather is virtually identical to mine. I live on a pretty side street a half-mile from a hospital in one directions, and a half-mile from the police and fire station in the other. The older I get, the more those "safety nets" matter.

I love the islands. I'm chronically homesick for them--a real ache. But when my children were small, it gave me the heebie-jeebies that the nearest hospital was over half an hour away--much as I know it's pretty good. For seniors, if you fall and break a hip, you're cooked unless you can holler for help--so get a lifeline--a senior alert button you wear around your neck. Take a few precautions, and you'll be OK.

If natural beauty satisfies you, there is nothing in the world like Maine. Maine really is a state of mind. But you have to be tough, physically and mentally. You have to be prepared to be pretty self-sufficient. You'll need a secure income.

But if you do your homework, and if you do your absolute best to be a decent human being, Mainers will make you one of their own. We're kinda shy, we Yankees. May take five years for us to have you over for a cup of tea, but friends made slowly are friends for keeps.

A really good read re coastal Maine is "The Lobster Gangs of Maine."