Give me hope! (Belfast, Washington: transporting, crime, hotels)

[forest beekeeper]

I do not know what Southern Maine was like 15 years ago.

We only moved up here recently.

We really like the little townships outside of Bangor.

[Zymer]

Do you really keep bees?
I'm a meadmaker and I'll be looking for a source of honey.

[warpedg]

Originally Posted by Elcarim

I actually think that Belfast is working on a deal with Walmart now, according to the Republican newspaper. Did I misunderstand?

Even if Walmart doesnt get in now they will eventually...its only a matter of the right people in the town office to vote them in. I think the town is still rather evenly split on the subject.

I think the majority of Maine still consists of unspoiled small towns. You have to get away from tourist towns and the coast to find them. In some cases some coastal towns even are still quite unspoiled...even some on Rt 1...Searsport hasnt changed a lot in the past 10-20 years.

You need to drive beyond 'the other Maine' to find most of them. I believe 'the other Maine', which I now live in, begins somewhere around Wiscasset, Bath, Brunswick.

[arzachena]

Originally Posted by Elcarim

I actually think that Belfast is working on a deal with Walmart now, according to the Republican newspaper. Did I misunderstand?

Belfast needs a Super Wal-mart. They need another supermarket to compete with Hannafords. Food prices are crazy there. Not to mention the no underwear thing. My summer in Belfast was great. I did not like having to make the trips out of town. We would make a list during the week and then make the trip to Rockland or Bangor and sometimes Augusta.
Will Belfast ever change the zoning law and agree to have a big box store? I am not holding my breath. If I lived in there I would vote it in. Do I think it will change downtown and cause traffic issues? Maybe. Rockland's downtown stores are fine. Ellsworth too. So why wouldn't Belfast's. Wal-mart would bring more people to town and they might eat in town and gas up their cars in town. Maybe even move to Belfast.

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by Zymer

Do you really keep bees?
I'm a meadmaker and I'll be looking for a source of honey.

Ay-up

I like mead too, but have been having issues with colony collapse.

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by arzachena

Belfast needs a Super Wal-mart....

???

You are the first person that I have heard to say that you wish for another Walmart.

... Will Belfast ever change the zoning law and agree to have a big box store? I am not holding my breath. If I lived in there I would vote it in. Do I think it will change downtown and cause traffic issues? Maybe. Rockland's downtown stores are fine. Ellsworth too. So why wouldn't Belfast's. Wal-mart would bring more people to town and they might eat in town and gas up their cars in town. Maybe even move to Belfast.

Some folks like small slow towns. Some would argue that rapid growth and commercialization is 'bad'.

It changes the flavour of the area.

Many posters here, do not like the rapid growth and urbanizing of either small towns.

[arzachena]

I grew up in Belfast and since Ames closed in 2002 the town is in need of a replacement. Locals are screaming for one. Give the people what they want.

Sure, a box store will change the flow of every day life...change can be a wonderful thing.

[happyappy]

Originally Posted by arzachena

(snip)

...change can be a wonderful thing.

And it can be bad—VERY bad.

Please forgive the long post.

From this discussion an idea just occurred to me. A very useful tool in acquainting people with the realities of unfettered growth would be a documentary using archival photos and film footage and, most importantly, current versions of same combined with narration of the history of a city from beautiful small town charm and serenity to a mini-metropolis. And to top it all off, excerpts from a-few-days-in-the-life-of sequence to get the actual feel of the mass of humanity and its associated activities.

Although Seattle when I first arrived there in 1970 after getting back from SE Asia was not a small town, it was not a mega-metropolis—but it is now. I won’t bore you with all the details but I will say that it is such a nightmare of congestion, overbuilding, building of the wrong type, building in the wrong places, lack of roads in many places to handle the massive traffic, too many roads in other places for any resemblance of charm to remain, too many stores, stores in the wrong places (even though they were at one time the right places), too many buildings (although they seemed not-enough to developers at one time), and on and on ad infinitum.

And I’ve lived in a couple of medium size cities that went through the process above and changed from beautiful and peaceful to ugly and horrendously noisy large size cities. And I’ve lived in a couple small towns that were picture-postcard gorgeous that went through the process and became medium size cities that I would never again live in unless a gun was pointed to my head (but I’d escape as fast as I could!).

If people could view such a documentary and then decide they still would like such a thing as it would “build the economy” in the area, well . . . more power to them I guess. But if such a documentary caused pause and consideration of alternatives to “importing” an economy, and stimulated creative thinking to find ways of improving incomes and financial security from within, then it would be a very good thing—in my humble opinion.

It’s no longer a case of “it cannot happen here.” There are 300,000,000+ people in the country now, and it’s predicted they’re going to migrate in large numbers.

[contented]

don't overlook deer isle/stonington.........nice towns with a nice mix of working folks, retirees, artisans........and remember, everywhere else is "off island" deah

[Elcarim]

I just sat down this afternoon to watch "Finding Home", filmed in Deer Isle. I can't quit crying! Sappy, I know, but I feel so homesick I can't stand it. I feel like the move is ages away, though I know it's probably only a matter of a few short months, now that we're ready to list the house. Just praying for a QUICK sale so we can come home!