Vegas to Augusta, maine...maybe (Portland, Bangor: apartments, rentals, crime)

[shellokitty]

My husband and I are looking to relocate and so far we are in awe of Augusta. To us (from what we have learned online) it seems perfect...well beside the fact that I am going to freeze my patootie :-). So I would like opinions of those who actually live there. We are looking to move in about may of 2008 and still need info on the pros and cons, places to live (apartments/ house rentals), employment and the school system...anything else you can think of would be helpful as well. Thank you very much, shelly ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

[K-Luv]

My advice would be to come out and visit for as long as you can afford to. My girlfriend and I recently moved to Portland, ME. and as much as I love it (so far) it turned out to be nothing like I had expected.

To keep a boring story short, we spent about a year rescearching Maine either through the internet (and this site) and with friends and family who have either lived here, or visited. We heard so many good things that we didn't see the need to come out and check it out before hand. That was a huge mistake.

Granted, we still would have moved, but it would have been nice to know firsthand just what we were getting into-not to mention it would have saved us a lot of frustrations.

As for pictures-don't believe them! Believe it or not, this was another point of disappointment for us. I truly believe that there must be some sort of Maine Internet Photo mafia operating in cahoots with the tourism industry. Sure, pictures of lighthouses, coastline and moose are nice, but they don't accurately portray what the cities really look like.

[Seaver41]

Originally Posted by K-Luv

Granted, we still would have moved, but it would have been nice to know firsthand just what we were getting into-not to mention it would have saved us a lot of frustrations.

As for pictures-don't believe them! Believe it or not, this was another point of disappointment for us. I truly believe that there must be some sort of Maine Internet Photo mafia operating in cahoots with the tourism industry. Sure, pictures of lighthouses, coastline and moose are nice, but they don't accurately portray what the cities really look like.

Can you iterate on these items? The above are too general.

Saved you frustrations with what? Do you have photos of what the cities "really" look like?

Portland is an area I have in mind for relocation. I think any move involves a risk, but does require that you try to learn as much as you can to minimize that risk.

[umograd83]

You know, I've only been back on the Maine board of City-Data for one day and I've already seen two negative posts of K-Luv or whatever his name is. There are two sides to every story. I am a Maine native. I lived in DC for five years and got homesick and moved back. I needed to live in a city, so I moved to Portland. I absolutely hated it. It took me a year to get back in the swing of things. People move with the expectation that it's going to be just like "home" or it's going to be this way or that way. It never works out to be as you expected. Come with an open mind. I don't know what he's seeing that doesn't match up with the internet, but Maine is a very beautiful state. It's behind the times, yeah, but that's what the charm of Maine is. We're not like other states. We're not as progressive. It's life the way it should be - not the way you want it to be, like at home. People are always going to romantacize (sp!) how Maine is going to be. Forget your pre-conceived notions. You make it what you want it to be. I, personally, would not live in Augusta. Too boring. Portland is where it's at. Bangor is up and coming and after having lived 49 years, I've come to appreciate the Bangor area much more. When I left Maine after graduation from UMO, I couldn't leave fast enough. I wish I could live there from July through the end of September. I'll just have to wait until I retire. I just don't want to live through Maine winters anymore. Do visit Maine often and view it through a resident's eye, not as a tourist. Hopefully you will like it more than K does.

[forest beekeeper]

If you think that the Augusta area is right for you, then give it a try.

We are tired of big cities, and just want a small town.

We love it here in Maine.

Low taxes, low prices, and friendly folk

[warpedg]

Originally Posted by K-Luv

My advice would be to come out and visit for as long as you can afford to. My girlfriend and I recently moved to Portland, ME. and as much as I love it (so far) it turned out to be nothing like I had expected.

To keep a boring story short, we spent about a year rescearching Maine either through the internet (and this site) and with friends and family who .........................................pictures-don't believe them! Believe it or not, this was another point of disappointment for us. I truly believe that there must be some sort of Maine Internet Photo mafia operating in cahoots with the tourism industry. Sure, pictures of lighthouses, coastline and moose are nice, but they don't accurately portray what the cities really look like.

I have never really seen Portland portrayed as anything but the way it is. Ive never heard of anyone describing it as a big classy urban mecca so I cant believe you would be dissapointed in what you discovered when you got here.

If you had such great friends describe Maine to you and it wasnt the way they described it then you might want new friends. I would never move to a area without going there in person first....to be blunt that was just stupid.

And yes, A LOT of Maine is not picture perfect. But how many pictures of the slummy areas of Orlando or Vegas or New York do people show off to there friends from their trips there...."Heres a picture of us at Macys...and this is a picture of the ghetto housing on 8th street...oh, and here is the picture of the pimp and ho's on 29th ave" Instead you see pictures of Broadway, Central Park, etc. Maine has its big share of slum housing, bad neighborhoods and trailer trash just like anywhere else. That doesnt mean you have to live next to it.

Personally I am not a big fan of the Augusta area. I have never lived there but scenic wise I have never thought it was a particularly nice spot in Maine. It really depends on what type of lifestyle you want to have here in Maine. If you could afford the housing I would suggest looking into Brunswick and perhaps south. The closer you get to Portland the more urban it gets and you are closer to Boston. Something more laid back but with still plenty of shopping, movies, etc....then check out the Bangor area. Good luck in your research.....but do visit here first before moving.

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by umograd83

You know, I've only been back on the Maine board of City-Data for one day and I've already seen two negative posts of K-Luv or whatever his name is. There are two sides to every story. I am a Maine native. I lived in DC for five years and got homesick and moved back. I needed to live in a city, so I moved to Portland. I absolutely hated it. It took me a year to get back in the swing of things. People move with the expectation that it's going to be just like "home" or it's going to be this way or that way. It never works out to be as you expected. Come with an open mind. I don't know what he's seeing that doesn't match up with the internet, but Maine is a very beautiful state. It's behind the times, yeah, but that's what the charm of Maine is. We're not like other states. We're not as progressive. It's life the way it should be - not the way you want it to be, like at home. People are always going to romantacize (sp!) how Maine is going to be. Forget your pre-conceived notions. You make it what you want it to be. I, personally, would not live in Augusta. Too boring. Portland is where it's at. Bangor is up and coming and after having lived 49 years, I've come to appreciate the Bangor area much more. When I left Maine after graduation from UMO, I couldn't leave fast enough. I wish I could live there from July through the end of September. I'll just have to wait until I retire. I just don't want to live through Maine winters anymore. Do visit Maine often and view it through a resident's eye, not as a tourist. Hopefully you will like it more than K does.

Two negative posts? Hmmm.....First off, I never-ever-posted anywhere that I was hoping that Maine would "be like home" or that I am searching for some kind of magical wonderland. If Maine, or Portland for that matter was anything like home, well then, I would have moved somewhere else (or I wouldn't have bothered to move, depending on how you want to look at it).

Yes, Maine is a beautiful state-I'm not contesting that in anyway, I am however surprised at the state that Portland seems to be in. Granted, I have yet to fully explore the entire city, so my comments are only about the peninsula, or "the little nub" as I like to call it. First of all, there is garbage everywhere. The street sweepers may keep the roads clean, but no one seems to be doing a damn thing about thrash on the sidewalks, in bushes etc. Not to mention all of the cigerrette butts everywhere which I find funny since Maine is smoke-free. But of course the closer to the Old Port, the cleaner. Groovy.

I've already mentioned my neighbors in another thread, but in case you didn't read it, they are a real piece of work. Despite the Neighborhood Watch signs posted, no one seems to be doing anything about the drug dealing and the noise. I guess that the further away from the tourist, the better. Why three of the buildings on my block have not been deemed nusisence properties by the city and evicted is beyond me. Oh wait, they are a good distence from the tourist and it is better to keep them contained here, huh. Cops drive by all the time, but don't do jack sh*t. Occaisionally they will stop in front of a building, sometimes a with two or three squad cars, but the same drug dealers are still there everyday.

Not to mention this part of town is really run down. Once again, probably because the city puts all of it's money maintaining the Old Port.

Those are the things that you don't see or hear about on websites.

Maine is not like other states? How so?

As far as romantizing Maine, the only thing that I have on that is that I hoped that I would spend my days watching ships go by, or lobstermen bringing in their daily catch. I know that I can find it somewhere along the coast, so maybe that dream can still come true.

Don't get me wrong-there is alot that I do like about Portland so far. I never expected it to be some sort of metropolatin mecca or anything.

Warpedg---Most of what I was told was just blanket stuff like "it is really awesome there" or "I'd really like to live there (again)" type of stuff. No one really went into details as to the why's and how's. Only one friend actually told me that I would love it here, and in the context that he put it, so far he IS right. Another person said that Portland was awesome and really fun, and that the only downside was that there are alot of white dudes who think that they are thugs, but are mostly harmless by a real cities standards. The last thing was that "there is crime here, but coming from Minneapolis, it won't even phase you."

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by K-Luv

...
I am however surprised at the state that Portland seems to be in. Granted, I have yet to fully explore the entire city, so my comments are only about the peninsula, or "the little nub" as I like to call it. First of all, there is garbage everywhere. The street sweepers may keep the roads clean, but no one seems to be doing a damn thing about thrash on the sidewalks, in bushes etc. Not to mention all of the cigerrette butts everywhere which I find funny since Maine is smoke-free. ...

You seem to have issues with a big city.

Which is fine with me.

I do not like cities either.

My suggestion though, is if you do not like cities, then leave the cities.

Not all of life is in the cities.

Much more of America is rural, than urban.

If you wish to whine about cities, please don't make statements about how much you dislike the state. You simply are not describing the state, at all when you talk about a city.

One other thing; "cigarette" is how you spell it.

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

You seem to have issues with a big city.

Which is fine with me.

I do not like cities either.

My suggestion though, is if you do not like cities, then leave the cities.

Not all of life is in the cities.

Much more of America is rural, than urban.

If you wish to whine about cities, please don't make statements about how much you dislike the state. You simply are not describing the state, at all when you talk about a city.

One other thing; "cigarette" is how you spell it.

I have already stated that I have no problem with the state of Maine. I don't understand with the high taxes and the fact that I have to buy City of Portland garbage bags that they can't use some of this money to clean the place up a bit. Either the mayor/city council is corrupt, or they are diverting all of the money into the Old Port.

[Elcarim]

Wow, maybe you and LTTT should meet and strategize on how to correct our corrupt government. While you're at it, see if you can figure out how to get things straightened out at the White House!