Harpswell vs. Belfast vs. Camden HELP! (Brunswick: restaurants, groceries, store)

[Elcarim]

Oh, thank goodness! I was worried!!

[dmyankee]

As the traditional economy was declining in the 1940's through the '60's. the chicken processing arrived in Belfast. It was large, acrid and horrid. That industry left town a long time age. Good riddance!

[SantaFeSisters]

SOOOOOOO glad to hear about the plant. It is the only negative thing I have heard about Belfast. My sisters has begun reading reading this forum and said that Mainers seem to be the sanest people in the country.

[Acadianlion]

Originally Posted by dmyankee

As the traditional economy was declining in the 1940's through the '60's. the chicken processing arrived in Belfast. It was large, acrid and horrid. That industry left town a long time age. Good riddance!

When I was a child my family came to Maine to spend the summers with my grandparents. On the way, my mother used to insist that we stop to visit my three elderly great aunts in Belfast. Every summer there was a chicken festival on with chicken barbecues and all sorts of country fair kinds of activities all centered around the sainted chicken.

Chicken was the center of the economy in Waldo County, and Belfast pronounced itself as "The Chicken Capital of the World." I can close my eyes and still see the banner.

High fuel costs, competition from other states, and transportation costs ended up killing off the chicken business in Maine. In Belfast, this meant the beginning of a great depression with a very large percentage of what is now considered to be the charming downtown area, closed up and derelict.

Of course the chicken processing plant was smelly, and since it was allowed to do in those days, poured its processing waste products into the river. This was no different than any other industry in Maine in those days, including tanning, shoemaking, and textiles. The effluent was merely pumped into the rivers, with the result that until the late 1980's, most rivers in Maine were so highly polluted that swimming in them was a highly speculative venture to ones health.

The Great Depression in Belfast lasted for quite a long time. Waldo County in general was the poorest county in Maine, right behind Washington County, which is way downeast.

Then along came some wealthy bankers from Delaware who loved to sail along the Maine coast. Putting their multimillion dollar yacht into Belfast one day, they decided that the harbor had great potential. Shortly after that, they made a great deal with the governor of the state and the rejuvenation of Belfast began with the construction of the first, creme and green MBNA building, and Maine started developing a call center industry for that large, growing credit card company. It was all ballyhooed as a great saving event for Maine, and soon green and creme buildlings sprouted up in a whole lot of different places, including Camden, Rockland, Orono, Ft Fairfield. In Rockport high on a hill, a huge conference/recreation center was built all to be used by MBNA people, and in Belfast a large, modern and very beautiful apartment complex was built for MBNA people and their families.

But of course, in case it seemed too good to be true, it all came to an end. Or probably will soon. MBNA was bought out by Bank of America. Before the buyout, the conference center was closed as well as some of the smaller operational centers. The apartment complex was put up for sale and is being sold off as condos as we speak.

Bank of America is not centered here. I am not sure, but I don't believe that any of the top execs of Bank of America are sailors,a nd I am unaware of any large, corporate yachts owned by Bank of America. I can imagine that soon Bank of America will figure out that the majority of the jobs being held down by Mainers can be handled by the workforce in Raleigh, North Carolina where the cost of heating the offices is about one third the cost of Belfast, Maine; where the cost of worker's compensation insurance is about one half that of Maine, and where property taxes on a new, yet to be built building, will be FREE for the first twenty years if only they will bring 3000 jobs into the local economy.

I think it may be a bit premature to celebrate the great yuppy pristineness of Belfast, as another depression is possible. MBNA did bring a campus of the University of Maine to Belfast, so there is a small chance that the town could become a college town instead of a credit card center, but there is no other major industry in the area, and if the banking call center ends up closing entirely, the loss of that many jobs will be a severe blow to the value of everything in Waldo County.

The chicken processing business was pretty smelly, as I can well recall.

But the credit card business stinks pretty bad too, especially when the local economy is dependent upon a processing center for debt that may well evaporate as a result of corporate restructuring.

[dmyankee]

Why, you are describing the Angus King economy. Call centers and more call centers.

[Elcarim]

And so it goes...ebb and flow.......this is the cycle of life.

[msina]

Excellant explanation Acadianlion. MBNA brought a lot of decent paying jobs to the area that otherwise would have gone to Pakistan (possibly). However, the credit boom has been followed by a credit crunch. MBNA sold when the timing was good and it's yet to be seen what Bank of America will do with the business.

[Vera206]

Originally Posted by Elcarim

I'm not familiar with Harpswell but I can say that Belfast is a less expensive place to live according to my research. Camden seems like more of an upper class retirement area.

My vote is still Belfast. I believe from what I've heard that the Pagan community is strong there. And you can't ignore the natural beauty of the place!

Thank you for the tip.........I thought that I was living in the pagan community(Los Angeles). Could you then tell me which area has the largest amount of Roman Catholics??? Thankx.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by Vera206

Thank you for the tip.........I thought that I was living in the pagan community(Los Angeles). Could you then tell me which area has the largest amount of Roman Catholics??? Thankx.

I am not one, however I will make an effort.

The RC diocese is in Portland.
Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland Maine

And here is a list of their parishes:
Portland Diocese: Parishes & Mass Times

It looks to me like Waldo, Sagadahoc, and knox counties have the least RCs.

[Jacques3]

Harps well is beautiful, but very small. There really is no town center, but the ocean is everywhere. Lots of inlets,my ideal,pools, and of course the sea itself. If you want groceries or a variety of restaurants just drive into Brunswick about 10 miles away. There are some nice seafood restaurants in the Haroswells and a general store or two here and there. They call it the Harpswells because there's Harpswell and South Harpswell.