Rumford? (Portland, Bangor, Augusta: for sale, renting, coop)

[sjlcu]

Hi Ya-Ya's and Yo-Yo's!!

The Rumford area has captured my attention!! I have researched most of what I can find online.....the library site, the chamber site, the police department site, etc. I looked at the CD data and scanned through the few postings here, but I need MORE!

Been there? Lived there? Any and all thoughts are welcome. It appears to be 45 miles to Augusta and 75 miles to Portland. I wonder if those are true driving distances though...I have a friend in Vermont who tells me that depending on roadways it could take 1.5 hours to drive 45 miles??? Is this true in Maine??

It appears to be a bit more economically depressed than some of the other areas I have viewed, especially when looking at home prices. If one were to start a small NEEDED business in that area, is there enough disposable income from the citizens to keep it afloat? Would a friendly newcomer be welcomed with open arms or not?

I want to know more about the:

river
mountains
people

THANKS!!!

Stacie

[dmyankee]

Today is one of those "drive at 35 and stay alive days."

Rumford is no more depressed than most of the northern 2/3rds of the state. You really have to visit the town to help you make an informed decision.

[sjlcu]

Originally Posted by dmyankee

Today is one of those "drive at 35 and stay alive days."

Rumford is no more depressed than most of the northern 2/3rds of the state. You really have to visit the town to help you make an informed decision.

Drive at 35? Is that because of the snowy weather? Sounds wonderful! It's expected to be in the high 60's where I'm at today and breakneck speed as usual.

As for visiting that is my intention, I'm just trying to get a bit of a feel for the area here first. I'll be flying in, would you suggest Portland or Bangor or Manchester, NH airports?

Stacie

[Elcarim]

Originally Posted by sjlcu

Drive at 35? Is that because of the snowy weather? Sounds wonderful! It's expected to be in the high 60's where I'm at today and breakneck speed as usual.

As for visiting that is my intention, I'm just trying to get a bit of a feel for the area here first. I'll be flying in, would you suggest Portland or Bangor or Manchester, NH airports?

Stacie

Looks on the map like Portland will be the closest. Have you ever driven up Rt 1 along the coast? Do yourself a favor and make the trip while you're there. It's SO beautiful. Everything should be nice a quiet and tourist-free this time of year (except for you, of course!) We had the run of the roads in March. It was funny, when we drove through Boothbay Harbor, we were the ONLY car moving through the town. I was like visiting a ghost town! It was actually very cool!!

[sjlcu]

El~

I'm several months out before I can make the trip still I've never been there and can't wait!!! I'd have to fly DFW to Boston and was thinking of taking the downeaster amtrak to Portland from there....renting a car and making my was across as much of the state as possible in my allotted time!!

I had planned to go at Thanksgiving and my plans fell apart. It looks like my next best opportunity will be in April. Have ya'll made the drive up quite a bit from Texas? Did you ever make it to the Rumford area? :-))

Stacie

[Elcarim]

Only once - last March. We only drove up the coast from Portland to Acadia, over to Bangor area and back around. We stayed in Belfast the whole week. For us, it was just a confirmation trip after several years of research. We were right!

[CapeCodder]

We just drove out to Rumford to look at some land for sale (for a hunting camp for my bro in law). It was dark by the time we got there. There was a huge creepy looking plant (paper mill?) that smelled pretty bad...it was along a river.
We couldn't get to the property (logging road wasn't plowed)...I wish we got to see it during the day. I just wonder how far that smell travels. I wish I could help you more...I'm a ME newbie too.

[dmyankee]

Originally Posted by CapeCodder

We just drove out to Rumford to look at some land for sale (for a hunting camp for my bro in law). It was dark by the time we got there. There was a huge creepy looking plant (paper mill?) that smelled pretty bad...it was along a river.
We couldn't get to the property (logging road wasn't plowed)...I wish we got to see it during the day. I just wonder how far that smell travels. I wish I could help you more...I'm a ME newbie too.

Hey, that mill is smell represents jobs!

If you can get here in the good weather, try flying into BIA. You could do the entire rt. 2 west thing and get a great sampling of the Maine countryside.

[CapeCodder]

Originally Posted by dmyankee

Hey, that mill is smell represents jobs!

If you can get here in the good weather, try flying into BIA. You could do the entire rt. 2 west thing and get a great sampling of the Maine countryside.

lol...well you're right...but it doesn't change the fact that not all people can deal with that scent.

[Boomerang]

I used to live about 30 miles from Rumford and had some nice meals at the old Chicken Coop restaurant in nearby Mexico. A lot of family & friends went to work in Rumford when the smaller local wood product companies shut down. There's some very pretty scenery around there, but be prepared for the "scent" of the Boise Cascade Paper Mill which can be overpowering (you can see a good photo of it on the town website, http://www.rumfordmaine.net/ ) I drove through town last fall on the way to Rangeley, but didn't actually get downtown, where there used to be (still are?) some nice shops. Google directions sometimes overestimate driving times, but you have to factor in that most roads are 2-lanes meandering through many small towns. So yes, it takes awhile.

Be sure to see the Norway/Paris areas while you're up there, about 30 miles south. Very pretty there too, still close to the western mountains, but it's more accessible to Portland and the turnpike, straight down route 26.

Good luck & happy hunting!