From Santa Barbara, CA to Bar Harbor, ME?? (Portland, Bangor: ski resorts, sales)

[Hawaii-SantaBarbaraMom]

Hi,
My husband is considering taking a job in Bar Harbor and asked me to research life in Maine to see if I would be open to moving there - and so here I be! I have two children (ages 5 and 9) and they are my main concern of course. (We also have a ferret who would go with us.) I have never lived in cold weather before and from the sound of the other posts I've read that is a big concern. But how can this be understood in practical terms? I mean, I can just dress warm, right? See my ignorance!
--Just how much does it cost per month to heat a 4 bed house in ME (in the winter)?
--Can anyone recommend what I could do to get an idea on what life is like there?
--What are the more affordable - family oriented communties in this area?
--If I was to fly out to visit, where should I go to meet people and get aquainted with the area?
--Anyone know any nice churches in the area?
--I am of Mexican decent, though I was born and raised in California...do you think I will encounter a lot of discrimination? (My husband is white and my kids look white.) I've heard this about the New England area.

I'm just throwing out a bunch of questions, but any comments would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Rosie

[droobie]

Originally Posted by Hawaii-SantaBarbaraMom

Hi,
My husband is considering taking a job in Bar Harbor and asked me to research life in Maine to see if I would be open to moving there - and so here I be! I have two children (ages 5 and 9) and they are my main concern of course. (We also have a ferret who would go with us.) I have never lived in cold weather before and from the sound of the other posts I've read that is a big concern. But how can this be understood in practical terms? I mean, I can just dress warm, right? See my ignorance!

Hey we have cold weather, no doubt about it. But it's not as bad as people make it out to be The worst of it is generally between 1 and 5am, sometimes we have pretty bad wind depending on where you are, that can change things.

It'll be cold compared to Santa Barbara, but I assure you 1.2 million people live in this state just fine each year.. :-)

--Just how much does it cost per month to heat a 4 bed house in ME (in the winter)?

Here with domestic hot water it's around 900 gallons a year of oil for this 4 bedroom house in Bangor (45 miles or so inland from Bar Harbor.) If you had a separate hot water heater you'd use less than we do. Electric is generally a bad idea for heat, but some places do give discounts for it in the state. A lot of people use wood stoves, which are a pretty inexpensive heat source. Oil is around 2.70 a gallon I think at the moment here, maybe more since the rate rises over the last week.

--Can anyone recommend what I could do to get an idea on what life is like there?

Take a vacation here. There's plenty to see and you'll find people are very helpful and nice. I go out to truck stops and restaurants just to strike up conversation here and there. People are generally helpful and approachable.

--What are the more affordable - family oriented communties in this area?

I don't know of any in Bar Harbor, Bar Harbor has a lot of high rent and money. If you considered Ellsworth, Trenton, and surrounding areas, you'll probably find pricing is a lot more reasonable. Ellsworth is about 20-30 minutes drive to Bar Harbor, depending on where in Bar Harbor we're talking about. Living on the Island generally doesn't come cheap. Ellsworth has a high school that was recently built in the last 10 years too if I recall.

--If I was to fly out to visit, where should I go to meet people and get aquainted with the area?

There's a lot of people that come here to visit. You'll find www.visitmaine.com will help you with a wealth of information about whats here and what you can go see.

--Anyone know any nice churches in the area?

I'm not a churchgoer but the people I've run-across in the 25 years of living and growing up here reminds me that the people make the place. There are many churches here for various religions in several parts of the state. There are several in Ellsworth specifically as well.

--I am of Mexican decent, though I was born and raised in California...do you think I will encounter a lot of discrimination? (My husband is white and my kids look white.) I've heard this about the New England area.

The state is 98% white, partially because of confusion about the climate here. However, I'm in Bangor (2nd largest metro region in the state) and things are diverse. People sponsor students from 3rd world countries to come to school here in the city. I've not seen a situation of hate crimes in all the time I've been here, usually EVERYTHING makes news here.

Not to say that some people aren't rigid, but all in all people will help you out if you need help or information and they generally recognize if you frequent any particular place and are more friendly as result.

I'm just throwing out a bunch of questions, but any comments would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Rosie

If you have additional questions you can always drop me a line at drdroo (at) gmail.com. I just happened to come through and signed up to reply to your post.

I certainly do love living here, otherwise I'd be elsewhere.

--D

[Hawaii-SantaBarbaraMom]

I so appreciate the time you took in replying to all my questions! Especially in regard to the heating issue...I'll definetely need to research that out more before we even think of buying a home there.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. I don't know if he's even going to pursue the job. It's at Jackson Hole Labs in Bar Harbor. He's from New York but since living in HI and CA the last 20 years he's gotten fearful of living in the cold again. I like what you said about it, plently of people deal with it just fine. Why not us? I certainly don't ever plan to be up and around between 1 and 5 am!
Are there any ski resorts near by?
It's sounds like Ellsworth is the place I'll need to check out if and when I visit. Do you know anything about the elementary school's there? I looked online but the stats are impersonal, you know.
Thanks for your comments about the race issue. It didn't like writing it, but felt I needed to put it out there. The people that "snub" me, even here in my own town, are people that don't know me...and people I wouldn't want to know anyway. I guess it's no different anywhere. I just didn't want to be naive about it.
Thanks again for all your help!

[droobie]

Originally Posted by Hawaii-SantaBarbaraMom

I so appreciate the time you took in replying to all my questions! Especially in regard to the heating issue...I'll definetely need to research that out more before we even think of buying a home there.

No problem.. Heating is DEFINITELY a consideration here and a must.. But there are several ways to go about it. Oil seems to be the best bang/buck, except for maybe wood.. Wood can be cheap as free depending on where and who you know.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I don't know if he's even going to pursue the job. It's at Jackson Hole Labs in Bar Harbor. He's from New York but since living in HI and CA the last 20 years he's gotten fearful of living in the cold again. I like what you said about it, plently of people deal with it just fine. Why not us? I certainly don't ever plan to be up and around between 1 and 5 am!

*laughs* I'm in I.T. so I'm up all hours. The winter is best when it's around 20 degrees out because it's perfect snowmobiling weather. These last few years we've had very little snow (mostly rain) and mild temperatures compared to usual. It ruined snowmobiling season this last year.

Are there any ski resorts near by?

A few hours drive away. Google Sugarloaf, Sunday River, Mt. Abram and Shawnee Peak just to name a few. Hermon Mountain is near Bangor, but if I recall it's more like 'Hermon Hill', it'd be closest to you in Bar Harbor. The rest of these are several hours away, probably on the upper side of 3 hours, but you could always make a weekend of it. Mt Abram is closest (with exception to Hermon Mountain).

It's sounds like Ellsworth is the place I'll need to check out if and when I visit.

That's a great community and it's an easy drive into Bar Harbor from there.

Do you know anything about the elementary school's there?

The schools are pretty well done. All 3 of my cousins in that area went through the school system from Kindergarten up through. My youngest cousin just graduated from the HS in Ellsworth less than 2 years ago. My aunt used to contribute time in various parts of the school back a while ago.

I'd have no qualms about sending someone there. They provide the schooling for surrounding townships and territories as well.

I looked online but the stats are impersonal, you know.

Yeah you never know if they're cracking a whip to make the students give good reports..

Thanks for your comments about the race issue. It didn't like writing it, but felt I needed to put it out there. The people that "snub" me, even here in my own town, are people that don't know me...and people I wouldn't want to know anyway. I guess it's no different anywhere. I just didn't want to be naive about it.

I think it's a fair thing to ask. People definitely don't want to be in places where they feel they won't be well received. In Massachusetts that sort of thing can be a bigger problem depending on where in Mass.

All in all people are just generally friendly to anyone who puts in the time to say hello. You're going to run into buttheads anywhere, but the population of them here seems to be less than other places. :-)

Thanks again for all your help!

No problem.

--D

[Hawaii-SantaBarbaraMom]

Originally Posted by droobie

Yeah you never know if they're cracking a whip to make the students give good reports..
--D

LOL - that's what my kids tell me they do! Thanks again for your insights. I hope others will benefit from it as much as I have.

God bless!

[droobie]

Originally Posted by Hawaii-SantaBarbaraMom

LOL - that's what my kids tell me they do! Thanks again for your insights. I hope others will benefit from it as much as I have.

God bless!

You bet, Take care.

--D

[Finn Boy]

We are also comtemplating a move to Maine, we used a state-by-state comparison survey published by MorganQuitno. You can purchase the survey for approximately $5.00, it's very informative. Bar Harbor is way up there, we're looking around Gorham (Southern Maine). We've had it with California.

[pixieshmoo]

Okay, here's some of what I've learned in the past year...Maine's cost of living is higher, generally speaking. Also, from what I can tell, most of the jobs are in and directly around Portland, or if you want to live further in, then Bangor. It doesn't sound like you will profit greatly business-wise elsewhere, unless you are self-employed or work in the tourism field, or commute (again, this is just what I've been told). However, I don't know how true that is because obviously people make a life there. New Hampshire seems to have a lower cost of living (being a "tax-free" state with income and sales taxes). The Portsmouth area sounds like it has more to offer as far as jobs go compared to Maine.

As for the more expensive property taxes, well, I argue that because it depends on where you're standing and looking in. People in Maine say the taxes are lower than NH, people in NH admit their taxes are higher (everyone I've talked to approximates about $3000), but I'm coming from NJ where we haven't seen $3000 probably since the 70’s, if that!!! Low taxes here are around $7000. Average is between $9000 and $12000) There's higher in some places but most areas are the average. So imagine our horror at the possibility of paying up to $3000 in property taxes?! We could probably own a house in Maine and a house in NH and still pay less in property taxes than we do here!

My husband is also in the construction business. He's a general contractor and we need to be somewhere too where he'd get into a great company/union or do well with his own business. I'm in Real Estate here, so I think I could succeed in either of those places. However, I must admit, whether it's just simply more appealing in general or if it's because I've done so much research in the past year (before thinking of NH) I am extremely partial to Maine. I only researched the NH seacoast because some people scared me off with the “high cost of living” in Maine. We have been scooping out Gorham, Yarmouth, Falmouth, Brunswick and Scarborough mainly (and a few others). However, I have recently decided that worst case, if we moved to the Berwick area (southern Maine) we could commute to Portsmouth if we had to!

Also, I know that both states have a great education system (if you have children) and plenty of college/university/business school opportunities. NH is also the second healthiest state in our union (maine is one of them but I don't remember the #, maybe 4th). But IMO I feel that Maine provides better statistical info. on their school systems and they are considered one of the best, if not the best, in the country. Both states have been voted to be in the top 100 places and top 10 cities to raise families.

Hawaii Mom, as far as prejudices go, from what I've learned, it shouldn't be a worry in a place like Maine. It seems that people have better things to do with their time, like enjoy life to the fullest, and also there is probably less crowding than where you or I come from, so I'm sure there's less racial remarks. Mainers (at least the ones I've met) also seem to want "outsiders" to come experience their lifestyle and benefit from it as well, as long as we respect what is there and what has kept it the way it is.

Lastly, I think if you really want to be somewhere you will exhaust every possibility at succeeding before throwing in the towel. Life is what you make of it, if you want to be in a specific spot, then you will do what you have to in order to achieve that . Good luck with your move (and if you find any good construction jobs, let us know )

Ps. You should read the other threads in here (i.e. Thinking of Moving to Maine and Is Bangor a Safe City...they have some really great info.) Also, there are some threads and posts in the New Hampshire forum that have some good info. too.

[pixieshmoo]

Just a quick apology...please don't misunderstand what I said about "outsiders", if we're not born and raised somewhere then we're all "outsiders" when we get there, regardless of background or color. Imagine someone like me from "Joisey", moving to Maine, we're supposedly the attitude capital of the world ....I'm nice though

Don't worry about stuff like that, that's why people get away with discrimination, just do what you feel is best for your family, wherever it may take you.

[GatorGirl]

We too, are considering moving to Maine. Hubby is all for it, I'm lukewarm at best--having never lived in the cold and snow. I'm very active in school, church, community where we live. We have lots of good friends here. We'd take a huge hit financially, but from all I've researched I notice plenty of people do, but feel it's worth it to be able to live in Maine.

For those of you who WANT to live there or already do, please convince me it's a good idea! I want to help my husband live his dream...