UPDATE'S, Where are you in life, and your move to Maine (Eastport: health, area)

[maine4.us]

Hate to be a party pooper, but the economy ought to scare everyone. Things are not looking too bright for the good old USA and the rest of the World. Everyone is on hold right now. The stock market doesn't know what to do, so it wobbles and hobbles like a 90 year old man with a cane. Only one step from a disaster. While I have my house in Maine, retirement is somewhat iffy in the near future. If the economy take an uptick, great, if it takes a nosedive, not so great. I am not invested in the market, so I have no dog in that fight, but when big money bails, it isn't good for Uncle Sam.

Shuffler, I think you are being very prudent. Mrs1885, you sound like me. a Maine move is not out of the picture, but it is certainly not going to happen today, or perhaps even tomorrow. I am in the bunker mode, all hunkered down, and paying close attention to what's going on. I am going to wait until the dust settles from all that has happened in the last couple of months. As it stands today, I would have to give my house away in order to sell it, or maybe even to rent it.

I read my own post, and while I am not a party pooper, right now I am certainly vigilant and aware of things yet to unfold.

[lrfox]

^JoanEM,

Welcome to the board! I think it would be a good idea to open up a brand new thread in the Maine forum to generate more responses.

How does work play into your move? Are you retiring? Self employed, seeking employment, work from home? If you're looking for a job, I'd suggest finding it before you move and locating accordingly. If you work from home or are retired, any of these suggestions could work for you.

As for where you'd like to move, it really depends on your definition of, "the boonies." I noticed your location is Cape Cod. To put some things in perspective for you, Portland, Maine's biggest city, has a population of 63,000... New Bedford MA, a small city not too far from you has a population of 95,000; and maybe more importantly Portland FEELS a lot smaller than New Bedford as it's 2 hours away from any city even close to its size. So as a result, you could live right outside the biggest city in Maine and feel like you're away from it all. Portland (unlike New Bedford), even given its size, is still the epicenter of all of the state's activity. It's the center of everything in Maine... the airport, ferries, highways, culture, food, etc. This is your starting point for a move to coastal Maine and depending on how you feel about it, you adjust your ideal location accordingly.

If being near a city of 63,000 is not a problem for you (some of the immediate Portland "suburbs" are more rural than any town on or near Cape Cod), then you may be able to find something you like right around there in Falmouth, Yarmouth, Cumberland, Freeport, Cape Elizabeth, etc. Maybe even on one of the Islands like Long Island, Peaks Island, or Great Diamond Island (there are others too). There is flexible, year round ferry service right into Portland and MANY people (Including one of the college professors I had) commute to the mainland daily from their Island homes.

If the Portland area is still larger than what you're looking for, you could head up the coast a bit further towards Rockport, Camden, and Belfast which are a bit more secluded than Portland, but not at the ends of the earth. If that's still too active for you, head even further up the coast towards Stonington, Bar Harbor, Machias, and Even Eastport. Obviously, Bar Harbor has the tourists, but anywhere on this stretch of coast will feel quiet, calm, and isolated.

You could also head south of Portland if you wish to places like Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough, Old Orchard Beach, Biddeford Pool, Kennebunk, Wells, Ogunquit, York, and Kittery. These areas are more touristy (a few quiet spots in between) but they're not isolated or "boonies." It'll be pricier in these towns than it is in other areas along the coast, but not as expensive as it would be for a similar home on Cape Cod.

This is just a start, but if you post your own new thread, I'm sure you'll generate some great responses.

[BacktoNE]

The economy isn't scaring us from moving home, Maine has been in a recession for what, at least 15 years now? Probably longer, I tend to lose track of time.

Our move will depend on DH's company having an opening in Maine and what the numbers are like at the time.

My biggest concern with moving home stems from the election. Not who won, I'm thrilled with that, but the ops I've seen posted online at various newspaper sites, etc. I thought my fellow Mainers were more open minded and accepting than what I've been seeing the past 2 weeks. It's very disturbing to both of us.

[Elcarim]

We have a huge advantage in this economy with Brad's career field. They are always in demand, and he's dual certified which opens even more doors. According to our research, as it stands with our current financial situation, we're going to come out ahead after our move - even with the cost of heating. We're seeing that our housing/utility costs will be cut in half.

[BacktoNE]

El, no doubt emergency services personnel are always in demand. Your family should be in good shape

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by Elcarim

I wish I could say I was scared of the economy.........maybe.........but in all honesty, I'd rather be smack dab in the middle of Maine where I can feed myself and my family on pennies if it comes to that.

Good point!

... We may end up living in Molly's basement worse come to worse. There is unlimited game in the wild and my friends know how to garden, and I'm sure they'll be willing to educate us on the same. I think Maine is a stellar place to be if we need to get back to basics and live on the land. I can't imagine suffering anywhere better!

We have 2 empty beds.

[corgis]

The economy is not deterring mensaguy and me from moving to Eastport. Our plans are cast in stone and have been for the last 5 years. Our timeline is in place and we will be moving in 19 months. We have our house in Eastport that we bought 5 years ago, we took almost all of our furniture up there this past summer, reasoning that if gas prices kept climbing we needed to have our stuff there before the prices got too high. Here, we are living with minimal furniture, two chairs, two lamps, two end tables in the living room, a small table and four chairs in the dining room, bed and two nightstands in the bedroom, etc.

Our house here will sell, most houses under 100K sell fast even in a depressed economy and this neighborhood has mostly houses under 100K. We are not in the stock market, have no 401K or mutual funds. We already have one pension and one social security started with another pension to begin in 18 months.

We planned this move for almost 15 years, down to the last detail as our retirement dream and by golly we're going make these last 19 months happen no matter what the economy. We raised our family's and educated them, got them started in life and set them free. It's our turn now to live the life we want and the economy is not going to disrupt our dream.

[Elcarim]

UPDATE!! I just reserved the moving trailer to be delivered for loading on 2/26. They'll pick it up on 3/3 since they only service our area on Tues/Thurs, and it will arrive in Eastport by the 10th!

Good thing we have beds and a bit of borrowed furniture waiting for us!

[msina]

wtg El.

[BacktoNE]

Originally Posted by Elcarim

UPDATE!! I just reserved the moving trailer to be delivered for loading on 2/26. They'll pick it up on 3/3 since they only service our area on Tues/Thurs, and it will arrive in Eastport by the 10th!

Good thing we have beds and a bit of borrowed furniture waiting for us!

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/nancyh46/avatars%20and%20emoticons/highfivesmilie2.gif (broken link) WooHoo!!