North Carolina to Maine? Good Idea?? (Portland, Scarborough: crime, homes, high school)

[oceanmom]

My husband has the opportunity to relcoate to the portland area this summer. He is a research scientist. We currently live in a small coastal town in NC. I realize that a move to the North will present some challenges. We have 2 daughters. One starting high school so for us schools are a proritiy. Also, we would like to live outside of Portland and ideally would like a home with 1 1/2-3 acres of land. I have read wonderul things about Maine(Portland) but I have also read a few things that are a bit concerning. Any advice on towns, cultural aspects, etc would be greatly appreciated. I have been looking at Yarmouth, Westbrook, and Scarborough. We lived in Seattle, WA for two years, so the rumors of bad weather do not scare me but I would like to be prepared for Maine winters.
Oceanmom

[ScotchPine]

Hi oceanmom,

The towns in Maine are as varied as the towns in NC. Yarmouth, Westbrook, and Scarborough are wonderful places. Nice homes at good prices. For a detailed look at life in Maine and how locals and visitors view life in this state, read the article at dll.umaine.edu/welcome/wom/lewis.htm . Also, don't forget this web site ... city-data.com for lots of info.

[oceanmom]

thanks for the info. I will read the article.

[mizz.cutie]

ok like i need the state bird name and some stuff about the crops
by:mizz.cutie

[mizz.cutie]

ok cool do u know a lot history about north carolina if so write back.

[mizz.cutie]

well look i need a reply about north carolina or leaving

[tkx7]

the maine state bird is the Chickadee and happens to be on the standard issue license plate. I preferred it when we had lobsters on the basic plates though.

[bigchuckie]

The Lobster looked like a cockroach or a cooked crawdad

[HildaR]

I personally prefer the chickadee any day over the lobster becouse the lobster was more of a costal thing where as the chickadee is for the whole state. Now as for moving from NC to maine go for it, much less crime there and its a better place to bring up kids.

Hilda

[MaimounaKande]

I used to live in Maine and now live in NC. I agree that Maine is a great place to bring kids up. There is less crime, and there is so much open land...it just feels safe and almost like going back to a simpler era.

That said, I did not enjoy living in ME full time. I really struggled with leaving--I kept thinking "this is SUCH a great place to raise kids" but I was doing so at the expense of my own happiness. The black flies, the winters (and it's not that they are cold...I am fine with cold winters...it's the length. I remember in April about 3 years--give or take--ago when it was 19 degrees and I just thought no...this does not work for me. I remember that day clearly b/c that was the day I decided the cost was too high for me personally.

I LOVED July-Feb. Loved it. But that left at least 4 months of the year I really disliked...and that's a lot of my life!

I am not trying to bash Maine. My parents live there and love every minute of it. I still go and visit and love it. But it was most definitely not for me year-round. I have been SO much happier since leaving. So what I would say is go and visit and really think about it..don't get caught up in the fun idea of the move...really think about whether you want to spend June getting eaten by black flies, and have mosquitos drive you inside on summer evenings (FAR worse than NC mosquitos). Perhaps living in a safe, gorgeous place is worth that trade off for you--everywhere has a trade off. And the lakes are gorgeous, and the city of Portland is one of my favorite cities in the country--it's so small, yet has so much.

Just make sure you hear the good and the bad and reallythink through how you will feel dealing with it. Like I said, my parents moved there years ago and LOVE it--have never regretted it. I regretted it within a year of moving there (less actually) and am far happier in NC. But everyone is different.