Moving to Maine...Maybe? (Portland, Gorham: where to stay, apartments, renting)

[Kat1910]

My boyfriend and I are going to be graduating from our community college (In Upstate NY) in may and are thinking of moving to Maine to possibly continue our education at USM and just enjoy the area. We are going on vacation in June to get an idea of how Maine acutally feels. Does anyone have any ideas as to where to stay/live and suggestions/hints of moving?! We're very excited but want to make sure we have the most information possible before making a decision. Thanks!

[Northern Maine Land Man]

What are your majors?
What would you like to do for work?
What are your recreational interests?
Do you like rural life; city life?

Maine has something for everybody. Welcome to the forum.

[tilinmaine]

For vacation, and since you're young, I'd recommend staying at the Holiday Inn By the Bay. You could try the Portland Harbor Hotel, the Marriott Garden Inn or Regency, but they're way more expensive. Either way you'll want to be within walking distance of the Old Port, and you should probably book soon!

For living, I'd look in the Oakdale neighborhood which is closest to USM. There are some nice apartment buildings and a great student community. I'd definitely go with renting in a 2-4 unit house until you get to know the area better.

Good luck!

[arteokay]

Hi, I thought I'd hop on this thread too, since I've got a similar question.

My girlfriend and I are thinking of maybe moving to Portland after we graduate from college in Vermont. She's a biology major, I'm English. We're not necessarily looking for jobs relating to our degrees, though that would be nice. I know there are a ton of restaurants and pubs in Portland (we spent St. Patrick's Day wandering around a few!), but how easy is it to find a job there? is there a lot of turnover?

Another thing that I'm concerned about is finding local farmers' markets...preferably organic but the local part is more important to me. I'd rather buy non-organic from a local farmer than go to a health food store. Can anyone suggest anything to me? We're hoping to live pretty close to downtown Portland.

Also, my girlfriend has a car but it would be nice if we could rely on it as little as possible for day-to-day stuff. How bikeable/walkable is Portland? How handy is the public transport?

One last thing...we've been searching for apartments on Craigslist and have run into a lot of appealing postings from somewhere called ApartmentMart...has anyone had any experience with them? Are the deals as good as they look?

Thanks so much everyone!

[elston]

Originally Posted by tilinmaine

For vacation, and since you're young, I'd recommend staying at the Holiday Inn By the Bay. You could try the Portland Harbor Hotel, the Marriott Garden Inn or Regency, but they're way more expensive. Either way you'll want to be within walking distance of the Old Port, and you should probably book soon!

For living, I'd look in the Oakdale neighborhood which is closest to USM. There are some nice apartment buildings and a great student community. I'd definitely go with renting in a 2-4 unit house until you get to know the area better.

Good luck!

We are moving to the Portland area and just were up and stayed a week at the Holiday Inn By the Bay while we looked for housing. It is definately convenient and close to the Old Port, which is the hub of night life, pubs etc and also all the boutiques, shops and eateries.

It is a large conference hotel and while convenient, it is really short on charm or ambiance. Convenience and standard accomodation and below standard food in the resturants off the lobby. All in all it is an ok place to stay. (They do provide shuttle service to and from the airport but also around town pretty much like a taxi, if you ask at the desk.

Portland is really a fun city; we loved it.

Good Luck to you!

[Maineah]

There is a Hilton Garden Inn on Commercial Street I have heard good things about. This puts you in the middle of the Old Port Area and negates the necessity of taking a cab. USM is off Forest Avenue and is on the opposite side of town from the Old Port. There are some hotels around USM but they tend to be the large business hotels like the ones mentioned by elston. USM itself is a split campus with many of the classrooms in Gorham. It used to be called more appropriately UMPG for Portland/Gorham. Often you will have classes on both campuses. It's a 30 minute bus ride to Gorham from Portland. I used to have to ride the bus sometimes twice a day. It was the one thing I did not like about attending USM. Sure you could use your own car and many people do but parking is a pain in Gorham as is the traffic. The bus costs nothing for students.

[LorraineSuzuki]

This not an answer to the question posted (sorry I don't know how to post a question), as a matter of fact I am also looking for informations about Portland and accomodation. I am French and next year I am also studying at USM. How can I find a furnished apartment and a roomate? If anyone could help me that would be great.

[mainebrokerman]

Originally Posted by LorraineSuzuki

This not an answer to the question posted (sorry I don't know how to post a question), as a matter of fact I am also looking for informations about Portland and accomodation. I am French and next year I am also studying at USM. How can I find a furnished apartment and a roomate? If anyone could help me that would be great.

hi,,you could go on to "maine craiglist" and there's a section of housing wanted, that many post looking for roomates etc, its a good place to start