Only you can tell me... (Gorham, Kennebunk: relocation, real estate, property taxes)

[moughie]

I agree with mermaid, support your local fishmonger. Also, Hannaford has excellent seafood- they had local Maine mussels last Oct from Tenant's Harbor- delicious!!

Whole Foods is fair, but I much prefer Trader Joes.
I find the prices at Whole Foods too high and the atmosphere a bit too pretentious and pseudo snobby( imho). Traders is just plain fun, down to earth and fairly priced.

[Have loved it from afar]

Fort Lauderdale Mermaid & Moughie,

I totally agree about supporting your local fishmonger (AND produce source and cheese source and egg source, etc, etc, etc)! There are just some things at Whole Foods that I can't pass up - staples & bin items usually, and ready-made soups. I think the Portland Whole Foods is the BEST one I've been to in the US including their HQ in Austin. The day I was in there, everyone was very kind & down to earth - I'm hopeful it will stay that way. Suppose I didn't expect the Portland store to be so fabulous (and LARGE) since Portland is relatively small compared to most cities Whole Foods goes into. I'm so excited to get fresh BLUEBERRIES locally too! However, since electricity is going to be so high, I may have to do my freezing out on the back porch in the winter & turn off the freezer - hee hee!

Still open to any more suggestions about permanent locations to move to! I'd like to hear from people who have been to, or live in, these towns. An historic downtown would be fabulous!

Another question - I've read several times here that Maine is not a good business environment (and therefore has little...). It occurred to me that Burt's Bees & Tom's of Maine both started in Maine. I know Burt's Bees moved away to one of the Carolinas & I believe Tom's was sold to Palmolive (or some other conglomerate). WHAT, in your opinions, is wrong with the state government's business sense? Don't they realize how important the "bragging rights" are about having companies like these in your state (Texas has perfected the "bragging rights" concept - sometimes we're "all hat/no cattle" when you pull the Wizard's curtain aside - but perception is a huge slug of "success" these days...) With the natural beauty, willing workforce, plentiful affordable land, proximity to Canada & Europe, etc., it would seem to have some very strong arguments for a company moving there/starting there. I'm guessing it must be the state's business tax structure? Are there no tax incentives for these companies? Seems like Maine should be a "natural" for the coming "green-collar industries" that should be on the horizon soon.

Oh well, I've wandered in several different directions...

Hope everyone has a great weekend - stay warm and please thaw out soon!!!! I'm ready to visit/move!!!!

[Have loved it from afar]

Moughie,

Are there any Trader Joe's in New England? I've never been to one but my friends in California simply LOVE it!

[umograd83]

Okay, I just went to the Trader Joe's website. They are in two New England states: Connecticut and Massachusetts. Here are the towns/cities they are in:

CT: Danbury, Darien, Fairfield, Orange, West Hartford, Westport

MA: Acton, Arlington, Boston, Brookline, Burlington, Cambridge, Framingham, Hadley, Hanover, Hyannis, Needham Heights, Peabody, Shrewsbury, Scampscott, Tyngsboro, West Newton

Maybe we can lobby them to put one in southern Maine.

[boonskyler]

Originally Posted by umograd83

Okay,
Maybe we can lobby them to put one in southern Maine.

and one in mid Maine, I like their two bucks chuck.

[Brianandkim]

Loved It from afar.
I have lived most of my life in Maine and believe that your view of life here is very jaded.
First the only places that you will find sewer and water is in the urban areas.
Once you get outside of the "downtown" area it is predominantly septic and wells but thats not necessarily a bad thing.
As to geothermal it is cost prohibitive in anything but new construction and I doubt that you would see the payback in a timely manner.
In Maine most heating systems are oil fired boilers and in most of the old homes that you talk of it is steam as opposed to forced hot water.
Oil right now is running from about 3.30 to 3.60 a gal. and believe me that old Victorian you love will go through oil like there is no tomorrow.
While you may see winter in Maine as charming the bloom will be off the rose after about 3 months with another 3 to go
Taxes here in Maine are the highest in the U. S. and wages are among the lowest. The business attitude here is terrible. While in the past the paper ,textile and shoe industries paid the bills for a lot of folks most of that is done over seas now {NAFTA} and there is no incentive for new business.
Even the fishing industries are hurting now with a lot of trawlers and dragger's relocating to Mass.
As to a sense of community again I think your in for a disappointment.
While there are things I love about Maine there is more that I am ready to get away from. I guess what I'm saying is do your homework before you make the move.

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by Brianandkim

Loved It from afar.
I have lived most of my life in Maine and believe that your view of life here is very jaded.
First the only places that you will find sewer and water is in the urban areas.
Once you get outside of the "downtown" area it is predominantly septic and wells but thats not necessarily a bad thing.

Well, I guess that makes little ol' Washburn an urban area! Wait until I tell everybody we are no longer po-dunk USA. Actually this as an argument about what is wrong with Maine doesn't hold water. It is the same in EVERY state.

As to geothermal it is cost prohibitive in anything but new construction and I doubt that you would see the payback in a timely manner.
In Maine most heating systems are oil fired boilers and in most of the old homes that you talk of it is steam as opposed to forced hot water.

Agree that most of the state is oil fired. The thousands of homes I have been in over the years working have been about an even split between boiler and forced air. I have been in 1 house that still had a steam boiler in my life, and it wasn't in Maine.

Oil right now is running from about 3.30 to 3.60 a gal. and believe me that old Victorian you love will go through oil like there is no tomorrow.
While you may see winter in Maine as charming the bloom will be off the rose after about 3 months with another 3 to go

No argument from me on this point at all. Somebody make it go away please.

Going to skip the taxes portion, there are plenty of threads that are dedicated to just that isue, so I am not going to help drag this one into a high/low tax argument. Anybody with a computer, and some desire can find out for themselves what the taxes are if they are interested.

As to a sense of community again I think your in for a disappointment.
While there are things I love about Maine there is more that I am ready to get away from. I guess what I'm saying is do your homework before you make the move.

I think it really depends on the community you are in. I have seen total strangers bring in box after box of food and clothing for somebody who lost a house and had no insurance. Or community dinners to raise funds to send a member of the town downstate for medical help. I have seen people give vehicles to neighbors because they needed it. Cannot count the number of times I have seen people helping each other out, regardless if they knew each other or not. Just a community sticking together when it counts the most (and sometimes when it really didn't matter at all either ). I have come home from a long day at work and had my driveway cleared of snow and my steps shoveled off, I still don't know who did it, and nobody is talking. After my 1st son was born the drive was cleared and a couple sets of baby clothes were hanging on the door knob when we returned from the hospital, we had lived in the house/town 2 months and only knew 2 or 3 people. There IS still a sense of Community in places, maybe not all places, but enough of them to make a difference. That is where homework comes into play when looking for a place to live.

Absolutely agree that for anybody moving ANYPLACE should at least do their homework. If at all possible they should also spend time in the locations they think are a good fit after many hours of research into areas of interest.

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by Have loved it from afar

... Another question - I've read several times here that Maine is not a good business environment (and therefore has little...). It occurred to me that Burt's Bees & Tom's of Maine both started in Maine. I know Burt's Bees moved away to one of the Carolinas & I believe Tom's was sold to Palmolive (or some other conglomerate). WHAT, in your opinions, is wrong with the state government's business sense? Don't they realize how important the "bragging rights" are about having companies like these in your state (Texas has perfected the "bragging rights" concept - sometimes we're "all hat/no cattle" when you pull the Wizard's curtain aside - but perception is a huge slug of "success" these days...) With the natural beauty, willing workforce, plentiful affordable land, proximity to Canada & Europe, etc., it would seem to have some very strong arguments for a company moving there/starting there. I'm guessing it must be the state's business tax structure? Are there no tax incentives for these companies? Seems like Maine should be a "natural" for the coming "green-collar industries" that should be on the horizon soon.

I have come to know a few families who are each self-employed and operate farm businesses. Family plus maybe six full-time employees.

Two of these businesses have encouraged us to start-up and compete along with them, as their primary concern is they can not fill all orders. They have both given us full tours of their operations, and are willing to train us and help us to start-up our own business. Their 'problems' are the lack of full-time year-around employees, most folks who will work for them only want seasonal work.

I see small businesses of four to forty employees which appear to be prospering. Some are seasonal, and some are year around.

It may be possible that "the state government's business sense" may be lacking when it comes to larger businesses.

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by Brianandkim

... While you may see winter in Maine as charming the bloom will be off the rose after about 3 months with another 3 to go

Wow, the bloom is not off our rose yet

... Taxes here in Maine are the highest in the U. S. and wages are among the lowest.

Our experience so far has been the exact opposite of that.

Our taxes are low, and my wife's wages are fairly good [though she only works part-time].

May I suggest that since we have lived in many other areas, perhaps our experience is too wide.

... The business attitude here is terrible. While in the past the paper ,textile and shoe industries paid the bills for a lot of folks most of that is done over seas now {NAFTA} and there is no incentive for new business.

Perhaps no 'incentive's but fortunately no hindrances either.

... As to a sense of community again I think your in for a disappointment.

Yes isn't it great!

The "sense of community" here is wonderful

[Have loved it from afar]

Forest beekeeper & Others,

Thankfully, I'm not a " 'fraidy cat"! I've long ago run my taxes with the help of the State of Maine website. For my tax bracket, I'm thrilled. Property taxes + state income taxes are much lower than what I'd see here in Texas. Our property taxes are OBSCENE & will only get worse with no income tax to supplement the state's coffers - and that's with some property tax relief a year or so ago.

My findings are if you're a friend, you'll have them, which creates that sense of community. I loved Bydand's story of finding the drive shoveled & baby clothes on the front porch when they arrived home from the hospital. THAT's a community (and particularly the part about "no one talking" - that's the secret - not wanting credit for this wonderful act of kindness)

I will continue to do my "homework" from afar - my thumb joints are crying out from all the mousing I've been doing. I have spent hours on the computer on an almost daily basis on this research. My realtor even commented that I knew the town/listings almost as well as they did when I was there earlier. And I WILL spend some time there again soon - just waiting for those listings to reappear! Just need to narrow the search a bit!

OH! And one more thing - I reread my post last night about business & Maine. I TRULY didn't mean to make is sound like I was hawking Texas. I'm NOT. I wouldn't be so excited to move from here if I thought it was so wonderful. We're the home of No Child Left Behind, HOT HOT SUMMERS, electricity grid problems (had to replace a TV & VCR as a result of them shutting it down with NO NOTICE and you can imagine what happened with the traffic signals since they didn't even tell the POLICE in advance!) and an increasingly polarized populace. As I've said, my FRIENDS are the best part about Texas, and I hope they'll visit often when I move to Maine. Just wanted to make it clear that my intent was to emphasize that Maine has so much to offer!

P.S. And as to a long winter, after all this heat all these years (it was "only" 82 on Friday as opposed to the 90 which was forecast so you can imagine what the summer will be like...) I'm so looking forward to bundling up with a STACK of good books. As to the heating, I'll continue to research the best way to accomplish that with the least amount of punishment to my wallet AND the environment, but the environment will probably win out as this oil will continue to go up & up! Sometimes a larger up-front investment WILL pay off even when you thing there is no way. Positive suggestions are ALWAYS welcome!

Have a wonderful Sunday, dear Mainers! (or Maineahs...)