Confused for the move (Portland, Bangor: insurance, low crime, how much)

[JJ&H]

My husband and I are seriously considering moving to Maine. We currently live in wretched south FL and are looking for a great place to raise our 5 yr old and get out of the crime and crazy lifestlye of the big city. All our friends think we are nuts, claiming we will freeze to death in the winter and won't be able to find work (my husband does construction and I am a stay at home mom right now). We keep reading all the blogs about the different places to live. It is so confusing, each person has a different opinion about different areas! HELP! Which areas should we consider and are we going to survive the winters???

[bigchuckie]

Maine is not Alaska but it is not Fla either. Construction jobs are plentiful in the Spring thru late fall but they tend to dry up between Christmas and Easter.

[Dragondog]

Have you considered eastern Connecticut? Rural. peaceful, low crime, and close to Hartford and Providence for jobs- and much cheaper to live then south Florida for housing and other costs. Also milder winters!

[Acadianlion]

Originally Posted by JJ&H

My husband and I are seriously considering moving to Maine. We currently live in wretched south FL and are looking for a great place to raise our 5 yr old and get out of the crime and crazy lifestlye of the big city. All our friends think we are nuts, claiming we will freeze to death in the winter and won't be able to find work (my husband does construction and I am a stay at home mom right now). We keep reading all the blogs about the different places to live. It is so confusing, each person has a different opinion about different areas! HELP! Which areas should we consider and are we going to survive the winters???

Once again, the same advice that I give to everyone who ponders moving to Maine: You NEED to come here and look around. Spend at least two weeks to a month looking in one or two areas and talking to people...PUT YOUR BOOTS ON THE GROUND HERE, before you seriously think that Maine can be for you.

Let me be perfectly clear: Maine has ALL of the social problems that other states have. We have crime, drug problems in and out of the schools, and a small economy that makes finding work more difficult than other more populous states, and this is especially true of Florida. Don't think that by coming to Maine, you will achieve the same lifestyle that you have in Florida with fewer problems. You will have the same problems, and a simpler lifestyle that will require you to really concentrate on being a part of the community and being at ONE with your family.

But if you don't know the territory, don't expect to come here and immediately latch onto something that will be perfect. Maine is a BIG state...about the physical size of Florida in terms of square miles. Maine has a population that is smaller than the population of Fort Lauderdale spread out over that distance.

It is not for everyone simply because of the way it is.

[bluejefferson]

I live in Jefferson Maine which is 25 miles out side the capitol of Maine (Augusta) I have lived here all my life. Jefferson is a very small town there are only approx 250 children in the local school which is K-8 the construction buisness is steady here. My husband is a builder I only work part time and financially we do all right. The winter this year has been really nice so far almost spring and fall like with no ice or snow. We usually have about 6 weeks of bad weather. I think this area is a good place to raise children the crime rate is low here. We are a half hour from Rockland, Camden, Augusta, Belfast. It is an hour and a half to Portland from this area. We do have black flies and mosquitoes but you learn to deal with them at least they aren't dangerous.

[stevenlear]

There are as many opinions as there are people. Yes, I love Bangor, but then I should becuase I chose to live here after coming to visit to "check it out". My exploration was done in early February, during the heart of winter with 2 or 3 feet of snow on the ground.

In short, you need to come and poke around. The State is large each town/area is different enough to warrant a first hand look before you decide.

Personaly I found Bangor to offer just the right combination of size (35,000 people) to provide me with the small town feel , yet large enough to provide many of the conveniences and employment opportunities we needed. I have met the nicest, friendliest people here... don't believe the tales of "cold unfriendly" people!

It is a change of mind-set in addition to being a physical relocation!

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by JJ&H

Which areas should we consider and are we going to survive the winters???

Although we aren't in Florida, we are in the same situation you are: wanting a better lifestyle for the kids.

Regarding the winters, it depends what you're used to. Personally, I wouldn't live in Florida for all the whiskey in Ireland. 80 degress in December! Yeoouch. Not for me, thanks. Maine definitely gets winter, but it isn't like Manitoba or anything. In fact, the past two years have seen really mild winters throughout the northeast. So much so that places who depend a lot on winter sports and recreation are hurting for lack of snow.

We have been looking at places all over the northeast and upper Midwest. Sadly, I think we've pretty much ruled out the Midwest. Too many problems with gangs, drugs, and crime, even in the rural communities. We are still considering:

Bangor, ME
Fort Kent, ME
Presque Isle, ME
Littleton/Bethlehem, NH
Keene, NH
St. Johnsbury, VT
Plattsburgh, NY

And so far, Bangor is leading the pack, but again, it really depends on what you're looking for, the kind of work you do, etc. Get all the information you can. Check websites and blogs, yes. Talk to people who have been there. You can usually e-mail the chamber of commerce in any town, and they'll send you tons of information. Get travel and info books on the state from the library. Get all the info you can, then make a trip. If you can at all afford it, going for a visit is vital.

When we took our trip to the Midwest, we had a list of towns that we knew we were going to love based on all the info we'd gathered. The places we knew we were going to love turned out to be kind of scummy. And we found some decent places that hadn't even made our list.

[leala124]

I moved up to Maine almost 5 years ago, and have never regretted getting away from the crime and chaos of the sunshine state. I was born and raised in Florida, stayed for 35 years but always wanted to move. Maine is a totally different way of life, far more relaxing and easy-going. I love it here! However, I will tell you one problem that you may run into...that is difficulty finding jobs that you might want or the pay you expect. I moved to the Ellsworth/Bar Harbor area and there are not as many opportunities there, but I am actually planning to move to a larger city, like Portland. There are more jobs and things to do in Portland and it may be an easier transition to someplace like that. I love Maine, the beauty of its land, and its people, they are very warm and inviting, not what you find in Florida. People up here are more concerned with the type of person you are, rather than what you drive or how much money you make, which I find a refreshing and wonderful change for me.
I hope this helped you and good luck with your move.

[bomar]

We heat with wood in a woodstove. Cut the wood off our land. Moved here a few years ago from CT.. we own a lot more land than we could in CT.. Despite what everyone says about taxes, we paid twice as much in property taxes in Ct than here.. house values were about the same.. but here we own 320 X as much land and have a log home verses a stick frame home in CT. It's just that homes aren't valued as high as CT.

The people here a are very nice. Not much traffic.. if we sit in a line of 6 cars at a red light we laugh and say where'd all the traffic come from? Usually the traffic is more when out of towners come for a holiday or summer stay.

We do agree that the $$ are big for medical. We got a forced early retirement due to 9-11 .. no insurance.. not poverty level, but budgeting a small 401K.. routine doctor visit was 3X what we paid in CT. Haven't really checked out the state's medical plan yet, which would be good for catastrophic coverage.

Heating oil is high, that is why (plus our budget) we went to wood burning.

Gasoline prices match CT .. sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more.

The electricity seems to be close to CT.. we have a co-op.. which actually should make it less than CT, but not.

One issue with going rural is choices. We have but one way to get television stations (if you want more than a tv antenna will get).. no cable runs through town, so it's satellite only. Also my biggest gripe is internet/phone.. we have but one phone company.. no choice.. can't get DSL service from any other company. So basically stuck with the high cost. We did get a long distance carrier with that 4 cents a minute thing.. our local was 14 cents a minute long distance.

We eat better here.. with our budget in CT and here, we basically got hamburg and chicken, an occassional (once a year) steak or roast.. but we are enjoying meat off the land and have roasts, steaks, etc. Someday we'll venture out to find a place to buy seafood off the docks, but fish for our own in fresh water.. later will also do surf fishing.

You do get more of an understanding of wildlife than in the city.. and more appreciative of where your meal comes from.

Truthfully, I don't know if you can gauge what it's going to be like in an area before moving there. Have known quite a few people who move to a state (any state) who then claim the taxes are outragish or the schools are bad, etc. and they just can't make ends meet.