Year round living in Maine. (Portland, Bangor: homes, construction, camper)

[Spanky25]

Originally Posted by YorktownGal

NYC has changed in the last decade. The pandemic lockdown has not helped. I'm paying too much to live where I can't leave my house.
My house is in Westchester, NY where houses are closing within seven days being listed. New Yorkers are fleeing the city for the suburbs. Many suburban New Yorkers want to be even further away form NYC.


My husband can work from anywhere for the next couple of years before retirement.

1) We would like to be close to Amtrak or an airport.

2) We would like a walkable town.

3) We would like a quiet town with - for the most part - year round residents. We don't want to find ourselves living on a Jersey shore type situation. Are York and Old Orchard Beach are like that?

4) Do towns that limit Airbnb rentals? Don't want wild parties next door.

5) Price less than $500,000 and near to the beach.

We really like Peaks Island, but the lots are small. Camden seems nice. Bar Harbor seems like it would be cold and dark in winter. Harpswell seems nice, but does anyone stay over the winter?

We thought about Cape May, NJ (isolated and far from Amtrak/airports), Cape Cod (crowded and expensive), and Maine.

Any ideas?

York,
Same here! Long Island here, looking to retire to Maine for your exact reasons. Along with the NY traffic, cost of living, high property taxes as you also know.

Following

[yaeger07]

Harpswell isn't what I'd call walkable though. There's not much town to speak of. But if you drive into nearby Brunswick, that's very walkable.

[YorktownGal]

Originally Posted by Spanky25

York,
Same here! Long Island here, looking to retire to Maine for your exact reasons. Along with the NY traffic, cost of living, high property taxes as you also know.

Following

I lived in Norwood, MA for four years. One year, we went up to Acadia National Park for vacation. On the way back, we stopped at York beach for lunch. Well, don't you know, we saw two Norwood families there. It was like half of MA was there. York beach was crowded and touristy. I don't know what the rest of the town is like. It could be peaceful, but the beach wasn't.

The middle class NY I knew and loved is gone. It's the worse now.

[OutdoorLover]

Originally Posted by YorktownGal

NYC has changed in the last decade. The pandemic lockdown has not helped. I'm paying too much to live where I can't leave my house.
My house is in Westchester, NY where houses are closing within seven days being listed. New Yorkers are fleeing the city for the suburbs. Many suburban New Yorkers want to be even further away form NYC.


My husband can work from anywhere for the next couple of years before retirement.

1) We would like to be close to Amtrak or an airport.

2) We would like a walkable town.

3) We would like a quiet town with - for the most part - year round residents. We don't want to find ourselves living on a Jersey shore type situation. Are York and Old Orchard Beach are like that?

4) Do towns that limit Airbnb rentals? Don't want wild parties next door.

5) Price less than $500,000 and near to the beach.

We really like Peaks Island, but the lots are small. Camden seems nice. Bar Harbor seems like it would be cold and dark in winter. Harpswell seems nice, but does anyone stay over the winter?

We thought about Cape May, NJ (isolated and far from Amtrak/airports), Cape Cod (crowded and expensive), and Maine.

Any ideas?

Camden *is* really nice, and there is activity there year-round. It has a beautiful harbor and Megunticook Lake is also gorgeous, lots of nice public lands in the area for walking. It's not exactly close to an airport or train though. There is actually a small regional airport in Owl's Head nearby, with flights that connect to bigger airports:
https://www.knoxcountymaine.gov/inde...569CACFD927%7D

Brunswick is also really nice, and has train service. Downtown is great, nature there not as nice as Camden.
https://amtrakdowneaster.com/
There is always the airport in Portland, which is only about 40 mins drive from Brunswick.

Scarborough has pretty Scarborough beach and the beautiful Scarborough Marsh - kayaking, birding, wildlife photography. There is not much of a nuclear downtown for walking though. Lots of shops, but mostly in strip shopping so far as I have seen.

[YorktownGal]

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

Camden *is* really nice, and there is activity there year-round. It has a beautiful harbor and Megunticook Lake is also gorgeous, lots of nice public lands in the area for walking. It's not exactly close to an airport or train though. There is actually a small regional airport in Owl's Head nearby, with flights that connect to bigger airports:
https://www.knoxcountymaine.gov/inde...569CACFD927%7D

Brunswick is also really nice, and has train service. Downtown is great, nature there not as nice as Camden.
https://amtrakdowneaster.com/
There is always the airport in Portland, which is only about 40 mins drive from Brunswick.

Scarborough has pretty Scarborough beach and the beautiful Scarborough Marsh - kayaking, birding, wildlife photography. There is not much of a nuclear downtown for walking though. Lots of shops, but mostly in strip shopping so far as I have seen.

Thanks. Really great info!

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Inteesting rhread. This is the Maine I do not know - at all. People ask what Maine is like. I tell them it is lie Burlington, Vermont and Point Judith, Rhode Island. They blink and stare. It's true. Maine is as big as the other five New England states put together. If I drive due east, I'm in New Brunswck. Due west and I'm in Quebec; and I'm only half way up.

[jonesg]

People go to the cutesy coastal traps and get starry eyed.
Cape cod is a similar experience, cute to visit but a nitemare to live there.
A person can have that experience in many places.

[YorktownGal]

Originally Posted by jonesg

People go to the cutesy coastal traps and get starry eyed.
Cape cod is a similar experience, cute to visit but a nitemare to live there.
A person can have that experience in many places.

I've been looking online at coastal traps and I get starry eyed. I grew up on the NJ shore about 20 minutes away and experienced nightmare with heavy tourist traffic.

What inland towns do you recommend?

[SulfurDog]

As someone who commuted from the South Bronx to Yorktown for 18 years and Yorktown to Rye for 12, I'm pretty experienced with congestion. The area near Acadia National Park may be an entirely different matter but the Rockland/Rockport/Camden section of Route 1 isn't remotely like Cape Cod congestion. (One of the reasons I crossed the Cape off our list)

I asked my friends who have always lived here if we got lucky last summer and they told me that it was typical. I think the only "heavy" traffic in this area is downtown Camden and honestly you'd find going to Home Depot on a Saturday afternoon on Route 6 more trying.. In fact one of my friends who has been here for over 30 years said that he was very surprised upon moving here that there are no traffic reports on the radio, lol. Just news and weather.


Everyone is going to be giving you different advice. Just be careful. We all mean well but we each have built in biases and different experiences. Don't discount an entire area until you check it out for yourself.

[phoebesmom]

Yes, do check out lots of different towns and places. I see you listed Peaks--my brother lives there, so I know a little about it. The lots are small but the houses are charming, and the island has a strong cohesive identity. Nice little grocery store. If you can handle the ferry--my husband says he couldn't live there, because of the ferry--which complicates things quite a bit, you might just love it. If I lived there, I don't think I'd ever go to the mainland!