Best and worst places to live in ME (Portland, Lewiston: relocation, real estate)

[Siobjuan]

Dexter is just right for me although I wish there were more jobs.

Unfortuantely we all live in a disposable society (to some degree) and folks are going to Wally World or K-fart instead of the mom & pops so they can save $10 now, and find that down the road Dexter Shoe is downsizing or that another Maine based company has had to close it's doors.

My 16 & 13 year old kids have adjusted very well. 1 1/2 years ago we moved from the south shore of Massachusetts. The town we lived in was very affluent and we were the poor relations. Everything was judged on what you had. Here, it is your actions that define you, not your possessions. No one keeps up with the Joneses. Most of the time, the Jonses live 'up a ways', down theah, by them woods.

The best place to live? Depends on what you value.

[flycessna]

Originally Posted by peachie_in_maine

I enjoy the area I live in, but I have lived in an area of Maine that I would not care to live in again.

I can't say really where because it's a personal feeling and it's not fair to say just a personal feeling of something "negitive". * But thats my feeling on "negitive" things.

All area's of Maine have such a great variety of things of beauty for all.

It's ok to have cirtain feelings for or against a place........especially when you have had experience with them. Those feelings are based on real experience and knowledge.

I have never really been crazy about Lewiston.....and I "have" lived there..but it wasn't because of crazy crime rates, or because of prostitutes hanging in the street...which are just false perceptions some people have of Lewiston (understandibly), but are simply not true. Which is why I will always feel compelled to set the record streaight. Its hard to articulate, but for me its just a lack of culture....I will always prefer places like Portland, Yarmouth, Freeport ect.

[Boomerang]

Originally Posted by Siobjuan

1 1/2 years ago we moved from the south shore of Massachusetts. The town we lived in was very affluent and we were the poor relations. Everything was judged on what you had.

Let me guess....it was either "Deluxebury" or what I've called "Gingham" ever since I read an article in the Boston Globe describing how new people in a tony town that rhymed with "Gingham" were not permitted to put up colored Christmas lights because it just wasn't DONE, don't you know. All Christmas lights HAD to be white! The townspeople practically ran the newcomers out of town on a rail just for colored Christmas lights. Yeah...Merry Christmas, peace and goodwill and all that
Whoops, sorry for drifting from the thread a bit.

Flycessna, I agree with you that there's a lot of cool stuff to do around Freeport, Yarmouth, and Portland. Or, let's say there's a lively atmosphere, anyway.

[flycessna]

Originally Posted by Siobjuan

1 1/2 years ago we moved from the south shore of Massachusetts. The town we lived in was very affluent and we were the poor relations. Everything was judged on what you had. Here, it is your actions that define you, not your possessions.

I guess I can agree with you to some extent. I grew up in Ma but have not lived their in 16 years. Growing up in Ma the town I grew up was a very nice town. But still had a mix of professional's, blue collar ect. Most people I grew up with their parents had also grown up there.

Somehow that has all changed...so many people moving in from outside the area it has lost its local feel and has made it all incredibly expensive. It's not uncommen I guess for people to feel as though they are priviledged.......In a way....I too wish I could afford to live in a town just for the sake of living there...god knows I could never afford to move back home

But anyways.......I think there's a bit of a personality/culture thing with people from Ma too. Me and my friends who are still there, always talk about money....we're very forward and open...but its not to be insulting or judgmental..its just open conversation...Ive done some great things....I've done some stupid things ect. growing up it was not uncommen to ask someone...what kind of name is that (nationality) or how much did that cost...I feel it much less acceptable here for people to be that close or open....at least with people they barley know. So, some of it I agree with.....things changed there alot....but some of it is just that culture. IMO anyways

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by flycessna

Lewiston's overall crime rate is lower than Portland's, Augusta, Bangor, Sanford, and Biddaford.

To be fair, I do think Lewiston gets a bad rep. Not entirely undeserved though. It isn't a slum by any stretch. It still wouldn't be on my list of places to live though.

Originally Posted by flycessna

And, Brunswick had the HIGHEST property crime rate out of all of them..other than Portland.

Really??? Where are you getting that? I have to admit: I'm very skeptical about that.

Check out Brunswick's crime rate here: Brunswick, Maine (ME) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, news, sex offenders

Compared to Lewiston's here:
Lewiston, Maine (ME) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, news, sex offenders

Or Saco's:
Saco, Maine (ME) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, news, sex offenders

Originally Posted by flycessna

Bottom line though is your right..........compared to anywhere else....every place is safe.

Yep. I don't know that Maine really has a truly "dangerous" town anywhere. There are places less nice than others, and most of the larger towns have a neighborhood or two where I'd be less than thrilled to live. But for the most part Maine really is the way life should be.

Originally Posted by flycessna

Thats why assaults, and property crime are great indicators of whats going on...IMO...........Sorry Brunswick

Yeah, I'm still skeptical. I know Brunswick is no utopia, but we've lived here almost a year now, we've been very active in the schools, and I've even gotten to know a few cops. There is a neighborhood or two where I wouldn't buy a house, but there isn't any neighborhood in town where I'd be afraid to walk alone.

[flycessna]

yes...........I will have to eat crow In my frenzy it seems as though I was wrong when I was looking at the stats. I was right about lewiston having less of those crimes like theft/assault/burglary than portland, bangor and augusta. I just do not think theres enough violent crime in Maine to really compare cities. Most of the robberies in Lewiston are boarderline bogus, And lewiston only averages about one muder a year....sometimes they have none...sometimes they have 2.

but I was clearly wrong on brunswick. The only thing I can think of was i was looking at the wrong color. My apologies.

this is the site i like to use;

Moderator cut: link to a competitors site removed

For fun...compare Brunswick to Newton Ma. a city right next to Boston.

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

Well there is crime in Maine.

But when each day has a dozen homicides they no longer get press attention. Rapes, stabbings, muggings, burglaries, there are many cities where these crimes happen dozens of times each day. Those are high crime areas. And Maine simply is not one of those areas.

When we do see a homicide in Maine it does get media attention. So it 'seems' big.

In a neighborhood where everyone knows everyone else, and one person is hit with a heinous crime, everyone knows the victim, so everyone feels it. So it feels bigger.

I was being sarcastic.

I have had posts removed and been sent to detention a few times because I simply challenged someone's notion that Maine is happy happy joy joy. Not to mention the numbers of responses telling me that I was full of it because I tried to point out that crime does indeed happen in this state.

But yes, I agree with your post.

[RANGER.101ST]

Originally Posted by BadgerNut

I saw this question on another board and found it extremely helpful (to myself and others looking to move) and just in general. Please explain your reasons why you feel the way you do about a certain city or area.

id say the best place to live in maine would be in a house with heat becouse our winters are cold.just kidding every town has its good and bad points

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by K-Luv

I was being sarcastic.

I have had posts removed and been sent to detention a few times because I simply challenged someone's notion that Maine is happy happy joy joy. Not to mention the numbers of responses telling me that I was full of it because I tried to point out that crime does indeed happen in this state.

But yes, I agree with your post.

I think parking at an expired meter is the biggest volume crime in Portland!

[california5]

I've lived in Milbridge and Winter Harbor and loved both places. I think Winter Harbor was my favorite though. I would love to move back to Maine, such a beautiful state!