?s for Northern Mainers--Calais Area (Bangor, Brunswick: for sale, house, elementary school)

[Utter_Chaos]

My dh and I are tossing around the idea of taking a move to Maine. Houlton, Jackman, Rangeley, Calais (to name a few). We currently live in Northern Minnesota and from what I understand, there isn't much difference. (except you guys have mountains and the ocean and we have flat farmlands..LOL!).

We have 2 young children, so of course, schools and medical facilities are a high priority on our list. What are your winters like? We average -10 to -20 (as our highs) in January and February and about 7 months of snow (). WE have biting flies, mosquitoes, etc, so that sort of stuff doesn't 'scare' us (too much ).

Anything and everything you can give us about the area would be fantastic. We LOVE the outdoors, so information about outdoor activities would be great as well.

We are looking for homes 2000+ sq ft 3/2, etc. What are property taxes on average there? We currently pay about $3200 for .50 acre (in a tiny town trying to keep up with the twin cities ).

ETA: OH--(don't laugh b/c I am 2 hours from these things) where is the closest Walmart, Target, Mall, Sam's, etc? and yes, you read correctly...I am 2 hours driving time away from all of these things...including fast food places...

TIA!

[peachie_in_maine]

Originally Posted by Utter_Chaos

My dh and I are tossing around the idea of taking a move to Maine. Houlton, Jackman, Rangeley, Calais (to name a few). We currently live in Northern Minnesota and from what I understand, there isn't much difference. (except you guys have mountains and the ocean and we have flat farmlands..LOL!).

We have 2 young children, so of course, schools and medical facilities are a high priority on our list. What are your winters like? We average -10 to -20 (as our highs) in January and February and about 7 months of snow (). WE have biting flies, mosquitoes, etc, so that sort of stuff doesn't 'scare' us (too much ).

Anything and everything you can give us about the area would be fantastic. We LOVE the outdoors, so information about outdoor activities would be great as well.

We are looking for homes 2000+ sq ft 3/2, etc. What are property taxes on average there? We currently pay about $3200 for .50 acre (in a tiny town trying to keep up with the twin cities ).

TIA!

I live about 20 miles from the Hospital & medical offices. I have a 3 bedroom home in a small town outside of Calais and my property taxes for 1A is 600.00.
Seems some people are finding land and creating the home they wish or.. fixing up homes in the area to suit them.

Good Luck to you.. this can be a tricky decision.

[Utter_Chaos]

Originally Posted by peachie_in_maine

Good Luck to you.. this can be a tricky decision.

HA! Anything is a move up from where we currently live (see edited OP) LOL! I've been looking at homes around Calais...found a pretty nice one in a town called Charlotte.

Thanks for the reply.

[Utter_Chaos]

^bump^

[Maine Writer]

ETA: OH--(don't laugh b/c I am 2 hours from these things) where is the closest Walmart, Target, Mall, Sam's, etc? and yes, you read correctly...I am 2 hours driving time away from all of these things...including fast food places...

There's a WalMart in Calais. The rest are in Bangor, about 90 miles away. There are good restaurants in and close to Calais.

Winters are cold and snowy. Calais gets less snow than surrounding areas because of the ocean. There's still enough to enjoy most winters. Winter is changing here. A few years ago I had the sunroof open in January and February because we had days in the 50's. Another winter it was -40 with windchill. Last year was an "old fashioned" winter.

[MaineMathTCHER]

Charlotte is lovely. I drive through it everyday on the way to work. But it is rural. The elementary school (k-8) is very nice (but everyone always has an opinion on schools and quality!). If you want "town" Calais is fine. There is a Walmart, 2 food stores, a Mardens (kinda like Big Lots mixed with Kmart and the Dollar store). There are restaurants and all the basic trappings. But most of us here (from what I've seen) make monthly or so trips to Bangor/Ellsworth area to hit those stores we can't get here. Also, healthcare and dental care here has been difficult to get as many aren't taking new patients in Washington County. We (husband and I) have had to seek out the care we need 90 miles away in Ellsworth, but have been quite happy with the care we got-just is a bit of a drive. To us it is worth the lovely oceanside area and the weather is great (we love the snow) by us the bugs aren't bad with the ocean breeze-and after living in Texas (HUGE constant bugs) we hardly notice them at all here. Good Luck!

[Mainer61]

Western Mountains (Rangeley)...beautiful area, but I don't know anything about medical,schools, etc. LOTS of snow.
We have a place in Washington County but get all medical and dental care elsewhere...I believe another poster mentioned that as well. Shopping is nothing special there, either. You will find McDonalds (Machias and Calais), Burger King (Calais), and a few restaurants in Calais, Machias and Eastport. Charlotte is pretty as is Cooper, but again, very rural. There are some lakes in the area, but it's not mountainous. We have a home on the ocean with about 2 1/2 acres and our taxes are almost $3700.00 . Houlton is larger with more available....though no ocean.

[mollysmiles]

If you're all ready driving 2 hours for shopping etc I think that you'll do fine!

There is a Wal-Mart and two grocery stores in Calais, and some great locally owned restaurants too. The nearest mall is in Saint John, New Brunswick, about an hour away. After that it's Bangor, about 90 miles. I like Houlton, but really enjoy the coast, so that's why we're here. We have a house in Eastport, but because of the schools we're in Calais most of the year. We have had a couple of glitches with the schools here, but I think that happens every where, and things aren't perfect all the time. I will say that when Michael's (he'll be a HS senior this fall) report card came in the mail in June there was a hand written note saying the equivalent of "good job" on it from the vice principal. Little things like that mean a lot--and he's since become interim principal, a choice that we think is a perfect fit. The school is large enough to provide a lot of activities and a good academic experience, but small enough to be personal. Calais also has a very active recreation department for the kids--and some things for adults too. There are some great properties for sale right now in the area too. The property taxes in Calais are higher than the surrounding smaller towns though, so that would be something to keep in mind when house hunting if you choose this area.

As far as health care I admit I'm biased. I really like Calais Regional Hospital. My Dad was treated wonderfully there, and so was I, with three surgeries in the last year and a half I didn't have to wait to get into a dentist or a physician, but I do know that we've experienced the loss of a couple of wonderful doctors in our area recently, so that certainly does change things.

Good luck in your search!

[Utter_Chaos]

We are originally from Texas. Raised in East Texas, moved to El Paso for a few years then straight to northern minnesota Oh the life we lead I'm OKAY with rural as long as we can get some land with our house for the kids to spread their wings and run.

We drive 2 hours now for our pediatrician and my dr. I appreciate your reply!

Originally Posted by MaineMathTCHER

Charlotte is lovely. I drive through it everyday on the way to work. But it is rural. The elementary school (k-8) is very nice (but everyone always has an opinion on schools and quality!). If you want "town" Calais is fine. There is a Walmart, 2 food stores, a Mardens (kinda like Big Lots mixed with Kmart and the Dollar store). There are restaurants and all the basic trappings. But most of us here (from what I've seen) make monthly or so trips to Bangor/Ellsworth area to hit those stores we can't get here. Also, healthcare and dental care here has been difficult to get as many aren't taking new patients in Washington County. We (husband and I) have had to seek out the care we need 90 miles away in Ellsworth, but have been quite happy with the care we got-just is a bit of a drive. To us it is worth the lovely oceanside area and the weather is great (we love the snow) by us the bugs aren't bad with the ocean breeze-and after living in Texas (HUGE constant bugs) we hardly notice them at all here. Good Luck!

[Utter_Chaos]

A walmart in town....it is said to say this, but I'm excited JUST for that (I get excited about little things!). This coming winter will be our 5th winter in northern Minnesota. We have experienced those brutal -65 wind chills, so -40 is pretty much a walk in the park. Did I mention that the school was still going with that -65 temp?? I didn't send the kids b/c I didn't want to get out in it all.

Thank you for your reply!

Originally Posted by Maine Writer

There's a WalMart in Calais. The rest are in Bangor, about 90 miles away. There are good restaurants in and close to Calais.

Winters are cold and snowy. Calais gets less snow than surrounding areas because of the ocean. There's still enough to enjoy most winters. Winter is changing here. A few years ago I had the sunroof open in January and February because we had days in the 50's. Another winter it was -40 with windchill. Last year was an "old fashioned" winter.