Relocate to the Bangor area??? Help!!!! (Orono, Hampden: car insurance, houses, job market)

[StayorGo???]

I am new to this and posted the following this morning. After looking at it again we realized that we needed to change a few things. Those who have wrote replies thank you.....

We currently live a "bedroom community" near NYC and want out!!! We have two young boys and would love nothing more then to give them a better quality of life. I have an opportunity to relocate with my job to the Bangor area. Needless to say we are a little nervous to make the move with the way the economy is. So here are some of the things we would like to ask.

How good are these schools in the surrounding Bangor area? How modern and well equipped (i.e., computers/books/supplies) are these schools? What is the student/teacher ratio? Are the teachers allowed or required to have aides/assistants in the classroom? How good are the teachers? My oldest son (2nd grade) is classified in the NY school system as Autistic and receives special services to include a one on one aide, speech, and occupational therapy. How are the schools in giving services to classified students? Also, I am interested in the health care, having two young boys, it is important.

If we decide to take this opportunity to move we are looking at a $50k cut in income, as my husband will be losing his job. We will still be making around $45k with my job. Will that be enough to live on until he can find something? How is the current job market in the Bangor area for the blue collar types?

I hear that Maine is the number 1 state for taxes. I find that very hard to believe living in NY, Maine can’t be worse. We get hit pretty hard in the tax department, for example we have a 2,500 sq. ft home with just over 2 acres and we pay $7,200 a year in school, property, and home ins. Car insurance and registration are also high as is everything here including food.

How is the housing market in the outlining areas of Bangor? Looking for up to a 30 minute drive, in the price range of $200,000 to $235,000, in a good school district. Will that be hard to find? With the crazy prices of fuel oil around $4.85 a gallon here now, we would be looking for a home that would have a wood stove for heat. We currently heat with a wood stove, but reading some of the posts it doesn’t seem like a common way to heat homes up there, or am I getting the wrong impression? If wood stoves are used how hard is it to get/find wood? Down here wood is like gold very hard to come by free wood and to purchase it. It has become expensive due to the increase in fuel oil.

We all love the outdoors and winter time and are used to hard winters as we have lived in the Syracuse, NY area also known as the snow belt. How hard are the winters up there? As far as outdoor activities we are into camping, fishing, hiking and riding 4-wheelers. Down here every one of those activities is a chore. To ride four wheelers we have to travel 3-4 hrs upstate to find state land to ride on, as everything is posted or built on down here. The same goes for fishing most land with streams, ponds, or lakes are posted. As for hikes you have to pay to enter anywhere. Seems all the rich city people thought it would be fun to come and buy up all the vacant/farming land and either post it or sell to developers who put huge homes on once beautiful farm land. I am hoping that is not the case up there.....

To sum it up will we be able to live on $45K, find a decent home, find good schools and health for my kids, and have access to the outdoor life that we all enjoy?

Thanks in advance for any help..........

[bringselpup]

We are maybe 45 min South of the Bangor area. Just to help you put my comments in perspective. We moved up from Mass earlier this year.

Mainers seem to love to complain about high costs and taxes but from what I can see I registered and insured two vehicles for half what it cost me to do one vehicle in Mass.

We had ONE TENTH of an acre for a yard in Mass with a 2 bdrm home and paid over $3500 in taxes per year. I have 75 acres here in Maine and my tax bill is one third of that.

Wood heat is common and very available. I am trying to get enough wood to heat this winter from what I cut on the property.
Locally I can buy a seasoned cord delivered and stacked for $150 that has been harvested by a mule team. You can get it log length and buck it up yourself for less.

I don't have kids so I can't help there, except to say that every child I have had a conversation with up here has been pleasant, polite, interested in talking to me for whatever reason, and themselves able to converse in an intelligent manner. As are 99% of the adults I interact with. There's a reason people with young children move from the city to Maine. It gives them the opportunity to raise their kids right.

Winter, even last winter is a cakewalk. They understand snow up here. Even us, 1 1/2 miles from a paved road never had an issue. My road was clear every morning.

Moving up here might be an adjustment from the way you've lived but I daresay it will be one you won't regret.

[Newdaawn]

If your main concern is good schools, as it seems to be, I would recommend Bangor. My 2 kids attended Bangor Schools and have done very well. Every student in Jr High School in Maine is provided with a laptop, something that was started by our former Govenor Angus King. It was controversial when it was first proposed but has turned out to be an excellent decision for the state.
As far as the wood stove is concerned, many are having trouble getting firewood and it is also expensive. The popular thing seems to be a wood pellet stove. Much more effecient and pellets are plentiful and available. The weather here will be an adjustment for you as our springs are late and winters tend to be snowy. Come up for a visit and check out the area and ask lots of questions.

[forest beekeeper]

Bangor schools are good, as are Old town schools.

[fxtrader]

I grew up in Bangor and lived in Maine until 4 years ago. I now live in NJ and the taxes in Maine are about 30% of what I am paying here for a smaller lot and house. In Bangor there are no toll roads. The schools in Bangor seem to be very good, most of the people that I know from high school have gone on to have very successful careers. In talking with people in my various jobs over the years I would say their school system ranks very high.

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by fxtrader

I grew up in Bangor and lived in Maine until 4 years ago. I now live in NJ and the taxes in Maine are about 30% of what I am paying here for a smaller lot and house. In Bangor there are no toll roads. The schools in Bangor seem to be very good, most of the people that I know from high school have gone on to have very successful careers. In talking with people in my various jobs over the years I would say their school system ranks very high.

Your taxes in NJ are more than taxes in Maine?

I find that interesting. It has been our experience thus far, that Maine's taxes tend to be much lower than just about anywhere else that we have lived.

But with so many folks insisting that Maine had 'high' taxes, I had thought that perhaps I lived in a different universe.

Is it possible that as we step across the border into Maine; we go through a space-time-continuum portal where natives think that their taxes are higher?

[lawmom]

The schools in Bangor and Orono are very good, and should be able to provide good services for your son. I don't know about some of the smaller communities near Bangor. You could check out greatschools.net.

We have 2 wood stoves and are going to buy biobricks, if we can find them.

As for taxes, Maine ranks the 2nd highest, after Vermont, according to the tax foundation:
The Tax Foundation - State and Local Tax Burdens Compared to Other U.S. States, 1970-2007

Houses run in Bangor from 60K up to several hundred thousand. For example, we are listing our Bangor house in a few weeks for $194K, and it's 2400 sq feet, hardwood, wood trim, new kitchen, 4 bdr and 2.5 baths with .22 acre. So you should be fine with what you can afford.

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by lawmom

...
As for taxes, Maine ranks the 2nd highest, after Vermont, according to the tax foundation:
The Tax Foundation - State and Local Tax Burdens Compared to Other U.S. States, 1970-2007

With all due respect. Maine ranks high in "Tax Burden" and not in taxes.

Maine is clearly not high in taxes, only in "Tax Burden"

[StayorGo???]

Thank You to everyone who has replied to my request for information. It sounds like a great place to raise our boys. The feed back on schools in general has been positive. Not much feedback on the healthcare, but hoping it is good.

We are planning to come up for a look around and would appreciate some suggestions on a not to expensive seafood restaurant.... The best we have down here is Red Lobster.

Also, if anyone could suggest some towns within a 20-30 minute drive of Bangor to go look around for a potential area to move to. I hear Hermon and Levant are good places with good schools. Any input would be appreciated, as we are going to make our decision to move or not when we come to visit.

[lawmom]

The health care is really quite good. Eastern Maine Medical Center is a tertiary care center with a great trauma department. There are plenty of specialists, too.

I would suggest Hampden -- the schools are very good there!