Hard to find work in Maine?!? (Portland, Westbrook: cul-de-sac, sales, condos)

[Petertherock]

Originally Posted by bonnie

even with our high tax rate there isn't another place that comes close to our quality of life.

What quality of life? What do we have here in Maine for a quality of life? It's cold 9 months of the year. Lately the summers have been cool and rainy. Granted some people like the winter and are into skiinig and snowmobiling and other winter sports but I would rather have a longer summer than a long winter.

What do we get for our taxes? Most fire depts are volunteer. I am a volunteer firefighter and the volunteers to a fantastic job but for the amount of taxes we pay in this state we should have full time fire departments throughout the state and most police departments are seriously undermanned. The only people that have a quality of life are the immigrants from Somalia that come here and ruin the areas.

I have been fired from one job and had to quit another job because the people are idiots up here. I was refused for another job because I have diabetes. Even though my doctor cleared me and said the diabetes would not affect my job performance. That's a pending law suite which hopefully will get me enough money to get the hell out of this state.

One day I hope to go to Florida or South Carolina. Warmer weather and less taxes and a real quality of life. At least I will be able to go out and exercise without having 2 feet of snow and ice and -10 degree weather.

Maine: The way life is...high taxes no jobs.

[mainebrokerman]

peter, are you married to catlily??
cold nine months out of the yr?? c'mon now, this past fall and december was very warm,
as far as jobs, im a believer one can find work if one looks hard enough, and sometimes you gotta start ,,,low and work your way up, i've had many friends, refuse jobs, because it was "beneath" them, and sadly, they would rather sponge off the state (taxpayers) than start somewhere and work there way up.
i came from very humble beginnings, and if i lost employment today, id shovel chit in a barn if i had to..to survive, i'd have three jobs, if thats what it takes.

[Petertherock]

I know all about starting from the bottom. The highest paying job I have had (the one I got fired from) I was making $13.55 an hour which is "great money" but even though you still can't live off that amount of money the last 3 jobs I have had have ranged from $7-$9 an hour. This state is a chithole.

I was making more money in the Berkshires of Massachusetts which was even more of a chithole than Maine is.

In a few years the only thing left in Maine will be retired people and the rich people who come up from Massachusetts in the summer time or the rich people who leave Maine in the winter to go down to Florida. The young people and the college kids can't wait to leave this state and they won't be coming back. It's ever since this state has been taken over by Democrats that we have had these problems.

[MsJL]

Wow, Peter.

Seriously, I'm really sorry for you. No one should live in the misery you feel here, and I hope you make it out of here very soon. Good luck.

[Petertherock]

The trouble is it costs money to move and right now I don't have it. The other problem is I look at places like Florida and the Charleston, SC area and yes, it's warmer but from what I see from the apartments I would have better luck living in Baghdad Iraq with crime and everything.

[bobkemp]

the one thing that I remember when I grew up in maine is that we grew everythjing we needed and that is what most people do there. Shoot a deer in the fall and fill the freezer full of deer meat. your own chickens so you always had fresh eggs, your own cow for milk, and cream for butter. You cut your own wood on your land for heat. And you also can cook on the wood stove that helped on the light bill. To me I thought 5 years ago that it was cheaper living in Maine then where we are now.

Property is cheap in NC for a 1 acre with an old mobile home its over $60,000 in Michigan it was $50,000 so we went with Michigan but in Maine we had 2 acres and a house for $17,000

Robert

[HildaR]

I live in North Carolina and believe me its wicked expensive living down here. I want a place where I can bring up my kids where its safe. My cousin was murdered in Raleigh this past year for $10. My husband and I work our butts off to pay bills, down here you cant even get help paying your bills thru the state they wont do crap for you.

I know what Maine is like though and I personally have had the pleasure 5 years ago to support my family on $600 a month and had 2 kids in diapers. I did it and we all lived very healthy happy lives. But I cant do it here in NC if my husband lost his job here I would lose the property. Property payments are almost $700 a month. Light bill is $130 a month here and we have gas heat in the winter months. but it stays high. Phone is $45 a month local where in maine it was $20 a month. and my light bill in maine never went over $60 a month.

Work may be a problem there but land is cheap and you can always grow your own food and sell the extra. If I dont move back to maine I will move to the arkansas mountains.

Hilda

[wbb379]

I hear ya that is why I had to move to NH. I lived in Maine all my life before moving here. It is nice here also though. Good luck in NC!

[forest beekeeper]

Petertherock - I am sorry that life is so terrible for you.

I pray that you find a ray of hope soon.

[Petertherock]

Thanks. But you all that say Maine is affordable must be living in the sticks. Because anywhere within 50-100 miles of the Portland area you are paying $1000+ for an apartment that is decent in a safe neighborhood. In the past 5-10 years it has got really bad. Drugs are everywhere and crime is increasing. There was a shooting murder out on the streets of Portland on the 4th of July last year. Drugs, guns, and other crimes are getting more and more frequent. Not as bad as other areas but it's getting there.

If you are looking at buying a house anywhere close to Portland you are looking at at least 200,000 for anything good. Then being the #1 taxed state in the Union you will have to fork over the rest of your money to the government. But the uneducated idiots that live in this state keep voting for Democrats, approve every bond that comes up on the ballot, and defeats every measure that would lower taxes.

I have never seen a state like this where everyone is bitching about taxes but when it comes to election time when we have a chance to do something about it they all vote for more taxes.