Anyone from Rockland ? (Camden, Thomaston, Rockport: for sale, real estate, apartment)

[Ambo Rainbow]

I was wondering if anyone can tell me about the dynamics of the town, the best streets to live on, where most people are employed. My husband and I are are moving up from Pa. with our two small children and want to make sure Rockland will be the ideal place to settle down. We prefer in town, close to the water and the bustle of activities Main Street has to offer. If anyone can give me insight, that would be great!

[tankratt]

Hi Ambo Rainbow, Rockland, Rockport, Camden Area is great, but thats me. Rockland has a great blues deal in the summer and the lobster fest, and (for good or bad )some box stores. You are making a great choice, one I plan on doing here in about a year. So don't worry and the locals will post some good stuff for you, they are extreamly helpful and kind. Even some guy named Maineah

[CoastalMaine]

My friend grew up there and we just went through the town again about a month ago looking at the houses he grew up in and ending up at his elderly dads for a visit. Very charming town. Used to be run down and pretty dumpy 20 years ago, but it's really had a nice facelift. Good luck!

[Ambo Rainbow]

Thanks everyone for your help! I was wondering if anyone knows why there are so many duplexes and apartment houses for sale and if there are any neighborhoods I should avoid. Does anyone know about Waldo Ave. or Old County Rd. Rockland is my #1 pick. I love the idea of a bustling downtown and tourists don't even bother me much. I live in Lancaster County, Pa. I'm used to it.

[tankratt]

[quote=Ambo Rainbow;5888192]Thanks everyone for your help! I was wondering if anyone knows why there are so many duplexes and apartment houses for sale and if there are any neighborhoods I should avoid. Does anyone know about Waldo Ave. or Old County Rd. Rockland is my #1 pick. I love the idea of a bustling downtown and tourists don't even bother me much. I live in Lancaster County, Pa. I'm used to it.



wish I knew more, I've just done the tourist type stuff passing through on my way to Camden. But get up there as soon as you can and talk to a real estate agent and if you can't do that, call one . Hey good luck

[adam ackor]

Originally Posted by Ambo Rainbow

I was wondering if anyone can tell me about the dynamics of the town, the best streets to live on, where most people are employed. My husband and I are are moving up from Pa. with our two small children and want to make sure Rockland will be the ideal place to settle down. We prefer in town, close to the water and the bustle of activities Main Street has to offer. If anyone can give me insight, that would be great!

I live on old county road with my family. We love the town, and our location is nice, though we would prefer to be closer to the down town area. The south end is ideal.

[mainebrokerman]

Originally Posted by Ambo Rainbow

Thanks everyone for your help! I was wondering if anyone knows why there are so many duplexes and apartment houses for sale and if there are any neighborhoods I should avoid. Does anyone know about Waldo Ave. or Old County Rd. Rockland is my #1 pick. I love the idea of a bustling downtown and tourists don't even bother me much. I live in Lancaster County, Pa. I'm used to it.

i like the town of rockland, was there last week,
if there are many multi-family's) for sale, then rents should be low

i know many folks bought apartment buildings a few years back as an investment,,,but today, is a different time, and perhaps they need whatever equity they can get...

rockland has an old main st, that gets very busy in the summer


took the road to owls head last week (thru rockland) thought it was a very nice area!!

[BrokenTap]

Old County Road is a nice area and is close to the town center really (bike riding distance) but has two potential issues. There are a lot of quarries so if you have kids you might dislike having the danger of kids falling into water-filled quarries 100 feet deep.

The other issue is quarry related too. The town dump is located close to the Thomaston-Rockland townline and can smell pretty darn bad more often then not. (Rotten egg smell). Granted other areas of Old County Road are not so bad.

The upper end of the road (past the golf course) has some good views of the bay and outer islands, and there are a lot of homes for sale on that road. I figure because of high taxes, but that is just a guess. To me it seems that very 4th home is for sale there, but that may not mean one darn thing.

As for employment...its bad. This is boatbuilding country and the boatyards are looking at 50% unemployment rates. Some are lower and some are higher, but its definately tough times here. For Maine,the crime rate is higher then most cities and it does have a real drug problem, mostly because the lobster industry can put 70K in a 18 year old sternman's pocket in 5 months time...what is a kid to do with that much money the rest of the year when he is not working...you get the idea.

I don't mean to sound negative at all here...just real. Visiting here on vacation gives one view, but the real Rockland has 2 different sides. Its catering to vacationers and then th residents. Its not bad, but not as glossy as it looks either.

(I have a summer home 8 miles from Rockland so I know its good and bad points well.)

[CalieCat]

We stayed at The Berry Manor Inn last Summer and they have homemade pies everyday. The pie makers where in a "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" and they have a video on their website. Here's the link to the video, it took a few minutes for it to load on my computer but it was fun to watch!

http://www.berrymanorinn.com/video/pie_moms.mov

[Midcoaster]

Yet another art gallery is opening downtown. Is there such a thing as an art "cartel"? And another McDonalds is being constructor almost on the Rockland border. Do ya THINK it could maybe have been, at least, a Mr. Bagel? But no.

BrokenTap's overview is true. I would add that the rotten egg smell, is, in fact, hydrogen sulfide gas -- not good for living things.