Moving to Maine Opinions Appreciated (Portland, Lewiston: apartment, mortgage, motel)

[GardenAngel]

Dear Wonderful Maine Forum Members,

I have read many of your threads especially the long one on moving to Maine started in 2006...lol .I know there were a few recent posts on it but wondered if any of your opinions changed since then with the economy, more taxes etc. I ask for many reasons. Here is our story...


I am originally a New York girl born and raised. I got married to a born and raised Californian. I moved to Northern California and loved it . We love the mountains, beaches, fishing , hiking and the sweet people there. Due to a job change moved to the Midwest... enough said..lol Don't get me wrong love the people, area is sweet but now my husband has to commute a lot due to new circumstances . We have dealt with it but very costly and looking for opportunities and researching other areas all the time. I would love to eventually be back to mountains, beaches and a simple lifestyle. We have two children still at home. I guess I would like a life like your member Forest bee keeper .

Now we have an opportunity due to a job in Maine for Dh . If we accept he would be working out of Portland. I notice the taxes and house prices in that area. We would want rural, cheap taxes ( oh bother as Winnie the pooh would say who doesn't..lol ) and don't mind commuting. In fact realize we would have to commute to get more of what we would want. Any suggestions, opinions etc would greatly help us. It seems like everything would be costing us so much more then the Midwest.

Safe area, rural , good schools, low taxes are some of our needs. Do you all have any opinions on if you would move to Maine now with the economy, do you like it there, and any other help, advice ,opinions appreciated.

Blessings to you all.

[Elcarim]

The entire state is "rural" in my opinion of the word - including Portland. If you want a MORE rural setting and lower cost of living, you'd obviously want to go inland away from the coast. The further in you get, the cheaper living costs should be. There are many towns, villages & communities within an easy drive of Portland, especially if you're already accustomed to a commute.

As far as specific towns, others on the forum will be much more enlightening than I! Good luck and welcome!!

[lrfox]

^I second that. Portland is tiny. It's beautiful, but VERY little of even the city itself would really be considered urban by most people outside the state of Maine.

As far as rural, affordable, and within reasonable commuting distance (I'm going to go with 30 minutes, but feel free to specify a commute time that you prefer) Parts of just about anything around Portland could apply. Specifically, Gorham, Buxton, Parts of Scarborough, Parts of Falmouth, Parts of Yarmouth, Cumberland, and even some Parts of Saco (West of I-95).

A little further out and you have Places like Gray, Windham, Standish, Pownal, Parts of Freeport (busier in the summer), Brunswick and Topsham, etc.

You won't find anywhere in the state (including Portland) that will make you feel trapped in that endless stream of box stores, cookie cutter buildings, and chains that is suburbia.

As an aside, I have friends from Humbolt, CA who absolutely love Maine and frequently travel back and forth between the two. There are some similarities between the attitude of NorCal and Maine.

*Edit* as a response to your question about whether or not I would move here given the state of the economy, I would say not unless I had a job locked up beforehand. This is one of the toughest places on the East Coast to find work (especially work worthy of a college degree) regardless of whether the economy is up or down. If your husband has a job, then absolutely move here. I personally am leaving the area within a year, but it's because I'm looking for different things out of where I live and work than Maine offers. Reading your post leads me to believe that we are looking for very different things out of a home, and as long as you have a job, I believe that you can easily find it here in Maine. Good Luck!

[AlisonL]

If income isn't important to you, then by all means go to Maine. We left Maine this past July, number 1 for health reasons, number 2 the economy. Money isn't our priority in life, but we do like to be able to go to eat on occasion. And we're not folks who have to have everything there is in life to have.

You say he doesn't like commuting, but yet do not mind commuting in ME? Unless you live right in the city of Portland, you are going to be commuting. My husband worked in Portland but we lived 51 miles from there, so he commuted daily. We lived where we did due to cost of taxes, ect.

As much as I love Maine, we won't return there to live. Simply cannot afford to, and I lived there for 53 yrs.
Good Luck and hope that the move is kind to you.

[GardenAngel]

Thank you all for your wonderful , insightful , fast posts. I really appreciate. I am sorry Alison I should have clarified my commuting. We are use to commuting as we did in Northern California and here the difference is we are now at a different job then when we first moved to Midwest. The commuting involved now involves an apartment for DH during week and home on weekends compared to driving commute to and forth daily.

[GardenAngel]

Originally Posted by AlisonL

If income isn't important to you, then by all means go to Maine. We left Maine this past July, number 1 for health reasons, number 2 the economy. Money isn't our priority in life, but we do like to be able to go to eat on occasion. And we're not folks who have to have everything there is in life to have.

You say he doesn't like commuting, but yet do not mind commuting in ME? Unless you live right in the city of Portland, you are going to be commuting. My husband worked in Portland but we lived 51 miles from there, so he commuted daily. We lived where we did due to cost of taxes, ect.

As much as I love Maine, we won't return there to live. Simply cannot afford to, and I lived there for 53 yrs.
Good Luck and hope that the move is kind to you.

Alison I hope you have been blessed immensely by your move. May I ask where you lived when commuting to Portland? As for your health I hope it is so much better now. I hope it is not from living in Maine! You have me worried...

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Check pout Windham and Baldwin for low hassle towns in southern Maine. Such towns are few and far between and these two are red jems in a sea of blue.

[GardenAngel]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

Check pout Windham and Baldwin for low hassle towns in southern Maine. Such towns are few and far between and these two are red jems in a sea of blue.

Thank you so much N Maine Land Man will do!

[AlisonL]

Originally Posted by GardenAngel

Alison I hope you have been blessed immensely by your move. May I ask where you lived when commuting to Portland? As for your health I hope it is so much better now. I hope it is not from living in Maine! You have me worried...

LOL, no my health problem is asthma and its aggravated by humidity and cold. We lived in Turner.

[AlisonL]

Originally Posted by GardenAngel

Thank you all for your wonderful , insightful , fast posts. I really appreciate. I am sorry Alison I should have clarified my commuting. We are use to commuting as we did in Northern California and here the difference is we are now at a different job then when we first moved to Midwest. The commuting involved now involves an apartment for DH during week and home on weekends compared to driving commute to and forth daily.

Ah I know what that is like. When we lived in the Bangor area, hub was gone alot and only home on weekends.
We moved to Turner when he got transferred to Lewiston, and it was crazy to pay a mortgage and a motel bill all the time.
I can definitely relate!