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"Locks?" What are those? Never use them in our house or cars.
Quite a few years ago, we visited relatives in Boston. We knew we weren't in Maine anymore when our host told us to make sure to lock the car doors WHILE WE WERE DRIVING! What?!?!?
When we arrived at our relatives' apartment parking lot in Brookline, we got out our overnight bag and put it down by the car while we hugged everyone. We accidentally left it and went upstairs. We realized what we had done less than 30 minutes later. We went down to check, and of course the bag was gone. It was at that point that I couldn't wait to get back to Maine!
We live just north of Portland, too, not in a remote part of the state. We go into Portland frequently and never feel unsafe. We used to work right downtown and never had a problem.
Bottom line, sure there's crime here, but it's on a much smaller scale than most other places in the U.S.
I can so relate to locking the doors while driving. I'm a nutcase when it comes to locking everyone in the car when we go into Houston. I've known people and hear on the news all the time about people coming up while you're parked at a redlight and hijacking the car, shooting people and grabbing their valuables, even hijacking the car, leaving the adult on the ground in the middle of the road and driving away with children in the back seat. It's terrifying! And drive-by shootings are ALL the rage!!!
And you wonder why we're so anxious to get the h___ out of here and move to Maine?
Over the summer in 2008, I left the hatch open on my car while I was taking out the groceries. I forgot it was open and left it that way all night. I live in Sanford Maine, south of Portland and of all of York county, people think it is the worst place to live. Its a blue collar town and people say there are a lot of drugs here but I sure can't find any no matter how hard I try
Nothing was taken out of my car. Change - emergency 20 bucks - ipod - dog chuckit- boots and blanket - all there the next morning. Maine is really safe. I'm a single woman who almost always forgets to lock the door and I walk the dog late at night. I feel as safe here as I do in my hometown in NJ - only more so cause my neighbors watch out for me a bit more. I think its because they are more nosey.
Hey.. just thought id give some input to this. I have lived in Maine my entire life until about a month ago i recently relocated to California. Portland is safe.. i think east end (i lived on the east end for a while) and cumberland ave have some rough spots but if you just keep to yourself in those areas youll be fine. Its a really great city.. really small but nice. Kennebunk and Kennebunkport if you can afford it are amazing towns! VERY safe and fun.. beaches the shops at the port, everything.
But in the reality of things, if you don't take care of yourself and protect your own property, it can and probably will be violated at some point. Twenty years ago, I left my home here and moved to Waterville around 100 miles away. There was no crime here at that time, and I was gone the first time for about three weeks. I had left my new snow tires and a tool box in the shed which was unlocked as it had been for years.
When I returned all was gone. Had I purchased a simple lock and locked the door....left unlocked for generations...would my things have still been there or would they have been taken anyway. I don't know, but whomever took my tires and my tools was a criminal and was RESPONSIBLE for stealing. But I might have been able to prevent it had I taken the smallest initiative to protect myself.
If a camp is left alone long enough in a remote area, it will probably be entered and vandalized. Plan on it. Does this mean that is certain that it will happen? Well, maybe not, but if someone regularly went around to check on it, the chances are much better that it won't happen.
Sorry I can't hold with your assessment either. I traveled all over the country for 6.5 years an RN. 2002-2008. From Maine to Cali and back. Yes I came home maybe 2-3 times a year. My condo in OOB, all of the places, with those transient vacationers about in the summer time was NEVER disturbed. And my front door is all glass except for the frame. I was telling a co-worker just the other day I probably should do something about that as all anyone would have to do is break the glass and reach in to unlock the dead bolt. Easy target in your estimation. And yet I've owned this place for 8 years and the condo was built in 1987 and has never been broken into. Mainahs respect each others property and they look out for each other too.
When I was in Wilmington DE, which is 25 miles south of Philly, there were 94 homocides in Philly in the first 91 days I was there. I did 13 week contracts. 13 weeks in 91 days. Are there even 94 homcides in the whole state of Maine in a year?
Can I ask you a very personal question? You don't have to answer. Are you from away?
A padlock just slows up thieves. And a padlock tells them something of value might be in there.
Sorry I can't hold with your assessment either. I traveled all over the country for 6.5 years an RN. 2002-2008. From Maine to Cali and back. Yes I came home maybe 2-3 times a year. My condo in OOB, all of the places, with those transient vacationers about in the summer time was NEVER disturbed. And my front door is all glass except for the frame. I was telling a co-worker just the other day I probably should do something about that as all anyone would have to do is break the glass and reach in to unlock the dead bolt. Easy target in your estimation. And yet I've owned this place for 8 years and the condo was built in 1987 and has never been broken into. Mainahs respect each others property and they look out for each other too.
When I was in Wilmington DE, which is 25 miles south of Philly, there were 94 homocides in Philly in the first 91 days I was there. I did 13 week contracts. 13 weeks in 91 days. Are there even 94 homcides in the whole state of Maine in a year?
Can I ask you a very personal question? You don't have to answer. Are you from away?
A padlock just slows up thieves. And a padlock tells them something of value might be in there.
ok so what are you saying?
Mainahs won't steal from another Mainah, but because Arcadian Lion is from away he's fair game to steal from.
Lets face the facts WindRoad there are scumbags everywhere. I hope somebody from Northern Maine doesn't peg you for a North MA resident and rob you blind because your living in OOB.
In this economy, padlocks are a smart thing, my grandfather (a native Mainah) used to tell me that pad locks "keep honest people honest".
Blaming a victim for the crimes that befall a victim, is hurtful. Blaming a rape victim for having been raped, serves no purpose, but to instill further shame and guilt onto the victim.
Crime is the fault of criminals.
I have also been truly amazed at our culture's recent fascination with victimless crimes and generating new laws constantly to satisfy our imaginations with previously unknown 'crimes'. And yet, then to cry "My goodness we have so much crime".
LOL
In Maine we enjoy a very low crime rate; subtract the victimless 'crime' and we enjoy an amazingly low crime rate.
You bring no credit to your argument, when you try to bolster it with imaginary crime.
I think that Maine still enjoys far less crime than many other areas in the US, but based on my conversations with other "natives," many of us who have been born and raised here, do see much more than we did years ago, so maybe therein lies the talk of increased numbers... I guess it's just a matter of opinion and what people have always known, vs. how they feel about the "unknown." I don't know.
I can say that although the drug problem here is much less than in many cities, it is much more of a problem (especially within the last 10 years) then it ever was. We always had our fair share of drug users, but heroin was far much harder to come by up until it became the scurge it now has in the US. I do believe that there is a regular "calling" of deliveries up here (yesterday I read about a substantial bust of heroin in Milbridge). That IMHO can be sadly chalked up as "supply and demand." Prescription drug abuse is also on the rise as well. I think that's more of a societal thing rather than a "Maine" issue, but I can tell you that I see one heck of a lot more of a problem with it now. Is it worse elsewhere? Absolutely.
I lock everything - I always have - as did my parents - we are all born and raised here. The only exception I make to that rule is when I am on the Air Guard base. I don't concern myself at all with locking my car doors there, and have on occasion, left my keys in the ignition, which I don't even do in my own dooryard. A couple years back we had a kid "on the lam" who took off with two different vehicles and wrecked one of them. Does it happen frequently? No, but I don't like to tempt fate when it takes me 2 seconds to pull the keys out of the ignition.
I don't leave anything of value in my car since years ago, I had a friend of mine get his windshield smashed for the carton of cigarettes that were on the seat. It's common sense to me. We have a mobile home park down the road that the landlords had to advise the tenants to lock their vehicles at night because their cars are riffled through on a regular basis. I Pods and CD's etc...did disappear. Whether or not it was just "bored" kids, or people looking for quick cash - it doesn't matter to me. Again, I just use common sense. These things are not exclusive to anywhere IMHO.
Crime is much worse in some places, but human nature is human nature, and although Mainers are traditionally much more trustworthy, we have our "baddies" too. That's simply reality.
Last edited by cebdark; 03-21-2009 at 10:38 AM..
Reason: added something
As far as camps, it depends on where they're located (in terms of remoteness). Our camp has had it's door kicked in twice (the second time I believe it was because they weren't able to lug out the generator the first time). Stinks for them 'cause we immediately took the generator out and brought it home the first time we found the door busted.
We contemplated putting a camera up to catch the cruds when they came back for it (which of course, we knew they would) but we just removed everything of value the first time and learned our lesson. They did manage to steal a carton of coke (guess they had to get something for their effort)...
Long story short - camps can't be compared to condos. Mainers do keep "eyes" on goings-on, and usually the remoteness of camps lend themselves naturally to mischief.
I have never heard that Southern Maine had that big an issue with crime. You mentioned moving to Portland? How far is that from Boston? Have you ever considered Connecticut? I am in Connecticut, pretty much centralized and it is only 2 hours from Boston. There are towns a lot closer to Boston in CT, further North from where I am like perhaps Coventry, Storrs. Storrs is farm country as is Coventry.
Unfortunately, no matter where you move, you are going to run into some bad stuff along with the good. I don't think you can move far enough away to avoid any of it. Just last week, a friend of mine who lives in Aroostook County...Northern Aroostook County Maine told me that their school had been closed down due to a bomb scare. Now, this is a consolidated school district with 6 towns involved in one big school. Who would ever think that there would be a bomb scare in that area? You just have to pick a good area to live in no matter where you decide to go.
If you like Portland area, then visit the area before you actually move. It is one thing to see an area online through the chamber of commerce or a real estate agent; they want things to look good. It is yet another to actually be there.
A criminal is going to steal whether one locks their shed or camp. We find that many eyes thwart the badguys but if they want to steal they will. In saying that,I don't lock my trucks in the yard and usually the keys are in them. Really don't know of too many places in the country that this is possible. To think that one would require hiring someone to protect private property is just-well let's say yah right! We watch out for neighbors and help them when needed.Have a good day and God Bless.
True, very true, but I like to make the rat have to perform a few tricks before they can access and steal the cheese personally.
I guess it's my "vindictive" side. I am "death" on two things: lying and stealing - and I absolutely agree that the crum responsible should have to pay the consequences. The problem lies in catching him and holding him accountable.
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. I guess it's just a matter of opinion and what people have always known, vs. how they feel about the "unknown." 
I don't know.
A couple years back we had a kid "on the lam" who took off with two different vehicles and wrecked one of them. Does it happen frequently? No, but I don't like to tempt fate when it takes me 2 seconds to pull the keys out of the ignition.
That's simply reality. 
Moving to Maine what to do?
