Maine Places With Real Downtowns (Portland, Bangor: leasing agent, insurance, house prices)

[MRVphotog]

Originally Posted by island mermaid

It's just east of Augusta.

I'm sure IM meant west of Augusta...

[island mermaid]

Originally Posted by MRVphotog

I'm sure IM meant west of Augusta...

I was just trying to figure out which direction it was if I was headed south instead of north.

[Zoyd]

If you took NEG's same criteria, what town/city would be the rough equivalent of Farmington but on or close to the coast?

(And I've just been reading this thread and I have to say that you people are the most generous and knowledgeable people I have ever run across in this sometimes, hmmm...., problematic..... medium of anonymity. Hats off to you all!)

[maineguy8888]

I don't know the coast as well as northern, western, and southern Maine. Belfast has been mentioned. It's getting "upscale" so I don't know what that does to housing/commercial expenses, taxes, etc. I do know that traffic can get a bit bad in summer. Also, a limited access highway runs a mile or so outside the downtown so most people (including me) find it way too easy to just cruise on past Belfast.
The coast in general is getting kind of weird. It's a few very wealthy people, and then lots of poorer people. A huge split.
Bath is nice, but that whole area is about to get HAMMERED by the closing of BNAS. 5,000 jobs and 10,000 people gone within the next year or so. This will have a big impact on home prices but it may be hard trying to sell a house or make a go of it financially.
The tourists and folks from away really love Camden, Boothbay, Bar Harbor, etc. For some folks they're great. Not my cup of tea............they're kind of "la la land", if you know what I mean. IMHO.
I know Farmington VERY well. Nice town. Gotta watch the strip outside town, though. If there is one thing that I think is bad for a town, it's a long strip or sprawling area well outside the downtown core. I just like a strong downtown. I think it makes a town or city much more liveable. Farmington is heading in the wrong direction in regards this. Same with many other towns mentioned on here. Scarborough, Saco, Biddeford, Windham, Brunswick, Augusta, Freeport, Waterville, Ellsworth, Presque Isle etc. all have the same huge "strips" that look the same everywhere. I think they're butt ugly, terrible for downtowns, and usually involve long drives (including traffic and stop lights). If a downtown has decent parking, and a low tax base, they can combat this trend.
The towns I LOVE because of their downtowns are Houlton, Dexter, Caribou, Fort Kent, and as I said, Farmington.
There are probably others I don't know about, but I'm also pretty picky lol. I want REAL MAINE DOWNTOWNS! lol

[elston]

Saco does have the fast food alley as you head out of town and it is growing up Rt 1 ....but it still has a charming down town with great old archetecture and endless possibilities.....because of the vacant mill buildings. It also has galleries and lofts, a beautiful library and museum and lots of civic organizations. It has history and tradition. It also has one of the most beautiful High School Campus I have ever seen. All in all.....Saco is my favorite city in southern Maine. It is far enough north of York to miss the crazy traffic jams on Rt 1 in the summer......and far enough south of Freeport and points north for the same advantage.....it has a train station and connection to Boston and is served by Rt 95. It is on the river and minutes from the ocean....I find the people to extremely warm and friendly and welcoming.

[arzachena]

I'm a Belfast girl. But have just moved to Brunswick. The two do not compare. I miss the downtown of Belfast.

I like having the box store closer though. I do not miss those 45 minute drives to Wal-mart/Lowes/Mall.

Rt 1 does by-pass the downtown area and many do drive pass Belfast. That is their loss.

Has anyone been inside Reny's since they're expansion? HUGE!

[woolwiTch]

I'm a huge fan of Bath, as I mentioned in the first post. It doesn't have that "la la land" vibe maineguy mentions some of the more tourist-oriented towns having. At the same time, though, it is a very active community and has all the attributes NEG is looking for. I like being close to so many other things, too. It's a quick drive to great beaches, 45 minutes to Portland, 30 minutes to Augusta.

I really don't think we will be "hammered" by the BNAS closure, though it's certainly a very sad thing. It will be a shame to lose the personnel who have been all over the world and were so great at being involved in the community. I think there will be redevelopment uses for the base that may be real positives for the area. The location is good, which really helps with that side of things. Certainly there will be a depressive effect on home prices for awhile, but that's a benefit for people like NEG who are looking to move here.

Speaking of buying a home, I recently found out something amazing. In the Walpole/South Bristol area on the Pemaquid peninsula, the property taxes are incredibly low. I heard from someone who lives there that it's because of some kind of special endowment, but I don't know the details. She pays $700 A YEAR in property taxes for a large house, big barn and bunkhouse on five acres. I just looked at some real estate listings and found a gorgeous 2001 4-bedroom house on two acres on the deep water of the Damariscotta River with a listing price of $995,000. You will not believe the annual property taxes for that monster house: $2,700. Incredible, isn't it? I think it makes that area well worth looking at for anybody thinking of moving to Maine. The properties that aren't right on the water are much cheaper. The place I mentioned with the $700 in annual property taxes is great and it's on the market at $285,000. For NEG's purposes, this area might work because it's a quick drive into Damariscotta, which has a wonderful downtown, including a Reny's, a very nice bookstore, good restaurants, a theater (stage, but occasionally movies are shown), nice library, a hospital and easy access to Route 1. It's barely over an hour's drive from Portland. If you lived in Walpole/South Bristol, rather than Damariscotta in-town, you'd be on well water and septic, but I'd say the property tax break easily makes up for that!

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by elston

Saco does have the fast food alley as you head out of town and it is growing up Rt 1 ....but it still has a charming down town with great old archetecture and endless possibilities.....because of the vacant mill buildings. It also has galleries and lofts, a beautiful library and museum and lots of civic organizations. It has history and tradition. It also has one of the most beautiful High School Campus I have ever seen. All in all.....Saco is my favorite city in southern Maine. It is far enough north of York to miss the crazy traffic jams on Rt 1 in the summer......and far enough south of Freeport and points north for the same advantage.....it has a train station and connection to Boston and is served by Rt 95. It is on the river and minutes from the ocean....I find the people to extremely warm and friendly and welcoming.

Saco has improved greatly in the past 20 years or so. They have taken great pains to restore the old mill buildings in the Saco Island area near the new train station trying to draw in commercial tennents. The Amtrak station itself is quite nice though they need to improve on the way the streets run through the city. The traffic pattern is like most of the old mill towns, jumbled, confused and senseless! Too many one way streets!
The Run Of The Mill brew pub is a great place to have lunch or dinner though a warning to you the place is VERY busy and a wait will be inevitable.

[elston]

Originally Posted by Maineah

Saco has improved greatly in the past 20 years or so. They have taken great pains to restore the old mill buildings in the Saco Island area near the new train station trying to draw in commercial tennents. The Amtrak station itself is quite nice though they need to improve on the way the streets run through the city. The traffic pattern is like most of the old mill towns, jumbled, confused and senseless! Too many one way streets!
The Run Of The Mill brew pub is a great place to have lunch or dinner though a warning to you the place is VERY busy and a wait will be inevitable.

The Run of the Mill is a nice place.....we went there one Sunday afternoon and sat out on their patio .... it is a great location and the food was good.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by elston

Saco does have the fast food alley as you head out of town and it is growing up Rt 1 ....but it still has a charming down town with great old archetecture and endless possibilities.....because of the vacant mill buildings. It also has galleries and lofts, a beautiful library and museum and lots of civic organizations. It has history and tradition. It also has one of the most beautiful High School Campus I have ever seen. All in all.....Saco is my favorite city in southern Maine. It is far enough north of York to miss the crazy traffic jams on Rt 1 in the summer......and far enough south of Freeport and points north for the same advantage.....it has a train station and connection to Boston and is served by Rt 95. It is on the river and minutes from the ocean....I find the people to extremely warm and friendly and welcoming.

Ditto. I would say Saco fits the description the OP is looking for exactly. It's a wonderful little town and the Main Street is perfect. It's located very well too.

I liked Run of the Mill. The sauce they use on their mussels is quite good. I also had one of their interesting Quesadilla concoctions (I believe it had Linguica) that was good. The view of the mills and river are unbeatable. It's a nice atmosphere.