Why is Maine a poor state? (Brunswick, Kittery: luxury, costs, military)

[7th generation]

Just like any other state,each situation is unique. I would rather sacrifice wealth for a peaceful existence. The Maine woods are my sanctuary and therapy. Sure one could chase the almighty buck traipsing across the continent,but I for one am proud to call Maine home!

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by sfw1979

Yes it is sad NAS Brunswick is closing down. Most people are being sent to NAS JAX. I recently read that the military base is Maine's 2nd largest employer? It is unfortunate that NAS Brunswick has to go.

I don't think that I said anything about Brunswick, sad or not. I was pointing out that Cutler still exists even though 'shut-down'.

[mollysmiles]

Originally Posted by 7th generation

Just like any other state,each situation is unique. I would rather sacrifice wealth for a peaceful existence. The Maine woods are my sanctuary and therapy. Sure one could chase the almighty buck traipsing across the continent,but I for one am proud to call Maine home!

7th
it must be my frame of mind....but when I read "buck" I wasn't thinking $ until the sentence didn't make sense! lol....

[mainebrokerman]

Originally Posted by mollysmiles

7th
it must be my frame of mind....but when I read "buck" I wasn't thinking $ until the sentence didn't make sense! lol....

molly i was thinkin the same thing,,buck, as in whats in the freezer

[7th generation]

Ok folks this is what I meant!

[SuperDaveColorado]

I am originally from Maine and moved away after college. For me, Maine was beautiful, during the months of April / May, July through October, and first snow. Otherwise, it was very cloudy and overcast. Kind of depressing really. I never noticed it until I moved to a "sunny" place. Amazing what a little sun can do to your attitude! I did get tired of the super cold winters (-12F for a high a week straight!!!) and the huge amounts of snow (2ft - 3ft storms common every year and the snow stays).

Another thing that got me was there is very little job opportunity for the younger crowd aside Wal-Mart, construction, restaurants, etc.. Not that those are bad, but if that's not what you're looking for, forget it. That's why all the younger people leave. There are no jobs!

The other thing about Maine that made me move was the cost of living is quite high, yes high. Electricity is among the highest in the nation; something like $0.14 per kWh. Heating bills in Maine can be up near $400 a month! Food is about average, but everything else is (gas, internet, phone service, property taxes, etc) all rather high especially since Maine is a rather low income state. I moved to Denver (in the city) from Bangor, ME and all of my bills were lower (minus my rent bill).

The only thing that is really lower in cost in Maine is the real estate (away from the coast). SUPER cheap. That's awesome. Lakes are everywhere! It's green year round! Foliage is beautiful! Coast is beautiful! The University of Maine is beautiful and a great school. If you can live with the very high humidity, super cold winters, and tons of snow (most years), then Maine has some very aesthetically pleasing things. If you don't have to make money, it's a great place to live.

Just my 2 cents.

[islandmover]

Do you know how much we pay for lobster in ny .Somethings wrong here

[forest beekeeper]

$400 / month to heat in the winter, does sound about right. Though moving here from Connecticut, and paying those heating rates, we are rather happy to be paying so low to heat.

[BacktoNE]

Originally Posted by islandmover

Do you know how much we pay for lobster in ny .Somethings wrong here

Maine lobster is $15 a pound out here in WI. We just laugh when we walk by the tanks.


Someone mentioned the cost of heating. Forrestbeekeeper perhaps? I have to say I have never come even close to $400 a month in heating costs. Our 40+ year old house (1400 sq ft) cost us just $800 for the entire year using oil. Now electric heat, that could easily run $400 a month...ouch!

[forest beekeeper]

Our building in Ct, costs about $600/month for each apartment through the winter.

Here in our new home, this past winter, we started the winter with no insulation. and I bought and hung insulation through the winter. So our heat bill was very high. Though I did finish insulating. We burned through about $350 of propane each month this past winter.