What do people do to make a living in Aroostook county? (Presque Isle: houses, schools)

[wishinggirl]

My husband and I live in Utah county, UT with our six children, ages 20 -6. Joel works for a telecommunications company in Provo, and I am self-employed (I clean houses). We are tired to the traffic, the smog, and the rat-race. We are tired of working hard and getting very little in return. We both come from very small towns and would love to move our family to a much smaller community. We have been looking at Aroostook county in Maine.

Our only question is, how can we make a living in that area? We would love to own a business and work together. But what to do? Mind you, we are not just jumping into something without thinking. We are taking some business classes and doing our research and thinking about this very carefully.

I thought it would be a good idea to talk to someone who is from that area. Are we crazy? I look forward to your input and suggestions. What would be a good small business? How do people make money to support their families? We are not interested in being wealthy -- we just want to have a house and food and school for our kids.

Thanks for listening, Jacque Baldwin

[mollysmiles]

I'm replying for two reasons....one to move your post so hopefully someone with some insight to "the County" can respond, and second, how did you come to consider Aroostook? It is beautiful and the people are great, but I've only visited and don't have a lot of info for you. Good luck, and I hope you get some replies to your post!

[Coaster]

Aroostook County is beautiful but poor, the second poorest county in the state after Washington County in eastern Maine. It's a tough place to make a living, and there are towns up there that you will drive through and marvel that there's any reason for their existence. The agricultural base still exists, although it's far smaller than it once was, and it's the foundation for much of the economy up there. Presque Isle and Fort Kent have University of Maine campuses. Mars Hill has the wind farm. Houlton has a gorgeous brick downtown that's crying for renewal.

It's my personal belief that Maine in general and Aroostook County in particular will be good places to live in the next few decades as we go through the effects of Peak Oil and climate change. It still has good (and cheap) farmland for food production and plenty of wood for heat, as well as excellent rainfall and water resources. Aside from the occasional blizzard, it's not subject to extreme weather events like tornadoes or hurricanes. But it is isolated, which is good or bad depending on what you're looking for.

I would really suggest you visit and spend some time up there before you make any decisions. For some people, The County (as we call it here) can be severe culture shock.

[firespirit]

I spented alot of time ther and live about an hour away, it's potatoe picking country and alot of hard work.

[GraniteStater]

It would be a large culture shock if you are coming from Utah County, Utah. Aroostook County is the furthest north county in Maine and is still dependent on agriculture and timber production. Winters are much more severe than Utah because the latitude of The County is at 46-47N compared with 38-39N for Utah County. This area typically does not have many people moving there from other parts of the country. Other jobs are generally tied to the University at Fort Kent and Presque Isle like the other poster said. The politics of the area is obviously going to be more liberal considering that Utah is the most conservative state in the entire country.

[Audry524]

Well I've never lived there but my parents are from there and I spend a lot of time up there as a child (often entire summers). Making a living can be hard up there. I have many relatives still there and they work in the schools, post office and paper mill and I'm sad to report to you that they all got jobs from knowing someone who knows someone and often had to wait a while to get into the job they wanted. I know there are jobs in the healthcare field but those can be few and far between too. There are potato fields up there that use to create a lot of jobs for very little pay (my parents picked their entire childhood and that money went to support the family) but a lot of those have gone away since no one is picking by hand now. And sadly a lot of people are moving out. There's a whole lot of doing what you can and working when and where you can. Often times people work more then one job. Hopefully I'm not just generalizing though, that just seems to be the case with the people I knw.

I too worked for many years in the telecommunications industry where I live and have looked in the past at getting a job up there in that industry but it's next to impossible. Those types of jobs are coveted to say the least.

It's really too bad though. The land is beautiful!

One other thing to consider (although you may already know) that most of the towns in Aroostook county that line Canada are primarily French and Catholic. Very little diversity, especially in the way of religion. That may or may not be a factor for you.

All that said, I would say if you could make it, then do it. Good luck!

[rabbitlover]

Originally Posted by wishinggirl

My husband and I live in Utah county, UT with our six children, ages 20 -6. Joel works for a telecommunications company in Provo, and I am self-employed (I clean houses). We are tired to the traffic, the smog, and the rat-race. We are tired of working hard and getting very little in return. We both come from very small towns and would love to move our family to a much smaller community. We have been looking at Aroostook county in Maine.

Our only question is, how can we make a living in that area? We would love to own a business and work together. But what to do? Mind you, we are not just jumping into something without thinking. We are taking some business classes and doing our research and thinking about this very carefully.

I thought it would be a good idea to talk to someone who is from that area. Are we crazy? I look forward to your input and suggestions. What would be a good small business? How do people make money to support their families? We are not interested in being wealthy -- we just want to have a house and food and school for our kids.

Thanks for listening, Jacque Baldwin

Aroostook County is a good place to go if you want to get away from it all~but there are some serious life style adjustments with getting away from it all. First it gets cold. I am talking bone chilling cold, frost bite cold wind chill cold. Second, jobs don't pay that well and jobs can be hard to come by. But here you really are challenged, you learn you can do more than you thought you ever could. I would not trade my seven years up here for anything. In those seven years, I have learned alot and met some interesting characters. You may be able to do a house cleaning/office cleaning business, I can't say, I have a friend who makes $12.00 an hour cleaning houses. Many of the jobs around here are medical, there is a need for nurses, home health people etc. so you may want to consider that aspect. Keep in mind, though, you WILL travel, it is nothing to drive 50 miles in The County.