Moving to Maine

[droobie]

Originally Posted by lawmom

I grew up in Maine and have never heard of either of those two towns!

It all depends on where in Maine you grew up.

These places are northwest of Hartland and Pittsfield in Somerset County. I work in Hartland, Pittsfield and Skowhegan pretty often. I have been out to Wellington and Harmony a few times, but not work related.

It is pretty rural, but I like the area and the people. There are nice houses out in those areas if you're willing to accept the fact there is often no choice for Internet but dial-up. Sometimes Fairpoint (or TDS) DSL is out there, and rarely Time Warner is.

[Acadianlion]

Originally Posted by Cimerone

Hi All! Im from Mass and looking to move to Maine. Ive checked out a few areas on line Harmony and Athens. They are small, which is really what I want.

I cant seem to find any sort of rental propert information though. Searching for Apartments for Rent in either of these towns gives me nothing. Just wondering if anyone knew where I might look to get a general idea of what the rents would be and local businesses for work etc.

Thanks
Gina

OK, let's go back a bit if you don't mind. I commend you for wanting to escape from Massachusetts. But what I am reading into your post is that you want to move to Maine, find a relatively cheap way to live (renting), and then a job with a "local" business. AND you are looking at towns like Harmony and Athens.

I wonder what if anything you know about Maine?

Harmony, which is a nice little town, is very, very little....less than a thousand people live there. In addition to that, the nearest town of any size is Skowhegan, with its population of around 8500 people. Skowhegan is twenty miles away, and will take half an hour in normal driving conditions to get there from Harmony....in a snowstorm, it could take a couple of hours.

Now, in Massachusetts, out in the western part of the state, you can find some comparables, I suppose, but you have to go waaay out there to find any. There is a small town called Renfrew that is about twenty miles from the nearest town of any size. That town is Pittsfield, and Pittsfield has a population of around 40 THOUSAND, or five times the size of Skowhegan.

So, unless you are a "trust fund baby" and are sitting on a big wad of cash, I am going to make the big leap and assume that you will need to find work to support yourself. How much "work" do you think there will be in a town with fewer than a thousand people, and how difficult do you think it will be to commute to the nearest population center...itself very small...and find work there?

The entire state of Maine is very, very rural. In addition, the population of the state is tiny compared with Massachusetts...there are almost five times as many people in Massachusetts as in Maine, and those people all live within an area that fits into an area that would get lost in Maine's wilderness.

What I am saying is that Maine is a totally different environment than ANYwhere in Massachusetts. Living in a tiny rural town sounds great until you get down to the basic necessities of feeding your face and keeping warm: there is very, very little work to do in Maine that will support you well, and the more rural the location, the more difficult to find work and to get there and back.

Now, having said all of that, there are rural small towns located within half an hour of the major population centers; Portland, Lewiston, and Bangor. There are some opportunities to find work in those areas. Portland is the largest city in Maine by population, but it is only about one half larger in population than Pittsfield. So, Maine's "cities" are small in comparison to Massachusetts.

I wonder if you have ever been to Maine. If you haven't then it is close enough for a weekend tour through the southern most part of the state from anywhere in Massachusetts. By all means, come up and look around. But bear in mind that whatever you find in Maine, Maine will be much, much different than anything remotely similar in Massachusetts.

[reloop]

Harmony is small and rural for sure (they don't have a town website but Maine.gov has a link to some town addresses and names which you may want to use to write to).

I did find this link - a friend told me about this fair - it's over as of today, but it does have a gallery of pictures for you to look at, and maybe get a feel for it's culture if-you-will.

Harmony Free Fair - A Maine Agricultural Fair

Here's the gov link:

Maine Local Government - Town of Harmony - Main Page

Good luck.

[HI to ME]

Is Harmony bigger than Dixmont?

Lawmom, I never heard of those towns either and I grew up in Maine too! I moved away when I was 15 so it was before I was driving. I think I see more of Maine now when I go back to visit my family because I am able to get around more. I lived in Dixmont for almost 5 years before moving to Searsport....boy, talk about a small town!! hee hee! Searsport felt like a big city compared to Dixmont. Anyway, when I was hearing just how small Harmony and Athens were, I was just trying to picture it!
Thanks for the links Reloop! I had fun looking at the pictures. I sometimes miss living in rural Maine but I think when I move back, it will definitely be closer to larger towns and more job opportunities!

[maineguy8888]

My first reaction is that I'm not sure you CAN find any place to rent in Harmony or Athens...........

[droobie]

Originally Posted by maineguy8888

My first reaction is that I'm not sure you CAN find any place to rent in Harmony or Athens...........

I had the same reaction. People usually build houses out there so they have their slice of paradise and then commute in.