Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
7th generation.... To me, it seems most original mainers would rather not have any outsiders around, (except tourists) and often times are aloof and unwelcoming.
It's not my imagination, I've encountered it myself, and for no other reason than I was from another place. It's a constant theme of this forum.
I have never felt comfortable anywhere I have visited after a two or three week stay. I'm comfortable, relaxed and secure in my home, in my town, and in my state. I suspect it can be the same for anyone who moves anywhere. No matter where you came from there has to be things you remember and miss. A friend, a style of building, the color of the soil, the food, the weather....no place is perfect, though for those of us who have not lived anywhere else ,nor had the desire to try living anywhere else... Maine is home. It always will be home. No matter if you live in Eastport, or Lincoln or Calais, or Argyle, or Rumford, or Cumberland or Freeport that place is your Maine. Your comfort zone, your place to relax, your security. It may have a lot to offer or it may be a quiet little town and maybe that's WHY you like it. Everyone has their own reason for living where they do. No one place in Maine is that much better, or worse than any other. The state is fairly similar from Kittery to Estcourt Station. The topography may change a bit but the people are similar minded. Perhaps there in lies the biggest challenge to anyone moving to Maine. If you don't think the way we do you won't like it here and you won't feel accepted. If you adopt the Maine values we all hold dear you will be welcome and you will feel you are finally.....home!
Awww.....now see....I am ready to move tonight! Thank you for posting that, Maineh! Your comment #23...so very true! I can't wait to call Maine home!!!!
Yes...I am from Mississippi....I have lived in Texas, Arizona, and Virginia....but I am still looking for "home". We do live in a more rural area...country as my kids call it. lol It takes us anywhere from 15 minutes to 35 minutes to go shopping...unless we want to pay $4.00 for a bottle of ketchup at the little shop around the corner. hehe. I honestly feel we will like Maine and I can't wait until we can move up.
That was a nice little outburst, Maineah. It's kind of like missing childhood. I missed my childhoods, and finally came back after forty years, and here it was/is. The pond is there. Tthe people, all the same people, haven't moved an inch in fifty years, just like the people I found in the cities I visited. And I do miss them, too, because I put roots down and loved my neighbors, and my life,and my kids grew up outside of inland Maine. But I don't miss them as much as I missed my childhood. I have found - while mentoring local kids - that those in the country only get to cruise for about 8 miles in each direction, the distance their bike can go comfortably so that you can have the fun and then get back home. And 8 blocks for city kids. I met a very discouraged kid in the Arboretum in Boston when I was doing tours, with his head in his hands, because he was 15 and hadn't known that those BEAUTIFUL 500 acrees were there. Ten blocks from his home. The Arnold Arboretum. I wonder if he stayed mad. ... Hmmmm
Awww.....now see....I am ready to move tonight! Thank you for posting that, Maineh! Your comment #23...so very true! I can't wait to call Maine home!!!!
Yes...I am from Mississippi....I have lived in Texas, Arizona, and Virginia....but I am still looking for "home". We do live in a more rural area...country as my kids call it. lol It takes us anywhere from 15 minutes to 35 minutes to go shopping...unless we want to pay $4.00 for a bottle of ketchup at the little shop around the corner. hehe. I honestly feel we will like Maine and I can't wait until we can move up.
Sometimes you have to buy the $4.00 bottle of ketchup (it was vinegar at $3.99 for me last week) to keep the local store open. The local store gave my son a job last summer so I don't mind paying a little more for a 6 pack or bottle of soda now and then.
You will like Maine....you will not like winter but you will like the state overall.
I guess we miss what we know and are comfortable with. It really depends on where in the west you live. I live in Concord. Overall Concord has a high crime rate and the county has problems with racism and elitism. I'm within city limits, and our PD is pretty good. Concord has released quite a few employees via early retirement, and I don't think that there has been many layoffs. The sheriff's office has had plenty of cuts. We're lucky in that we live in one of the 'better' (for lack of a better term) neighborhoods and our kids attend schools in Walnut Creek. Our neighborhood has very little crime, even though crime is just exploding around us. Not just Concord. Surprisingly, Walnut Creek has had more than it's fair share of crime. Anyway, we've lived here for 5 years, and don't lock our doors unless we go on vacation. We haven't had any problems with crime here, but we have to keep an eye on our kids.
Ultrarunner: Pleasant Hill is OK. We looked there. I like Martinez a little bit more. It's got a quaint downtown and is on the water. When you look at how much funding a district receives, you have to actually look at the district's budget. Much of that per-pupil spending in Oakland probably reflects 'categorical' expenses. Categorical funding is money (often grants), provided in addition to general funding, that is earmarked for particular programs. The County Office of Education might give a district money to administer mental health services. A district might receive federal funds for ELL students. This categorical funding is dedicated to those services and may not be spent on any other service or program. Oakland is a high-needs district, so it likely receives quite a bit of categorical funding. I used to work in Oakland and have friends who live there. Oakland's property taxes are high (about 1.25% of purchase price) vs. about 1.1% for most other communities. Cities have
The best/safest places are very expensive. Lamorinda and Alamo are great areas, but you need to have a budget of $800K+ for a home.
The California property tax structure needs to be addressed. Prop. 13 is not only limiting school and community services, it's responsible for disparities in education. Affluent communities avoid Prop. 13 problems by passing parcel taxes. Piedmont spends about $2500/year in additional property taxes for their schools. Mt. Diablo Unified has a broader electorate, and we couldn't pass a $99/year parcel tax.
Anyway, since I don't need to live here for my commute to Oakland anymore, I'm done. My commute is the only reason we moved here. It's HOT (it was 101 degrees today), our air quality is awful. We're in a drought, and my last water bill was up from about $100 to $275 for two months. PG&E averages about $350/month. Gas is about $3.10/gallon right now. My sales tax is 9.25%. The only time I go into SF is to take BART to the airport. For the most part, people aren't overly friendly or overly unfriendly. There are plenty of angry-type people. A mother in San Ramon Valley Unified spit on a child because she was angry at the child. I think some of the worst drivers in the nation live here. University and state college admissions have been reduced by thousands.
The overall quality of life for the middle and working classes has really diminished here. It's what happens when there are too many people for the existing resources.
We're really not the super-urban dwellers. We've put some thought into moving. We have choices, but we appreciate the East.
The California property tax structure needs to be addressed. Prop. 13 is not only limiting school and community services, it's responsible for disparities in education. Affluent communities avoid Prop. 13 problems by passing parcel taxes. Piedmont spends about $2500/year in additional property taxes for their schools. Mt. Diablo Unified has a broader electorate, and we couldn't pass a $99/year parcel tax.
Anyway, since I don't need to live here for my commute to Oakland anymore, I'm done. My commute is the only reason we moved here. It's HOT (it was 101 degrees today), our air quality is awful. We're in a drought, and my last water bill was up from about $100 to $275 for two months. PG&E averages about $350/month. Gas is about $3.10/gallon right now. My sales tax is 9.25%. The only time I go into SF is to take BART to the airport. For the most part, people aren't overly friendly or overly unfriendly. There are plenty of angry-type people. A mother in San Ramon Valley Unified spit on a child because she was angry at the child. I think some of the worst drivers in the nation live here. University and state college admissions have been reduced by thousands.
The overall quality of life for the middle and working classes has really diminished here. It's what happens when there are too many people for the existing resources.
We're really not the super-urban dwellers. We've put some thought into moving. We have choices, but we appreciate the East.
Good Luck on which ever direction you go
I have family and friends in Oakland, Pleasant Hill, Piedmont and Unincorporated Alameda and Contra Costa...
One of the reasons I live in Oakland is I can't take the heat and Oakland has ideal climate... for me any ways... $65 PGE and $140 EBMUD it's just not as hot as it is 15 minutes away in Concord.
In all seriousness... Prop 13 is the only benefit that is making staying in CA work for me... Friends have relocated to other states and seen property taxes almost double in a year... I just can't take that kind of risk...
My sales tax is 9.75% and I can live with that... don't buy much anyways...
I moved from Berkeley to Portland, Maine 5 years ago. I have two kids ages 4 and 6. There are lots and lots of things we loved about Maine and many things we missed from the Bay Area.
We loved Maine because:
* There were beautiful places to go for walks in any season almost outside our front door. We never had to drive more than a mile or two to get to a trail head, even in central Portland. During the winter we snow shoed around (even with our little one) and during the warmer months we spent hours exploring local trails after the kids' school during the week. We spent most of our Summers and Falls camping or hiking and always found secluded spots that didn't feel over-crowded.
* The beaches are amazing. Even in the late Fall - we'd go all bundled up and fly a kite, run the dogs or play in the sand. It's amazing how much fun the beach is even when it's cold.
* The schools are awesome when compared to California public schools.
* The motto "your tax dollars at work" felt like it actually meant something in Maine. Social services are amazing compared to California, even with the recent cuts. If you have a child with any special needs be prepared to be happily surprised at how well Maine runs it's support services.
* Cost of living is lower, even with the high property tax.
* There are tons of places to walk dogs off-leash.
* There are tons of services and programs that cater to young kids and families, and many of them are free!
* Hannaford supermarket. I still miss it.
* The Fall is as amazing as you hope it will be.
We are actually back in *gasp* California, in Sacramento (though we probably won't stay here long term either) - my DH's job moved us back. In the end, there were many things about Maine that made it easier for us to leave:
* I was cold for 7 months of the year. We got 100+ inches of snow for 2 of the 5 years I was there; we saw our lawn for the last time around Thanksgiving and then saw it again for the first time in April. I never minded shoveling snow (great work-out!); I minded being cold inside my house because heating oil is expensive (we set our thermostat to 62 degrees and still paid around $200-400 per month heating our 108 year old, drafty home).
* There is very very little diversity. I tried to find a Spanish-speaking playgroup for a long time and found no more than one or two other families to join. There was one Latino child in my son's preschool - out of 25 kids - and that was the norm. I was the first Jewish person that at least 3 people had said that they had ever met. And there is just as much racism in Maine as there is in California, it's just not as pronounced because it isn't in your face everyday because there is hardly any racial tension.
* You can't get good Mexican food to save your life. Eat your last Mission burrito and savor every moment because after a year you'll be dreaming about it.
* You can't get any really good ethnic food. We found a couple of pretty good places, but nothing fabulous.
* Making acquaintance type friends was not that hard, but making come-over-to-my-house spur of the moment type friends took forever. My experience was that most people were willing to be friendly while we were at work or at school but making the transition to a more personal friendship was hard. I felt very lonely my first 2.5 years there even though I knew a lot of people. I still have 3 very good friends there, but only one is a Mainer - the other two are from New York or California.
* Finding a job was very, very hard.
I wish I had known that making friends would be very hard before I moved there - I could have been better prepared to hunker down and find ways to be happy without a large social circle. I wish I had been better prepared for the lack of diversity. There's nothing to do about it, I just wish I had known how overwhelmingly vanilla Maine can be. I also can't overemphasize how hard it is to be home (I worked from home) and be cold all the time. If I had to do it over again I would have pumped up the heat until I had a stronger social circle - for some reason being cold made the loneliness worse.
I think that if you can learn to live with the snow and breath through the time it takes to find friends you can definitely be happy in Maine. Good luck, and I hope this helped a bit!
I moved from Berkeley to Portland, Maine 5 years ago. I have two kids ages 4 and 6. There are lots and lots of things we loved about Maine and many things we missed from the Bay Area.
We loved Maine because:
* There were beautiful places to go for walks in any season almost outside our front door. We never had to drive more than a mile or two to get to a trail head, even in central Portland. During the winter we snow shoed around (even with our little one) and during the warmer months we spent hours exploring local trails after the kids' school during the week. We spent most of our Summers and Falls camping or hiking and always found secluded spots that didn't feel over-crowded.
* The beaches are amazing. Even in the late Fall - we'd go all bundled up and fly a kite, run the dogs or play in the sand. It's amazing how much fun the beach is even when it's cold.
* The schools are awesome when compared to California public schools.
* The motto "your tax dollars at work" felt like it actually meant something in Maine. Social services are amazing compared to California, even with the recent cuts. If you have a child with any special needs be prepared to be happily surprised at how well Maine runs it's support services.
* Cost of living is lower, even with the high property tax.
* There are tons of places to walk dogs off-leash.
* There are tons of services and programs that cater to young kids and families, and many of them are free!
* Hannaford supermarket. I still miss it.
* The Fall is as amazing as you hope it will be.
We are actually back in *gasp* California, in Sacramento (though we probably won't stay here long term either) - my DH's job moved us back. In the end, there were many things about Maine that made it easier for us to leave:
* I was cold for 7 months of the year. We got 100+ inches of snow for 2 of the 5 years I was there; we saw our lawn for the last time around Thanksgiving and then saw it again for the first time in April. I never minded shoveling snow (great work-out!); I minded being cold inside my house because heating oil is expensive (we set our thermostat to 62 degrees and still paid around $200-400 per month heating our 108 year old, drafty home).
* There is very very little diversity. I tried to find a Spanish-speaking playgroup for a long time and found no more than one or two other families to join. There was one Latino child in my son's preschool - out of 25 kids - and that was the norm. I was the first Jewish person that at least 3 people had said that they had ever met. And there is just as much racism in Maine as there is in California, it's just not as pronounced because it isn't in your face everyday because there is hardly any racial tension.
* You can't get good Mexican food to save your life. Eat your last Mission burrito and savor every moment because after a year you'll be dreaming about it.
* You can't get any really good ethnic food. We found a couple of pretty good places, but nothing fabulous.
* Making acquaintance type friends was not that hard, but making come-over-to-my-house spur of the moment type friends took forever. My experience was that most people were willing to be friendly while we were at work or at school but making the transition to a more personal friendship was hard. I felt very lonely my first 2.5 years there even though I knew a lot of people. I still have 3 very good friends there, but only one is a Mainer - the other two are from New York or California.
* Finding a job was very, very hard.
I wish I had known that making friends would be very hard before I moved there - I could have been better prepared to hunker down and find ways to be happy without a large social circle. I wish I had been better prepared for the lack of diversity. There's nothing to do about it, I just wish I had known how overwhelmingly vanilla Maine can be. I also can't overemphasize how hard it is to be home (I worked from home) and be cold all the time. If I had to do it over again I would have pumped up the heat until I had a stronger social circle - for some reason being cold made the loneliness worse.
I think that if you can learn to live with the snow and breath through the time it takes to find friends you can definitely be happy in Maine. Good luck, and I hope this helped a bit!
It takes a while to get settled in anyplace that is new. Making friends has to be at the top of the list. I have been here for 15 years and I still have more firends outside of Maine then I have here. However I have several good friends here... funny though most are not from Maine either???
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Your comment #23...so very true! I can't wait to call Maine home!!!! 
