Moving to Searsport, ME (Lewiston, Bangor: real estate, oceanfront, homes)

[Mike Sz]

I am a 63 yo widower, in excellent health, who plans to move from Vermont to the Searsport area, to be closer to my daughter and her family who are in Lewiston. I'm attracted to Searsport because of the small town atmosphere and there seems to be many great real estate buys right now. I want to be able to walk to town to meet most of my basic needs. I'm also considering the Belfast area. Although labels can be deceptive, most would probably consider me liberal-minded. A strong sense of community is critical to me. I escaped from corporate life over 10 years ago and have since been working with non-profit organizations and school systems, doing mostly restorative justice/conflict resolution work. I also work part time at a general/hardware store, which I'd like to continue doing. I enjoy walking/hiking and interaction with friends and neighbors. Any thoughts and advice about my planned move would be appreciated. Thanks!!

[CoastalMaine]

I believe either town sounds like a wonderful fit for you at this stage of your life. I am sitting in my 5th wheel in Belfast at an oceanfront campground as I write this.

I can't really think of anything to say to deter you from your choices. I love both places. I spent two years in Searsport, but moved to the Belfast campground at the beginning of this season. There is an Ace Hardware right on route 1 in Belfast that had signs up at the beginning of summer for help. I would think that would happen again next year.

There is Moose State Park and Sears Island for walking/hiking in Searsport. The entire area sounds like a perfect match for your lifestyle. A scant drive away would put you at Acadia National Park which you might revel in for hiking. Also, you would be within 20-30 minutes of the Camden Hill State Park which would be fun to hike. Who knows, maybe you'd venture into kayaking and sailing as well!

There have been some great price reductions in properties in both towns. I myself looked at waterfront properties in each town this past summer. Not knowing what it is that would suit you in that regard, or your price range, I can't be more specific with certain areas, etc. If you'd like, send me a DM and I'll try to give you more direct help.

Best of luck to you. I think you'll just love it here. I do!!

[maineguy8888]

Searsport is small............so I don't know about services. But in the summer, the traffic is insane.
Just so you know.

[CoastalMaine]

The traffic is NOT insane. As I posted earlier, I've spent the last two summers here. Living for 30 years with tourists on Cape Cod, I can assure you, whatever you think is insanity for traffic in Searsport is hilarious to me in comparison.

I never encountered any traffic jam, nor saw any PO directing traffic... between mid June and now, early October.

The only traffic tie up I ever saw in Belfast was the road work on the side of town heading to Northport. Other than that, I suppose you could call it a slight annoyance if you were trying to turn left onto route 3 by Reny's as people were coming from Augusta. If insanity means a possible 1 minute wait for a turn, I guess your description is accurate.

[entyss]

Coastal, isn't that the truth! It cracks me up what some people call a traffic jam. When ever I see more than 3 cars going in the same direction, I think to myself "uh-oh it must be rush hour". And I agree, both Belfast and Searsport are beautiful little towns!

[moughie]

Coastal, you sure sold me!

[Newdaawn]

If I had my druthers I would go with Belfast. It has a much larger center but Searsport is nice too. How far is Searsport from Lewiston? I live in Bangor but have never driven from Searsport to Lewiston. Belfast has come a very long way in the past 20 or so years from the smelly chicken processing place it used to be. We were there about a month ago to check out Perry's furniture but I didn't find what I was looking for.

[maineguy8888]

I just know that over the last 15 years, I have crawled in traffic in the Searsport area on Route 1 several times.............for very, very long times. This would only be in the summer, of course............northbound on Fridays, southbound on Sundays, for the most part.
I can only share my own personal experiences!

[CoastalMaine]

Originally Posted by maineguy8888

I just know that over the last 15 years, I have crawled in traffic in the Searsport area on Route 1 several times.............for very, very long times. This would only be in the summer, of course............northbound on Fridays, southbound on Sundays, for the most part.
I can only share my own personal experiences!

I wonder if there was a fair or road work of sort going on that made that happen? I've never seen it crawl for a very, very long time in either town. What's a very, very long time to you?

All the times I went to visit my friends Sorrento this summer, I never had any delays until I encountered Bucksport which had a minute or two delay with tourists entering and leaving Dunkin Donuts and Mickey D's for coffee one Saturday morning. The usual summer delays in Ellsworth going towards Bar Harbor... but that's it.

[CoastalMaine]

Originally Posted by Newdaawn

If I had my druthers I would go with Belfast. It has a much larger center but Searsport is nice too. How far is Searsport from Lewiston? I live in Bangor but have never driven from Searsport to Lewiston. Belfast has come a very long way in the past 20 or so years from the smelly chicken processing place it used to be. We were there about a month ago to check out Perry's furniture but I didn't find what I was looking for.

Yes it has. Twenty years ago, I wouldn't even go downtown in Belfast!!

Searsport center to Belfast center is only about 7-8 miles. It's a question of what it is you'd like for a living situation. Stockton Springs has some lovely homes available too... Cape Jellison in particular. Just depends what you're after.