Another "moving to Maine" thread! (Portland, Lewiston: real estate, mover)

[puttingdownroots]

Hi everyone,

My husband, toddler son and I are planning a move to Maine this year. We've moved around a lot in life, from Rhode Island, to Wales and London in England, to the rural surrounds of Roanoke in Virginia. We're ready now to put down roots. Hubby works from home so we're very lucky to be able to live anyplace we like, and southern Maine looks like a great fit for us in so many ways: we love the outdoors life, love the beauty of nature, love cooler climes and snowy weather, we're laid back, our idea of great nightlife is a glass of wine on the deck, we value privacy and friendliness in equal measure, we have family in New England, we need reasonable access to good airports, etc.

We're headed up in the first week of June to get a bit of a feel for the place, and try and narrow down what areas we'd like to look at real estate in. So, here's the question - does anyone have advice on a great area to live within about 30 mins or less of Portland (our starting point)? Here's what we're looking for:

Good schools.

Live-and-let-live attitude; we're friendly but private people (if that makes sense).

The more socially progressive, the better - we're not a tree-hugging vegan Wiccan multiracial same-sex couple, but I'd like to live someplace where if we were, people wouldn't be stunned or offended.

Nice views, especially rolling, wooded hills or lakes.

Um, that's about it! All the rest of our wishlist is more house detail stuff, like lot size and whatnot. Suffice to say we're looking for an acre plus, so city settings are probably not a great fit.

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions, (including 'stop being so damn picky or stay where you are'). I've been lurking for ages on this board and love reading all the thoughtful responses people write.

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by puttingdownroots

We're headed up in the first week of June to get a bit of a feel for the place, and try and narrow down what areas we'd like to look at real estate in. So, here's the question - does anyone have advice on a great area to live within about 30 mins or less of Portland (our starting point)? Here's what we're looking for:

Good schools.

Live-and-let-live attitude; we're friendly but private people (if that makes sense).

The more socially progressive, the better - we're not a tree-hugging vegan Wiccan multiracial same-sex couple, but I'd like to live someplace where if we were, people wouldn't be stunned or offended.

Nice views, especially rolling, wooded hills or lakes.

Um, that's about it! All the rest of our wishlist is more house detail stuff, like lot size and whatnot. Suffice to say we're looking for an acre plus, so city settings are probably not a great fit.

You might look at Brunswick. Nice little college town on the coast. Depending on weather and traffic, it's probably 30-45 minutes to Portland.

We just got back from an exploratory trip ourselves, and honestly, we didn't really like any of the communities from Portland south. Too crowded and a bit too ... (I'm trying to find a polite word) ... less-than-nice, I guess I'd say.

Brunswick was really nice though. Great downtown area. (Best coffee we found in New England.) A good mixture of families, college students, and even a few bikers out and about. Nice residential areas. What information we've found on the local schools looks good.

[Unhappycamper]

Listen to Mark. I don't live in Brunswick but I live outside of it and I work there. I also went to Brunswick High School. I have absolutely no problem with the school system there. It is a great town with plenty to do.

[oceanfit185]

Portland isn’t really big enough of a town to want to live 30 minutes away from it. 5 minutes in the wrong direction and you are in the boon docs. There are plenty of great schools in Portland and a lot going on. Being from Portland I may be partial. But I think it’s the best place in the state.

Portland is surprisingly modern and “cool” place to live. There is a vibrant local arts and music scene, some great restaurants, a surprisingly hip night life. A lot of the homes are over 100 years old. When these homes are maintained they really are sticking. But beware, they are pricey to maintain. In Portland you can get a variety of neighborhoods.”.

Munjoy Hill, The West End, the Old Port, and Down Town areas make up the peninsula (a local term). This part of the city is a lot like our own little chunk of Boston. Portland is not a “real city”. But this part of it can feel like it. There are a lot of different cultures here. In Portland you can also find the more suburban parts. North Deering, Deering Center and the USM area are great places to live and raise a family.

Stay away from the Riverton area and East Deering.

Brunswick is an awesome place. If I was staying in Maine it would be one of my top 3 or 4 places to live. There is a cool little down town area a lot of natural beauty. However their really isn't a lot going on there. More importantly there isn’t a lot of work. If you husband makes enough it would be nice. But it may feel a little secluded.

Also, free port is nice. I used to have a friend who lived in a farm out there. It was really nice.

You may want to look at South Portland. The Willard Beach area is great! If I were planning to stay in Maine I would move there. When looking at SoPo (what the locals call it) don’t pay too much attention to mall area. I would stick to the area directly across the bridge, near Cape Elizabeth.

Cape Elizabeth is probably the most expensive place to live in Maine. I used to be a mover and do a lot of jobs in this area. Some of the houses are just insane! If you have the money Cape is the place to be. Falmouth and Yarmouth are along the same lines as Cape. Some of the properties there are just as nice if not nicer. In these areas not everybody is a millionaire, but they are there.

Stay away from “the Bido” (Biddeford), Saco, Lewiston/Auburn, and Westbrook. Nothing wrong with those towns. Just don’t aren’t what you are looking for.

As for the politics, Maine is kind of odd. Its hard to place. Some towns are very rightist and others are very socially progressive. You really have to see them for yourself.

[mollysmiles]

hey Mark....
did you go to the Udder Place? yummy coffee there, and the original is in Portland on the corner of Stevens and Brighton....

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by mollysmiles

hey Mark....
did you go to the Udder Place? yummy coffee there, and the original is in Portland on the corner of Stevens and Brighton....

I've honestly forgotten the name of it. It was right on the main street up from the village green. Seemed to cater to the college crowd. They had wireless internet service in the store. GREAT coffee. Best we found in New England.

[Acadianlion]

Originally Posted by puttingdownroots

Hi everyone,

My husband, toddler son and I are planning a move to Maine this year. We've moved around a lot in life, from Rhode Island, to Wales and London in England, to the rural surrounds of Roanoke in Virginia. We're ready now to put down roots. Hubby works from home so we're very lucky to be able to live anyplace we like, and southern Maine looks like a great fit for us in so many ways: we love the outdoors life, love the beauty of nature, love cooler climes and snowy weather, we're laid back, our idea of great nightlife is a glass of wine on the deck, we value privacy and friendliness in equal measure, we have family in New England, we need reasonable access to good airports, etc.

We're headed up in the first week of June to get a bit of a feel for the place, and try and narrow down what areas we'd like to look at real estate in. So, here's the question - does anyone have advice on a great area to live within about 30 mins or less of Portland (our starting point)? Here's what we're looking for:

Good schools.

Live-and-let-live attitude; we're friendly but private people (if that makes sense).

The more socially progressive, the better - we're not a tree-hugging vegan Wiccan multiracial same-sex couple, but I'd like to live someplace where if we were, people wouldn't be stunned or offended.

Nice views, especially rolling, wooded hills or lakes.

Um, that's about it! All the rest of our wishlist is more house detail stuff, like lot size and whatnot. Suffice to say we're looking for an acre plus, so city settings are probably not a great fit.

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions, (including 'stop being so damn picky or stay where you are'). I've been lurking for ages on this board and love reading all the thoughtful responses people write.

OK. So basically you want to live in suburbia but not TOO suburbia? You want to live in Boston, but not IN Boston. You pretty much have decided on living in Portland, it seems. And based on what you have listed, that is where you will find EVERYTHING that you have listed. But that is NORTH Boston, and not Maine.

You mention "good airports". In Maine that probably means that you want to live near an airport from which you can get to the rest of the world. If airports are important to you, then you need to know where the airports are from which commercial air travel will take you out of Maine. There are five airports with commercial air service. Portland's Jetport is the largest in service, but Bangor International is the largest in terms of area with almost as much service. Trenton is host to Hancock County Airport (often mistakenly referred to as Bar Harbor Airport); Rockland is just a few miles from the Knox County Airport in Owls Head; and in Augusta is the Augusta State Airport. From all of these airports there are regularly scheduled commercial air services flying to Boston, and from Bangor and from Portland, to other domestic destinations.

Good luck in your search, but if you only get to Portland you will be seeing a suburb of Boston, and not see Maine at all.

[puttingdownroots]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions so far! We'll add Brunswick to our itinerary and check out how far our money will go in Cape Elizabeth, Falmouth and Yarmouth.

If anyone else has any suggestions or you guys have more, keep 'em coming, it helps very much!

ps: anyone know anything about Durham? I'm seeing a lot of nice, rural, good size houses on large parcels of land, and it looks to be about 30 mins from Portland and 20 from Brunswick.. very interesting!

[forest beekeeper]

You might find Bangor enjoyable.

[mainebrokerman]

Originally Posted by puttingdownroots

Thanks everyone for the suggestions so far! We'll add Brunswick to our itinerary and check out how far our money will go in Cape Elizabeth, Falmouth and Yarmouth.

If anyone else has any suggestions or you guys have more, keep 'em coming, it helps very much!

ps: anyone know anything about Durham? I'm seeing a lot of nice, rural, good size houses on large parcels of land, and it looks to be about 30 mins from Portland and 20 from Brunswick.. very interesting!

the towns you mentioned are very nice,,in fact,,,when talking about real estate value or worth,,very affluent!!.. there are many towns/cities within a half hr of portland that are very nice...durham,,,poland, new gloucester, gray, and even auburn (close to the exit, nice neighborhoods)

id highly recommend durham!