Portland --- Lifestyle, crime, etc.? (Bangor, South Portland: apartments, car registration, crime rates)

[Mark S.]

We're hoping to move to Maine soon. Ideally, we were hoping more for Bangor or even further north, but I've got a job possibility in Portland.

I'm a bit concerned about the crime rates I'm seeing. How is Portland? Is it a safe city? Especially for families? What are the schools like? Are gangs and drugs a widespread problem? What about cost of living? (And no, I'm not concerned about the weather. I like cold and wet!)

I know that there's no such thing as an entirely safe city, but the official stats I'm seeing show Portland having crime statistics well above the national average.

Any residents or people who have been there who can give me any firsthand information?

[bigchuckie]

Alot of those crime stats can be misleading. Portland has app 65k people. So if 3 people are murdered in a year the murder per capita rate looks bad. As far as gangs go yes they are here but you have to really look for them. Drugs
are everywhere but here in Maine they are not as big of a problem compared to Say Boston etc. I dont live in Portland but I go there every day so I cant tell you about the school system. Maine in general has a high cost of living. Property taxes vary from town to town but as a rule they are high everywhere. Heating costs are becoming a problem 2.70 for a gallon of heating oil was average last year. I dont mean to sound so negative but the benefits always seem to outweigh the negatives and that is why we stay here

[pinkpalace]

I live in central Maine (Newport), but Portland ME is one of my all-time favorite cities.

I really wish I could afford to live there.

When I originally moved to Maine two years ago, I started looking at houses in and around Portland. House prices (to me) were way out of my price range for what I needed, so I started looking in Bangor. Bangor's prices were much closer to what I was ready to pay, but found a place really cheap in Newport, about 30 minutes away from Bangor. I work from home, so commute time wasn't ever an issue.

In any case, I wouldn't worry about crime in Portland either. The 11:00 news spends a lot more time talking about "soft" news then they do about violence, drugs, and other crimes.

The problem with living in Portland, or any other place in Maine, will be the cost of heating oil, electricity, car registration. Property tax in southern Maine will be worse than in other places in Maine (like Bangor) too.

Last year, we paid $352/mo (every month) for heating oil for our 5 br house. This year, we'll pay $402/mo. You overpay in the summer to compensate for underpaying in the winter.

Electricity here is unregulated, so you pay roughly 8 cents/kwh for the electricity, and another 6 cents/kwh for the "delivery", meaning electricity is really 14 cents/kwh total.

In Idaho (our previous state) we paid natural gas each month, and NEVER paid more than $90 for heat. During the summer, we paid $14 (for hot water only--I miss those days of complaining about a $90 heating bill.) Electricity in Idaho was 7 cents/kwh too, so our electricity bill effectively doubled. We pay roughly $160 - $190 every month for electricity in Maine.

Car registration costs are ridiculous. Registring our new 2006 Toyota Sienna was $650. Our old 1997 Toyota Camry was $150. You can estimate your car registration costs here: http://www.ci.bar-harbor.me.us/vehicle/extaxcal.html (you'll need your vehicle's MSRP for when it was new)

All that being said, if you can handle the cost of heat, electricity, and car registration, living in Maine is wonderful. There is no traffic, virtually no crime, the scenery is always beautiful, and the people are really friendly.

[Mark S.]

Thanks for the input!

We were certainly hoping for Bangor, but finding employment there is kind of tough in my line of work. A possibility came up in Portland, so I wanted some firsthand info before I applied.

And hey, I live in Washington State now. You guys don't know what high car registration is.

One thing that has struck me as rather odd about a lot of New England homes: The lack of fireplaces. New England is notorious for its harsh winters, but I see very few homes with fireplaces. Even here in western Washington where 3 inches of snow is considered "a winter storm emergency," nearly everyone has a fireplace --- even apartments. Why are fireplaces so rare in New England? Is it an air quality issue?

[flaminga]

I think it's more an issue of practicality--fireplaces don't actually generate that much heat.

[pinkpalace]

In my old 1900's era house, all of the fireplaces were plugged up with concrete. Problem was that all of the fireplaces and the boiler used the same chimney, which is a big no-no (fire hazard). Thus, we used to have at least four fireplaces in our house (more could be hidden behind walls) but now have zero.

I guess I'll quit complaning about car registration costs. In Idaho, I never paid more than $90 for car registration. (I'm really not singing Idaho's praises, believe me, I'd never move back.)

[chris]

the key to moving to Maine is finding a job - major emphasis on this. Maine has transitioned from a blue collar state to a vacation/retiree state over the past 20 years. Lots of seasonal work but full time work can be difficult to come by outside of metro Portland.

I grew up there and there's no place quite like it. Great place to raise kids but they'll want to leave the state the day they graduate (long boring winters unless you ski or play basketball in high school, leads to excessive partying).

Mainers know 80% of the heat goes up the chimney. They're only for 'special' occasions.

If you can pay the bills, it's highly recommended.. Good luck!

[Mark S.]

Thanks for the advice!

Are there any neighborhoods or parts of town in Portland that one should avoid? I'm thinking in terms of safety issues. I don't really care about restaurants and entertainment, but I want to live in a safe and quiet neighborhood. Are there any places to avoid? Any I should particularly check out?

[EastCoast DUDE]

I have been living in the Portland area for eight years since I moved here from Long Beach California. Portland is a beutiful city beutiful architecture unfortunatly there are some places I would avoid Sagamore is a high crime area of Portland I would not go there at night or any time for that matter. The old port is an area that can get rough mainly at night and other run down industrial areas around the city. Very close to Boston and New York Climate not as cold as other parts of Maine cold wet winters warm to hot humid summers amazing Thunderstorms Great city try it out

[tkx7]

places to avoid in Portland- East End (munjoy hill), unless you are on the water where the houses are very pricey. The school system in Portland is very good. Residents have the choice of either going to Portland High School or Deering High School. Living outside Portland is a good alternative as well if you want nicer school systems, but property taxes will probably be more. Westbrook and probably South Portland have average school systems so avoid those if possible.