Best places for young adults? (Portland, South Portland: low crime, employment, neighborhoods)

[CMarie19]

My friend and I are looking for a new place outside of Wisconsin. We want somewhere that we can start-a-new and people wont be able to say then went to school with me or anything. We were really thinking the east coast, and Maine is just an attraction we had. We love the beauty of it out there, and the fact that its the same kinda temp as Wisconsin is. We just dont want to move there and then hate it because there isn't anything to do. We are looking for a town where there are young people and I would kill for a town that is historic! Thank you for your help!

[lrfox]

I think the long and short answer is likely to be Portland.

However, to get a better idea of what you're looking for I think you should be a bit more specific. I'm willing to bet that anywhere on the east coast will be a place where no one can say they went to school with you. Maine is beautiful, no doubt. As far as history goes, there's tons of it on the East coast (specifically the Northeast) as that's the section of the country that's been continually settled the longest (not counting the defunct Native settlements out West, of course).

Please define, "young adult." To some, that implies 18-24 (while to others, that age range are still kids), to others it's 24-30 and still to others young adults can be 30-35. I'm 23 and I consider myself a young adult.

There's a lot that goes into picking a spot. What do you do for work, fun, etc? Do you attend school (undergrad, grad, etc) or plan to? If so, for what? Would you rather live in a large, medium, small city or a town? To give you better advice, you can first answer some of those questions.

I'd keep in mind that Maine has one of the highest elderly populations in the nation. It's a state that has trouble keeping it's younger populations (though many of them return when it's time to start a family) and an even harder time permanently luring young adults in.

As a young adult myself, I'll give you some of what I felt were pros and cons of living in Portland (the largest city in Maine with the highest "young" population in the state). Maybe you can identify with a few of them.

PROS:
1) Safety. Portland is ranked among the safest places to live (Maine in general is one of the safest states). There are no dangerous neighborhoods or places to avoid.
2)Friendly. I found the people in Portland to be the antithesis of the stuffy New England stereotype (for the most part). They were friendly and happy.
3) Educated. For such a small city, a good chunk of the population was educated.
4) Civic pride. People in Portland are proud of their city and that usually translates to good things (i.e. well attended public events, clean streets, low crime, etc). Very local oriented culture/economy
5) Beauty. Portland is a pretty little city situated along Maine's rugged coast. It's also close to Mountains (45 min drive). Downtown Portland is quite pretty as are some of the residential neighborhoods. It's set around great natural beauty.
6) Drivable AND walkable. Traffic is really a non-issue in Portland. There are no rush hour traffic jams or grid locks that will delay a drive to/from Portland at almost any hour. Portland is also quite walkable around the center of the city.
7) Dining. There are a large number of good dining options for such a little town.
8) Relative C.O.L.: Portland may not be "cheap" but you'll be hard pressed to find a coastal city (East or West) that has lower rents, better crime rates, and equal or more amenities to Portland. It's CERTAINLY a lot cheaper than most in the Northeast.
9) Arts. Good performing and visual arts for such a small city. Also good support for local minor-league sports teams

CONS:
1) Economy. Portland isn't an easy town to get a GOOD job in. This makes the Cost of Living seem even worse because many people have a hard time finding a job that covers your expenses as many jobs are low-paying.
2) Dating. I was lucky enough to meet someone early on and stuck with her. The dating pool is small and the opportunity to meet singles your age can be quite difficult as Portland has a larger elderly population and a LOT of families. Not what you'd call a singles town.
3)Nightlife. There's really only a small pub-scene in Portland centered around Wharf St. with 7 or 8 bars. It gets old fast. It's really local-oriented too so many, if not most, of the people already know one another. There is good support for local bands but there aren't too many concert venues.
4) Civic pride. Yes, this goes on both sides. While many people are just very proud of their town and that's a good thing (as I evidenced above); others take it too far. I met far too many people who were VERY self congratulatory and seemed to gloat constantly about how Portland was the biggest and best (in places where it REALLY didn't deserve the honor). This local provincialism (and it IS the people who rarely leave the state) made it difficult to find people to get along with all the time as they didn't take kindly to even the slightest challenge of their self-congratulatory ideals. I didn't like that many people felt that things were the best (or even just good) simply because they were from Maine or Portland (i.e. Bob Marley- the comedian-, or a HORRIBLE article I read during the Olympics last year on how Ian Crocker is the "last hope" at defeating Michael Phelps, etc). Many in Portland seemed to "shun" outside things (i.e. news, brands, opinion) in favor of their own (whether it deserves it or not).

Neutral: (these are too subjective to classify as pros or cons, but are worth considering)
1) Size. To me, Portland was too small. by a LOT. However, to you, it may be just right. It has a population of about 63,000 and 230,000 in the metro area. That makes it about 1/2 the size of Madison Wisconsin and it feels every bit as small (many say it feels more like a mid-size town than an urban area). I feel that if you're concerned about everyone knowing each other (i.e. "they went to school with me"), Portland may not be the best fit as that's VERY common there.
2) Amenities. Portland has some decent restaurants (certainly a lot of them for its size), good public schools, parks, public services, etc. It has the basic suburban chains and a small shopping mall (the Maine Mall located in South Portland). It's not going to have what you'll find in most medium or large metros in terms of chain stores, etc but it has some and many are quite happy without the box stores and chains (I found Portland to be better without most of them... I think they ruin cities and towns in many cases). You'll have your Walmart, Target, Macy's, Olive Garden, etc but not your Nordstrom, Saks, Ruth's Chris, Dave and Buster's, and the other chains that are usually around larger, more affluent cities.
3) Weather. It's similar to Madison. In fact, I don't THINK it's quite as bad (double check that). I personally liked most of it. I found complaints about winter to be a bit over-hyped and the summer weather to be lovely. Fall is nearly perfect and spring could be better but it's not bad. Some hate it, some love it. I was the latter. It's highly subjective.
4) Distance to other cities. You'll find that many who move to Maine want to do so to escape the "rat race" or be away from it all. Portland isn't QUITE as "away" as, say, Houlton is but it's far enough to really have very little (in terms of populated area... it CERTAINLY has beauty and nature) around it. It's 2 hours or more to drive to Boston and about 3 on the train (which may or may not be in service come september). It's 6 hours or so from New York City and about 6 from both Montreal and Quebec. So aside from Boston there are few population centers you can get to for a day trip and it's not the most connected city via transit (bus, rail, air, etc) either. Some prefer this distance and some don't (I missed being close to other cities...).

In the end, all that matters is what YOU want. Portland is a lovely city (Maine is a lovely state). If you let us know what you're looking for, we can tell if we believe you may or may not find it.

[K-Luv]

Wisconsin and Maine are very similar. So similar that in fact if you were from one state, fell asleep, and then awoke in the other it would take you a minute to realize it. And the only thing that would tip you off would be the license plates. And mountains, too, I suppose. The ocean I guess as well.

Portland and Madison are are also very similar. The only real differences are that, the obvious-Portland is on the Atlantic Ocean, and, the local college does not dominate the scene even though there are many college students here. In fact, if you meet someone who is under 25, chances are high that they attend one of the local colleges. Portland is a small city that often times tries to act bigger than it really is while Madison is what it is; a college town.

Another thing; the weather is not similar. Madison is 20 to 30 degrees F COLDER in the winter than Portland and Portland receives 40 or so more inches of snow. Portland does not get anywhere near as humid in the summer either, even though you will hear people complain about the humidity around here. I guaranty that you will wonder what the heck they are moaning about since it will be barely humid at all while you are walking around with a sweatshirt on.

On one hand, there is tons of stuff to do around here. On the other, nothing much to do. It all depends on what you are into and what you idea of fun is.

[elston]

I love maine.....but I am far from a young person. When I was a young person just out of school....I lived in Providence RI....and it was a great place to live....I havent been back but from what I hear it has gotten better and better as time has gone by.

So if you like country side, low crime and small and charmng.....think Portland.....if you long for the action of a city....I would recommend Providence.

[flycessna]

I guess your 19?? or around that age.... IDK?? Your young and allowed to try new things. Portland would be a fun town for you.. it is a small city population wise but is the central most urban area in the state and is where everyone goes to do their business..Its proximity to Boston and logan airport (1.5hrs) makes it even more convienent. You would be free to spend a weekend or even a day in Boston which is a real fun city with tons of history.

but I also want to suggest somthing totally different, If your between the ages of 19 and 29 I think you would find burlangton VT a fun place also. Much younger than Portland Maine (remember Maine is the oldest state in the nation) Burlington has a ton of colleges, is located in a rural area much like Maine but with out the ocean. It might even have a better employment opportunity.. but idk

In the end do it now! live and travell and enjoy, find what it is you like and dont like, you will be a much happy that you did.