South Portland neighborhoods (Camden, Casco, Manchester: cul-de-sac, rent, crime rate)

[gigglesjs]

Hi, my dh has a phone interview today with a company in Portland...yeppie...if we choose S.Portland where should we look, our daughter who will be attending college will be living with us.
thanks

[WhoFanMe]

Good luck. Much will depend upon what type of commute he and she wants (the new 295 entrance ramp by the Mall is lighting quick to downtown, while the Casco Bay Bridge traffic can back up for several minutes), your budget and the type of home you're looking for (older neighborhood, newer sub-division), etc.

[gigglesjs]

Our dd will be attending the community college in S. Portland, my dh will be working in downtown Portland (hopefully). So really just asking to get an idea of what neighborhoods to look around and "if" there are really any places to be careful with...A 2-3 bedroom place with a garage for at least one car. A 1/2 hour commute would be fine.

[diablogun]

Originally Posted by gigglesjs

Our dd will be attending the community college in S. Portland, my dh will be working in downtown Portland (hopefully). So really just asking to get an idea of what neighborhoods to look around and "if" there are really any places to be careful with...A 2-3 bedroom place with a garage for at least one car. A 1/2 hour commute would be fine.

Hi giggle,

I live in South Portland very close to where your daughter will be going, and I love it. I work on commercial street so my commute is 3 miles into Portland, but here our property taxes are lower and the crime rate is much lower than Portland. What are you guys looking to spend if you are buying? We bought an almost new (05) beautiful house but it has no garage. I spent more than I wanted but it is a bargain for what we have. I would recommend this part of Sotu Portland as it is very close to the beautiful ocean and Portland.

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by gigglesjs

Our dd will be attending the community college in S. Portland, my dh will be working in downtown Portland (hopefully). So really just asking to get an idea of what neighborhoods to look around and "if" there are really any places to be careful with...A 2-3 bedroom place with a garage for at least one car. A 1/2 hour commute would be fine.

SMCC to downtown Portland is about ten minutes with lights and 'heavy' traffic. I am not sure how big you think this place is or the kind of traffic it has, but the reality is that you can live pretty far out in the sticks and still make to downtown Portland in a half hour.

[gigglesjs]

Thanks... we live in Miami (yuck) and my dh works about 3 miles away and on a good day it takes about 20 min.

diablogun, we will rent for the first year to get to know where we would like to live. One of our plans would be to buy further up the coast around Camden or...and rent in S. Portland until we retire.

We can't wait to be from "away"

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by K-Luv

SMCC to downtown Portland is about ten minutes with lights and 'heavy' traffic. I am not sure how big you think this place is or the kind of traffic it has, but the reality is that you can live pretty far out in the sticks and still make to downtown Portland in a half hour.

Hahaha, Exactly. Since Portland is the economic/cultural hub of the state, many look at a map (where Portland is really the only settlement of significance North of Boston and East of Manchester) and think Portland is much bigger than it is. You can easily live in a VERY quiet, very remote-feeling area and be within 1/2 hour of downtown. Just about anywhere in South Portland will be not only within 1/2 hour, but more likely within 15 minutes to downtown Portland.

However, as much as I consider "traffic" to be non-existent in Portland, heading from much of South Portland to downtown requires crossing the Casco Bay Bridge which is a drawbridge. Traffic typically slows a little here (CERTAINLY not jammed) during the morning/afternoon commute times as there is an abundance of lights (this happens anywhere). The morning/afternoon commute isn't really much of an issue (i.e. won't throw commute time off more than 2 or 3 minutes when compared to if there was no traffic at all), but it CAN be an issue if the bridge is raised for a passing ship. This can delay your commute by a good 15-20 minutes. It's not usually a problem, but it can be a bit annoying when it does happen.

Coming from Miami, you'll likely get a kick out of the notion of "traffic" or "rush hour" in Portland, but the raised draw bridge can really put a damper on your commute at times.

South Portland has some wonderful neighborhoods. I can't believe it's not a more popular destination among people looking to move to Portland. The area near Willard Beach/SMCC is gorgeous. There are some old homes just a brief walk from the beach that can be had for a good value. The makeup of South Portland is predominantly suburban but OLDER suburban (not the typical post-1990 cul-de-sac development type of suburb) so you can find a nice place with a moderate yard at a good value.

[diablogun]

Originally Posted by gigglesjs

Thanks... we live in Miami (yuck) and my dh works about 3 miles away and on a good day it takes about 20 min.

diablogun, we will rent for the first year to get to know where we would like to live. One of our plans would be to buy further up the coast around Camden or...and rent in S. Portland until we retire.

We can't wait to be from "away"

Good for you, I would recommend in this area that I referred to earlier, it is truly a great place to live. :-)

[gigglesjs]

Originally Posted by diablogun

Good for you, I would recommend in this area that I referred to earlier, it is truly a great place to live. :-)

Thank you, we search the newspaper online and craigs list almost everyday