About Brunswick (Portland, Lewiston, Auburn: for sale, HOA, condos)

[pdulong]

I served at NAS Brunswick in the mid 80's and really liked it. I am a native Floridian but am about tired of it. I now live in Orlando. Kid is graduating high school this year, employment sucks, thinking about moving. Have been in sales of capital equipment & roofing equipment. Is considering southern-mid Maine a bad move? Have an uncle in Dover that might help.
Anybody got any thoughts?

[lrfox]

If employment is bad in Orlando, I doubt you'll find it better in Southern/Midcoast Maine. Maine is a beautiful place, but hardly known for thriving economically. It'll be a slower, simpler pace but finding a job would be hard work. I would suggest working on locking something up before you move or at least having a good chunk of money aside to live on while you seek a job because it may be a while.

It's a safe, pretty area (as you know) which makes it wonderful if you have a good job, but getting that job is tough.

[pdulong]

Irfox,

Thank you for responding. Yes, things in Orlando,)Florida overall) are bad. I would love to make a move but wife, logistics, kid in school, home value. make it difficult. If things arent any better in Maine or Upper NE, might as well stay here and fight to survive. Will continue to research and make the move when time is right.
Sure would like some cool weather right about now. Global warming seems to be in full force in FL in the holiday season.

[maineguy8888]

FYI: The base is closing as we speak. You will be able to get a house cheap in the Brunswick area for the foreseeable future, but the economy around there is getting hammered (5,000 jobs gone in a flash).

[pdulong]

Thank you for your help. I really want out of Fl but cannot afford to make a foolish move. Do you thing the surrounding area like Bath will suffer badly or is the base closing going to impact everywhere?

[island mermaid]

Originally Posted by pdulong

Thank you for your help. I really want out of Fl but cannot afford to make a foolish move. Do you thing the surrounding area like Bath will suffer badly or is the base closing going to impact everywhere?

The closing of BNAS will have a certain effect on the entire area, including Bath which is only 7 miles from Brunswick and the home of Bath Iron Works. Most of the base personel have already left town but downtown still is very active. The last squadron left just a short time ago. Most personel went to JAX. The housing mrkt is not in any more of a slump than any other town in Maine. The area is still surviving, the closure will not devestate the area. We still have Bowdoin college, BIW and there are several companies interested in moving into the old BNAS. With these companies, will come jobs.

The local newspaper link: The Times Record > Front

Best of luck in your research.

[coastal_photographer]

I agree with mermaid, Bowdoin is not going anywhere and that is a huge lifeline to Brunswick. With that, I think we will be fine, or at least no worse than any other town right now.

[pdulong]

Thanks for your input. Still would need some type of anchor in order to get out of Orlando. Wife is an experienced portfolio mgr for Condos & HOA so I would need to get something that help us live comfortably. Any suggestions? Have looked at Careerbuilder and they have few including the same crap that is advertised down here. Thanks

[Mark S.]

Brunswick is a great community. Nice people. Good culture. Within easy driving distance of larger cities like Portland and Lewiston/Auburn, and it's only a few hours from Boston. Low crime. Good schools.

That being said, Maine has never been known for its strong economy, and with BNAS in the process of closing, Brunswick in particular is hurting right now. The town certainly isn't going to dry up and blow away. It will survive the base closure. But the closure has definitely hurt the community. Many businesses have already closed.

The one good side to that if you are looking to move here is that there are lots of properties for sale, and it's a buyer's market.

But I definitely would not plan on moving here without a firm job offer. Moving here with hopes of finding a job once you got here probably wouldn't be the wisest move.

If you're job hunting, the best places to look are jobsinme.com, or focus your search and check the human resources websites of businesses, organizations, colleges, etc.

[pdulong]

Anybody know of any websites with recent pictures of NASB and/or the surrounding area??