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Any thoughts? We're looking for a place to put down roots, and to raise out three littles (ages 8, 5, and 2). DH has a good job offer, but we're hearing mixed things about Bangor. Leaving this vague at this point, as to allow free commentary . The main question is - overall, is it a good environment to raise kids? Any and all thoughts are welcome!
I am in Bangor and have been for years after comming to Maine from MA. We started out in Presque Isle but after about 18 months moved here. There has been so many changes in this community since we have been here I could not begin to name them all. Most of them are good with just a few mistakes the community made along the way. One of the errors that the city fathers made in the mid 60s was tearing down our Union Station. Of course in those days all they could envision was the money they would get from the Federal Government for "Urban Renewal"
We have about everything a young family could want. To name a few, good schools, an excellent Children's Museum in the downtown, which is in what used to be one of our biggest department store. This was done about 10 years ago. The ages of your children ar perfect for this. We hav a big choice of restaurants and many that are not chains. There are many parks -about 8 or 9 and each one differnt. One of the biggest has a very nice pool that was paid for and donated by Stephen King and also a state of the art ball field "lighted" also donated by the Kings. This same park has a ice hockey rink, tennis courts and alos just some open space. We have movie theaters, a mall and are about 8 miles from the University of Maine. There is also a great repertory Theater on Main Stree that runs from Sept. to May each year. Another advantage IMO is that we are so close - one hour or less - to the ocean. For those that are interested there are big name concerts on the river from about May to October. There is a newly completed Arena that can accomodate shows and conventions that will hold about 8000. Yesterday was the 3rd and last day of our annual "Folk Festival" that happens every August the weekend before Labor Day weekend. I brings close to 90,000 in over the 3 days. This is a festival without a mid-way and has music from all over, many ethnic foods and great crafts.
Check us out and visit. Where are you comming from? I would be interested in some of the "mixed things" you are hearing about Bangor.
The biggest thing that you hear about from Bangor as far as problems go are drug abuse and the associated crimes.........that could happen anywhere in the U.S. but there are some neighborhoods/streets near downtown that you would want to stay away from........mostly tenements/rentals I believe. Other than that.........Bangor is a great small city with more to do (especially in the summer) than maybe most "cities" with 30,000 people. Lots of towns around Bangor to consider living (Veazie, Hermon, Hampden, Winterport might be some places that you will want to check out). Good luck!
As far as the negative commentary, I will preface by saying that I am still at the stage of just trying to get a better picture and gather facts - I have no idea if the comments are based on fact, or stretching the truth, or conjecture, or total nonsense pulled from thin air...I'm in the process of researching the numbers/percents to check for accuracy.
Not meaning to insult nor make assumptions based on stereotypes, these are some comments I've gotten:
Some have said there's a dangerous mix of high poverty and high prescription drug abuse. I was told it "might be hard for our kids to find trustworthy friends as they grow, when 25% of the pop is at/below poverty, 40% children qualify for subsidized lunches, 139 newborns were born drug addicted in a recent year, and most crimes are drug related with several methadone clinics in the city."
These same people said that if we didn't have young children, it would be a great place for us- as adults, we can chose our friends with more wisdom & less peer pressure. Not sure what to think, but it's a serious enough concern that I'm trying to figure it out.
Also "there's four seasons: winter, mud, bug, and construction."
And other comments along those two themes....
We're from upstate NY- the winter/construction doesn't scare us, unless it's so much colder. We love snow .
Drugs are obviously everywhere - any city will have areas to be avoided. But the picture I'm getting (which may be wrong) is that it's at epidemic levels...
I think Bangor is a good place to raise a family and agree with what Newdaawn posted.
There are certain neighborhoods that I wouldn't want to live in, but there are many great family neighborhoods. The east side of Bangor tends to be a bit more affluent and has the better schools (per the school rating system).
I would also check out Hampden. They have a wonderful school system and it is minutes to Bangor.
lol I think it kind of funny that someone would say the east side is more "affluent". Wondering how that judgement was made. Stephen King's mansion and his mansion guest house are on the west side. Schools seem to be pretty much the same all over the city. Hampden is a nice community but if you live outside of the downtown area you need to maintain a well and your own septic system and if you plan to build you are required to have 2 acres to accomodate those systems. Another con to that is what the price of fire insurance would be if you live out beyond the public water supply. That would be true of most of the other communities where you are not on public water/sewer.
There certainly is no "perfect" place. You just have to make you own priorities and go from there.
.. Drugs are obviously everywhere - any city will have areas to be avoided. But the picture I'm getting (which may be wrong) is that it's at epidemic levels...
Welcome.
We live 20 minutes North of Bangor, my Dw works in Bangor. We are not aware of any 'drug epidemic' in Bangor. There certainly are a few blocks where folks may not look reputable. Though I have certainly lived in numerous other places where drug use and crime were a lot higher than in this county. We do not have drug-related shootings / murders every night in this area, like we see in other cities. We do not have meth-lab busts every month here, like we see in other cities. We occasionally see a report about bath-salts, and suddenly locals act like there is an epidemic.
Bangor is a very safe city. Crime is very low mostly everywhere in Maine.
I suggest that you come here and rent. Pick any community in a 15 minute radius of Bangor, and rent a home for six months to a year.
What you see, what I see might be different things. Where I would think was perfect you might not like. If you rent for a while, then you have a home-base from which you can explore.
Also by shopping at leisure for a permanent home, you will be able to take advantage of the deals when they come up.
I've done more research on my own, and with that, along with comments here, I am getting a clearer picture .
To clarify, we're not looking for affluence- just a safe place to raise our three. We're dreaming of building a little house on 50+ acres, where we can enjoy gardening, making home for ourselves, and time with our kiddos .
lol I think it kind of funny that someone would say the east side is more "affluent". Wondering how that judgement was made. Stephen King's mansion and his mansion guest house are on the west side. Schools seem to be pretty much the same all over the city. Hampden is a nice community but if you live outside of the downtown area you need to maintain a well and your own septic system and if you plan to build you are required to have 2 acres to accomodate those systems. Another con to that is what the price of fire insurance would be if you live out beyond the public water supply. That would be true of most of the other communities where you are not on public water/sewer.
There certainly is no "perfect" place. You just have to make you own priorities and go from there.
My personal opinion is that the nicer neighborhoods and subdivisions are on the east side. Of course there are nice neighborhoods on the west side as well, which is why I said "a bit". When the school ratings came out there was quite a bit of debate regarding why Cohen school was rated higher than Doughty, and many said it was not fair because the east side is more "affluent" (per discussion and editorials in the BDN).
OP, I'm not sure if you could find 50+ acres in Bangor, but it is definitely attainable in the surrounding communities. It is very safe around here. I hope that you find what you are looking for
As far as the negative commentary, I will preface by saying that I am still at the stage of just trying to get a better picture and gather facts - I have no idea if the comments are based on fact, or stretching the truth, or conjecture, or total nonsense pulled from thin air...I'm in the process of researching the numbers/percents to check for accuracy.
Not meaning to insult nor make assumptions based on stereotypes, these are some comments I've gotten:
Some have said there's a dangerous mix of high poverty and high prescription drug abuse. I was told it "might be hard for our kids to find trustworthy friends as they grow, when 25% of the pop is at/below poverty, 40% children qualify for subsidized lunches, 139 newborns were born drug addicted in a recent year, and most crimes are drug related with several methadone clinics in the city."
These same people said that if we didn't have young children, it would be a great place for us- as adults, we can chose our friends with more wisdom & less peer pressure. Not sure what to think, but it's a serious enough concern that I'm trying to figure it out.
Also "there's four seasons: winter, mud, bug, and construction."
And other comments along those two themes....
We're from upstate NY- the winter/construction doesn't scare us, unless it's so much colder. We love snow .
Drugs are obviously everywhere - any city will have areas to be avoided. But the picture I'm getting (which may be wrong) is that it's at epidemic levels...
The good things I've heard - you've confirmed
Welcome.
Newdaawn paints a very good general picture of Bangor IMHO. The best thing you could do would be to visit. Overall, it is a great place to raise kids, but you may also want to consider other surrounding suburbs as well if you are looking for land.
As far as the drug issue and resulting crime level, speaking as an observer from a closer (work-related) perspective, IMHO, yes we have seen an increase in drug abuse - particularly in the last 15 years. I've been in the greater Bangor area for many years as well (having grown up nearby). Our PD and EMS people are called on to train other areas in Maine and other states in how to handle those who have consumed Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (aka Bath Salts or Monkey Dust). Why this drug had such a toe hold on Bangor when it first came out is unknown to many of us who were privy to a closer inspection of it during its reign; however, I'm happy to say that the "epidemic" that many people spoke of a few years back has definitely waned. I think once people started seeing what kind of physical havoc it caused, it started falling out of favor as a recreational drug. The drug "Spice" was also popular for a while (synthetic marijuana) but those businesses who sold it have worked an agreement with the city to no longer stock it at all. I call that good cooperation.
The area's medical community is starting to step up to the plate with tracking prescription drugs, but yes, there is still a problem here, but I don't think it's any worse than any other area anyway. Be that as it may, Bangor does house 3 methadone clinics. They are met with a variety of "opinion" but suffice to say that when the economy tanked, many people naturally moved closer to where core services such as this are located, so Bangor has seen an increase in resulting problems that sometimes come with such services. And (not meaning to 'stereotype') unfortunately, where there is a drug problem, there is usually poverty (often because of the drug abuse issue).
That said, not all poverty is caused by drug abuse - there are those who work very hard at low paying jobs, but still manage to raise great kids who appreciate what they have. I've met many over the years. We are suburbanites, and I'll just add that I have found that there can be some untrustworthy subdivision "upper" income kids as well.
I have two teenagers now, and there have been a few times when I had to sever their ties with toxic friends, but as I tell my kids, "It's my job and I do it well, so suck it up and find other friends." If you are a proactive parent in this regard, your children should not have a problem finding friends who are trustworthy.
Oh sure, once or twice I got the major heaving sigh and immediate eyeball roll, but the bottom line is that they know I have their back. Personally, I think Bangor and surrounding communities have less of this kind of foolishness as to compared to my relatives spread across the US. Just my .02 there.
As far as downtown Bangor is concerned, they have really worked hard to bring business, culture and fun back to Bangor. IMHO they are doing a great job. You may have also heard about problems with loitering in downtown. Bangor PD has brought back a foot patrol to the area, and much of the issues are being dealt with and getting better.
Last edited by cebdark; 08-31-2013 at 08:24 PM..
Reason: Bad Grammar! Bad! Bad! No biscuit for you!
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. The main question is - overall, is it a good environment to raise kids? Any and all thoughts are welcome! 
If you are a proactive parent in this regard, your children should not have a problem finding friends who are trustworthy. 
