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pixieshmoo! Hysterical, I look at the obits also, when travelling or visiting an area and I draw the same conclusion! I don't think I've ever "met" anyone else that has done that and reached the same conclusion.
Why thank you very much! I shall let my husband know I'm not the only "weirdo" who does that...LOL!!! He thought I was crazy for awhile because I would just yell out all the ages I saw, until he started seeing the pattern too. Unfortunately around here we don't get the pleasure of having so many people "grow old" (the ones who do usually end up in Florida anyway ). Too many young "casualties" you read about. I do, as you obviously do too, think that it truly shows something about the difference in lifestyles.
here is some news from tonights broadcast I found on the internet on the Albuquerque,New Mexico news.
Michael Paul Astorga, the fugitive suspected of shooting and killing a Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office deputy 12 days ago, was taken into custody early this morning in Juarez, Mexico.
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A man who was apparently cleaning out the trunk of his car was shot and killed Sunday evening behind a drugstore near Rio Grande and Central.
Witnesses reported hearing several shots shortly before 7:00 pm. A short time later, police found 26-year-old Clifton Montoya dead in a pool of blood near the intersection of Hollywood and Rio Grande Boulevard.
“He had apparently been shot in the temple and as the cops moved him you could see he was shot in the left leg and stomach,” said Leighanne Milligan, who was at the scene Sunday after the shooting
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This is how it is in Albuquerque -I copied & pasted this from the KOB 4 website in Albuquerque.
Folks, you need to understand that in pro gun states victims shoot back, so pulling a gun is not an option for most. Really, most crime is domestic stuff and living in NH I never hear about gang activity like I did in Harftford, CT.
Bangor didnt seem to have much crime at all. Yes you will always have crime no matter where you go. I just to live in Ellsworth which is 23 miles from Bangor. I also lived in Winterport. The only crime i have seen there is Drugs, and domestic violence.
I now live in a city with 100K people in it. There is alot of crime here. I have seen drive by shootings and hold ups. Now we are moving to Anchorage Alaska, I hope there isnt much crime there. So the crime in Maine is nothing!!! You will like it there, if you like the small town feel. good luck!
I dont know where in Maine your talking about seeing stick-ups and drive-by's, but try living in New Mexico, we are the 7th most dangerous state in the country.I have been robbed numerous times(too many to count in different towns is New Mexico), someone threatend to kill me for looking at his car, someone blocked my car off on the highway because he didnt like the fact I was wearing a L.A. Dodgers cap and wanted to fight, I've had guns pulled on me a couple of times,I've had my identity stolen twice,I saw a drive-by in front of my house from a rival gang shooting at each other,I seen a convience store get robbed at gun-point,I seen the swat team comming at me with machine guns hunting for a shooting suspect,I seen a guy get hit with a rim from a car in the face and knocked out, I had my car stolen, and I hear gun shots often around where I live. Now u think the crime is bad u seen in Maine, try living in New Mexico, its a whole different world over here, 3 Albuquerque cops have been murdered in the last 8 months here.3 smaller towns in New Mexico are on the list of the most dangerous towns in America.
Domestic violence is the big situation in Maine, no doubt. However, when it comes to random crimes, murders, etc., it's just not something that happens very often here each year. Usually everything is pre-meditated in one form or another.
The big problem is idiots not knowing how to drive on snow or ice. I think that ruins people day more often than crime in any given year here. They do plow, especially here in Bangor, but people tend to think 4x4 means 'won't slide into a guard rail'.
Drugs is a problem (like everywhere else), but not like in metro areas in other states where you'll see people actively using the stuff in public. We have added facilities to help people with their addictions over the years. Many employers, especially chain ones, have no interest in employing individuals that use drugs. Home Depot is one of many that have it posted on the door.
I live in Bangor and I definitely love living here. I certainly feel safe. I feel safe in Portland as well. I can't say the same if I'm in Lewiston.
I myself have had a thread going in here for a while now regarding moving to Maine. (see Thinking About Moving to Maine). Just to brief you, we're coming out of Jersey (Northern NJ, where it's extremely overpopulated, smashed between Newark and New York City, and is becoming a drug and gang infested area). Anyway, I am in here reading all of your replies and have been pretty pleased with most of them. However, I'm iffy on some things. One, why is it that you feel safe in Bangor and Portland areas and not Lewiston? What's wrong with the Lewiston-Auburn area? And two, why is it that I keep seeing Domestic Violence come up? This is really starting to bother me. I mean, from what I've learned we have a much higher crime rate here than there, and in more crime categories. I understand that maybe other crime is so rare that domestic violence is the only thing people notice, however, I'm starting to dislike everyone saying things like "Maine is very safe, except for domestic violence" or "I love it here, just watch out for domestic violence" or "Nothing bad really happens here except some domestic violence". I'm not about to join a gang, kill someone or sniff some cocaine, but I sure as hell don't want to be getting the crap beat out of me by my husband either, or have my children deal with that when they grow up. HOW serious is this domestic violence problem? Lastly, the places or people that have and do drugs, HOW much of a concern is this? What areas or towns? Is it bad in schools? If so, which ones?
I hope I'm not coming off hostile, believe me that is not my intention. I'm maybe 80% even 90% for Maine as opposed to here, but the more I hear about the cost of living (gas, electric, groceries, taxes), domestic violence, lack of jobs and your kids getting into trouble unless you live in a town where they're occupied every second of the day, the more I'm starting to wonder why I don't just stay here. And believe me, here sucks...(at least it has started to in the last 10 years).
One, why is it that you feel safe in Bangor and Portland areas and not Lewiston?
I think Lewiston is a dive, to be honest. Auburn is alright, but Lewiston feels dirty to me in the same way that some places in inner Boston do.
I have nothing necessarily wrong with the area, I'd just not want to live there or be there after dark. I know people who live there that are regularly in and out of the legal system and it just doesn't feel right to me when I'm there. I'd sooner live in a community outside of that area if I had to work there.
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And two, why is it that I keep seeing Domestic Violence come up?
Most of the violent crime here involves girlfriend and boyfriend, husband and wife, etc. (which is what Domestic Violence means specifically) We don't have 'random acts of violence' or 'random acts of crime' here as a general whole.
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I'm not about to join a gang, kill someone or sniff some cocaine, but I sure as hell don't want to be getting the crap beat out of me by my husband either, or have my children deal with that when they grow up.
First and foremost, there are no 'gangs' or 'gang related activity' here. As for drug use specifically, there is some heroin use and some marijuana use by high school students here. In small towns it's generally more prevalent than in the city. Underage drinking is also a concern, and certainly happens more in small town than in the cities as well.
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HOW serious is this domestic violence problem? Lastly, the places or people that have and do drugs, HOW much of a concern is this? What areas or towns? Is it bad in schools? If so, which ones?
I live in a quiet community near the high school with a Group Home for kids from troubled families that need to sort out their stuff across the street. There's no domestic violence problem where I am, no-one has ever been robbed, killed, etc. here either. As a matter of fact, it's the same way across most of the city. There's a hefty police presence here to take care of the problems that arise.
However, you will, a few times a year, see in the newspaper, that some girlfriend out in the sticks shot or stabbed their boyfriend (or the inverse). And yes, it will have probably happened out at some house trailer in the middle of a town that is in the middle of virtual nowhere. This is NOT the land of violent crime, anywhere in this state. Realize that ANY happenings in ANY part of the state appear in local news on TV and in newspapers. If someone gets killed hunting accidently, it's news. If someone dies in a car accident anywhere in the state, it's news.
If you are trying to create parallels between here and NJ, you will find this to be difficult. There's virtually no crime here, especially compared to NJ.
From BangorRegion.com:
Crime Rates of Selected Metro Areas
City/State Population Murder Rape Robbery
Bangor ME 33,000 0 6 20
Burlington VT 38,900 3 13 21
West Haven CT 51,765 1 2 58
New Haven CT 123,489 12 56 831
Hartford CT 131,843 21 52 765
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As for drug use. I do not know specific population of drug use in the city. I graduated high school here in 2000. Were there people who used weed, did underage drinking, and/or smoked cigarettes? Absolutely. Were these people a problem or trying to push it on me? Never happened. My sister graduated a year ago and did not have these problems either and she's not as thick-skinned as I am regarding other people.
If you are instilling good values in your kids, then this isn't an issue. I have to trust you are, since you're in NJ where these problems will come up more often than here. You will not (nor have I ever) see someone on the street using or dealing drugs here. I would have NO qualms whatsoever with having kids go to school here. We DO have drug treatment centers, but there are no long lines nor have I seen or known people that use them.
Many places that employ here will not employ individuals who fail drug testing.
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I hope I'm not coming off hostile, believe me that is not my intention. .... cost of living (gas, electric, groceries, taxes), domestic violence, lack of jobs and your kids getting into trouble unless you live in a town where they're occupied every second of the day....
You're not coming off as hostile. Sometimes words don't project a certain way.
I've been to Jersey several times and have friends who are from there. Those people would rather be here and usually are on vacation. However, many are in contracting business that aren't needed here. For instance, swimming pools are plentiful in NJ but not here in the same density. A pool service guy is not going to move from there to here and have the same degree of success.
Gas costs are around the same as other places in Northern New England. Right now it's around 2.86/gal because of recent hikes in fuel costs for regular. In smaller rural communities it could be a few cents either direction.
Groceries cost about the same as other places in Northern New England. I have family who makes around 30 grand a year here and live comfortably (as well as own a house). That can't be said about a lot of places, especially NJ.
Taxes are a consideration, mostly in the city. Living in Bangor can be an expensive process for property taxes (3 grand a year where I sit in 4 bedroom 2 bath house 5 minutes from downtown), but if you live in a surrounding town (Veazie, for instance), it can cost less. If you build in an unestablished township, you can pay very little as well.
As for job availability. It depends on who you are and what you do (as I've stated above). There are a lot of small businesses looking for people here, but it depends specifically on your interests and skill set. The Hospital in Bangor is generally always hiring (largest facility North of Boston) for nursing and various desk jobs. The retail and food service sector is always hiring, namely because of constant growth in those sectors.
I encourage you to check out bangornews.com, which covers most of the northern region of the state (Portland has their own papers). They have both a job search and the daily news and happenings here.
I hope I clarified some of this. Feel free to reply if you need more information.
--D
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). Too many young "casualties" you read about. I do, as you obviously do too, think that it truly shows something about the difference in lifestyles. 
