Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Maine > Bangor area
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 04-03-2009, 10:41 AM
 
4 posts, read 9,877 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

My husband and I might be moving to Bangor this summer and I am looking at real estate in Bangor. Can someone explain to me how they can have these big beautiful houses on these teeny, tiny, lots in town. I grew up in the Chicago area so I am not expecting an acre in town but how can you even fit a 3000 sq ft home, and a detached garage on .15 acres. After looking through the real estate listings I am beginning to wonder if y'all measure lots differently up there. Can anyone offer any insight? Are the lots really that small?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 04-03-2009, 12:01 PM
 
1,453 posts, read 2,202,798 times
Reputation: 1740
A 50' x 100' lot is 0.11 acre. 70' x 100' is 0.16 acre. If the house is 24' wide and 2 stories with a finished attic (2.5 stories) and 50' long, you get exactly 3000 sf of GLA. You also have 46' of space besides the width of the house for garage and driveway, and something less than 50' for a back yard area (given street setbacks of 15' of so).

Bangor was laid out in the 1800's like many cities in a grid format with minimal lot sizes. I've seen them as narrow as 40' in width or less. Typical lot in the urban area is 50', with many houses on a "double lot."

Check out the property taxes of Bangor and surrounding towns. I looked at a vacant house a few years ago on Essex St. to buy and fix up, and the City was taxing it at $3,000.00 a year. WAY too much for a wreck with a foundation wall caving in. And the City has never been big on admitting a mistake in tax valuation, so I passed and looked to rural areas. My taxes in Hermon, on 50 acres with house, are about $1,500.00 a year.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-03-2009, 02:49 PM
 
Location: 3.5 sq mile island ant nest next to Canada
3,036 posts, read 5,886,744 times
Reputation: 2171
Lots were small I imagine because all you needed in the city was a piece big enough for a house to sit. Most cities and some town centers in Maine are like that. Saves on taxes even back in the 1800's. The rich had the larger lots. Lot sizes are the same everywhere in the States. an acre is 43,560 sq. ft. everywhere. Now, metes and bounds are fun when you get into chains & links or rods. Fun to read the old deeds. Sometimes anyway.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Maine > Bangor area
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:14 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top