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- Cost of living Maine
- Job market Cali
- Weather Cali
- Recreation Cali
- People's friendliness Cali, Maine people arent nice
- Public transportation Cali
- Crime Maine
- Cultural attitudes Cali
- Scenery Cali
- Outdoor activities Tie
California-this is a silly comparison tbh. Cali outnumbers Maine 39 to 1 for a reason.
People who call ME an economic wasteland will be very surprised at what the great states of Rural NC, SC, GA, MS, NoFlo, AL, MS, LA, AR, MO, TN not BNA, IN not Indy, OK not OKC, KN, NE not Omaha, WV, SD are like... to name just a few...
What? So what those states mostly have urban areas with economies. Maine doesn't. No one is surprised.
Most of those states are better off from an economic standpoint than Maine. In the real world, where we can't pretend certain metros don't exist or separate them from the rest of the state, the bulk of those are are better off than Maine. Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, New Orleans, Little Rock, Nashville, Kansas City, OKC, Omaha, and Indianapolis do exist and Maine has no equivalent or anything even comparable. And in terms of rural Maine, most of it isn't particularly much better off than the rural communities in most of those places.
How about if we're comparing Maine to California (like this thread is intended to do) - one of the strongest economies vs. one of the weakest? Is it "silly" then?
100%. Maine is a very weak economy in a rapidly aging state that becomes more obsolete every day.
Unless you're just like them Maine is dull, judgmental, dreary, xenophobic, neurotic and worse.
100%. Maine is a very weak economy in a rapidly aging state that becomes more obsolete every day.
The lack of economic opportunity and the aging population is a recurring headline on the news in Maine. There's serious concern about the long-term impacts of this brain drain in the state. I went to college in Southern Maine and lived there for a few years after school. Not only did the school really try hard to keep graduates local (including loan forgiveness for graduates who stayed X number of years in some cases), but it was a brutal place to try and find work that made it possibly to live comfortably given the COL. And that was in Portland, the economic hub of the region. Lots of people who love Maine are forced to leave for those same reasons.
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Originally Posted by JohnGuterson
Safest state in the country though, that's gotta be worth something.
Definitely. And it's a very beautiful state with a handful of good school districts (assuming you can find a job that will let you afford them). And for as much as Mainers have a reputation for being "cold," I've found them to be great people (if not a little provincial). I'd never live there permanently again, but I do love visiting.
Okay, so everything you are saying does not conflict with what I said. So what are you and said posters disagreeing with exactly?
I've actually traveled through and stayed in inland Maine. It wasn't shocking to me. I grew up in Appalachia.
Yeah the tourist season helps keep it afloat. It sure does lift it off of the bottom of the pile. That's actually what I'm saying. And?
I'm saying that calling Maine an "economic wasteland" is not a nice way to frame it; but I don't think it's necessarily inaccurate which is what you seem to be arguing. Maine's tourism industry is centered around Portland and a handful of small villages along the coast and few more in the Mountains and lakes - they're not representative of the majority of the state by a long, long shot. While that may put it a tick above West Virginia or Mississippi on the economic ranks, it's still a bottom of the barrel economy overall, not just when compared to California. The fact that you can draw parallels between interior Maine and Appalachia (which is at the very bottom of the barrel economically) drives my point home.
I'm saying that calling Maine an "economic wasteland" is not a nice way to frame it; but I don't think it's necessarily inaccurate which is what you seem to be arguing. Maine's tourism industry is centered around Portland and a handful of small villages along the coast and few more in the Mountains and lakes - they're not representative of the majority of the state by a long, long shot. While that may put it a tick above West Virginia or Mississippi on the economic ranks, it's still a bottom of the barrel economy overall, not just when compared to California. The fact that you can draw parallels between interior Maine and Appalachia (which is at the very bottom of the barrel economically) drives my point home.
I sure am arguing it is inaccurate (more specifically, an exaggeration, as I am not arguing that Maine is one of our country's economic powerhouses either). A state that ranks 19/53 in lowest poverty rate is not an economic wasteland.
That's not the driving point you think it is. Inland Maine does not represent some majority of the state's population. That Inland Maine could remind one of Appalachia is not representative of Maine's bigger population hubs.
California has more oppurtunities and even though it has its negatives, its still one of the best places to be if you want to get in various industries whether entertainment, tech, business, etc. I do not hear many people moving to Maine to move up in the economic ladder. Plus California has much more ammeinites and the weather is considered the best in the nation which is a huge draw for many people compared to Maine. I feel like the highs of California are greather than Maine's.
But compared to Maine, California's negatives are much more extreme.
One must remember that even pre-pandemic, California has had a higher unemployment rate compared to Maine.
As of this June and out of ALL 360+ metro areas in the country, four metros in the San Joaquin valley are in the top ten highest in unemployment (look at https://www.bls.gov/web/metro/laummtrk.htm).
Therefore, if one is to call Maine economically depressed, its hard to ignore the fact that California can be even more economically depressed, especially in the San Joaquin Valley, which might as well be the Mississippi of the west.
I won't even get into the homelessness that exist in the major cities...
I could agree that California has much larger extremes on either end that are probably not found in Maine. But the vast majority of Californians do not live like folks in Beverly Hills or the San Joaquin Valley, or the Deserts.
I think Maine has a leg up on a few things. Warmer water, more lush, safer, and nice change of seasons. But on a whole there really is something for every type in California. It might not be Shangri-La like the TV shows and movies show you. But there is something for everyone.
Okay, to be fair I was fixated on a single (actually, two) word(s) because people were disagreeing with me for saying that "economic wasteland" is an exaggeration. And for the record, it is an exaggeration. If you want to disagree with me about my point, be prepared for me to stay on the point. I have been to "economic wastelands." Maine, especially when spoken of so broadly, certainly does not qualify.
Right, and you guys can fixate on the word "prosperous" all you want, but the actual context I was speaking about was far more relaxed in saying that there are "many prosperous small towns" (note: I did not say the majority of small towns are prosperous, etc.) than the blanket statement that "Maine is an economic wasteland."
It’s really not an exaggeration. Sure, Maine has the flyover country jobs. Health care. Teacher. Cop. It has some tourist industry-driven pockets of affluence driven by out of state money. It’s biggest export is the top-10% of every high school graduating class. Once they finish college, most vanish to places with better economic opportunity. I’m from an economic wasteland. Irfox used to live here. Like the rest of the top-10% of my high school graduating class, I left town the day I graduated from college. My classmates scattered around the country but most landed somewhere in the Northeast Corridor.
Compare Maine to New Hampshire and Vermont. Maine has 31.8% college educated adults. New Hampshire 37%. Vermont 38%. Rhode Island, an economically troubled state, is 2nd worst in New England at 34.2%. You can’t be competitive in the global economy with a poorly skilled workforce.
What? So what those states mostly have urban areas with economies. Maine doesn't. No one is surprised.
No wasteland isnt Northern Maine. Wasteland is like.. Mississippi Delta where minimum wages are $7.25 an hour, 56% of homes are behind on their mortgages and poverty rates exceed 60%.
Sorry, Maine does not meet that criteria. Very few parts of the US do. Desolute =/= wasteland.
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