Houlton Maine? (Gorham, Caribou, Hallowell: fit in, for sale, houses)

[artist616]

Hello my fellow New Englanders!
I am looking to buy a small vacation type home that becomes my retirement home in 5 to 10 yrs....

I love some of the historic homes i see for sale in houlton...the town looks adorable and much like my tiny town in southern New England.

I have some questions for any natives who are willing to answer....
How bad does the snow get that far north?? i am in a coastal town now where we rarely see a foot or more....and the snow reaches 6-8 inches maybe 6 times per season....

how cultural and artsy is that part of maine? is there a beatnik part of that area? aka vegetarian restaurants, coffee houses, art galleries, and is there a gay community (which usually finds itself within those other types of areas....).

i understand the economic conditions....and i would likely buy a very inexpensive home outriight and work online from home while collecting my retirement....i ll have one child in college who will hopefully stay in new england.

thank you in advance!!!!

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Houlton often gets 6 to 8 inches, but it accumulates. We are thankful for it because winter sports are a big deal here.

Maine doesn't have an "artsy" culture up here. There are some very good artists, but they don't constitute a culture per se. I don't think Houlton has a vegetarian restaurant. We didn't spend the last million years rising to the top of the food chain to eat salads. We eat meat and we kill it ourselves on a regular basis. The last beatnik I saw nearly froze to death in February a decade ago. He lost some toes and fingertips.

Based on your interests and questions, you would just love Hallowell.

[MainerWannabe]

Originally Posted by artist616

Hello my fellow New Englanders!
I am looking to buy a small vacation type home that becomes my retirement home in 5 to 10 yrs....

I love some of the historic homes i see for sale in houlton...the town looks adorable and much like my tiny town in southern New England.

I have some questions for any natives who are willing to answer....
How bad does the snow get that far north?? i am in a coastal town now where we rarely see a foot or more....and the snow reaches 6-8 inches maybe 6 times per season....

how cultural and artsy is that part of maine? is there a beatnik part of that area? aka vegetarian restaurants, coffee houses, art galleries, and is there a gay community (which usually finds itself within those other types of areas....).

i understand the economic conditions....and i would likely buy a very inexpensive home outriight and work online from home while collecting my retirement....i ll have one child in college who will hopefully stay in new england.

thank you in advance!!!!

While I'm in no position to answer your question, I can relate to your post. I also am looking to buy a small place in the County to eventually retire there within more or less the same time frame as you and been looking at Houlton and Caribou a lot. Check out all the good info on CITY-DATA about this specific city: //www.city-data.com/city/Houlton-Maine.html. There are loads of incredibly detailed info. It should help you, as it did me, to have an idea of how it is. As for living there, I'll leave it to the good people on this forum to answer you, they are an exceptional group of people with most diverse life experiences, just wait and read their posts. Good luck and keep us posted. I'll be checking the answers myself too.

[brava4]

[quote=Northern Maine Land Man;17215349]Houlton often gets 6 to 8 inches, but it accumulates. We are thankful for it because winter sports are a big deal here.

Maine doesn't have an "artsy" culture up here. There are some very good artists, but they don't constitute a culture per se. I don't think Houlton has a vegetarian restaurant. We didn't spend the last million years rising to the top of the food chain to eat salads. We eat meat and we kill it ourselves on a regular basis. The last beatnik I saw nearly froze to death in February a decade ago. He lost some toes and fingertips.


That seems rather nasty and unnecessary.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Some here would lure people into an imaginary setting that does not exist. Dreams are fine, but reality can be harsh. Based on content in the OP, the poster would definitely be happier in Hallowell. Down there they have lots of vegetarian restaurants, an art culture, beatnik culture, art galleries and a gay community you definitely will not have to search for. This is not based on some other post on an internet site. I used to go there on a monthly basis for meetings.

[brava4]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

Some here would lure people into an imaginary setting that does not exist. Dreams are fine, but reality can be harsh. Based on content in the OP, the poster would definitely be happier in Hallowell. Down there they have lots of vegetarian restaurants, an art culture, beatnik culture, art galleries and a gay community you definitely will not have to search for. This is not based on some other post on an internet site. I used to go there on a monthly basis for meetings.

I understand what you are saying, above, but really, none of that decent message got through, at least not to me, from your first post.
I guess when I read it it seemed more like a "wow, what a jerk" instead of a friendly tap on the shoulder to say, "hey bud, it just ain't so..."

That is all.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by brava4

I understand what you are saying, above, but really, none of that decent message got through, at least not to me, from your first post.
I guess when I read it it seemed more like a "wow, what a jerk" instead of a friendly tap on the shoulder to say, "hey bud, it just ain't so..."

That is all.

NMLM is right on here and there is no need to "shoot the messenger " because you find his delivery a bit gruff. He answered the OP's question directly with enough emphasis on the distasteful to let him/her read between the lines a bit and perhaps form the understanding quickly that their perception of Houlton is incorrect. Hallowell would be a better fit. As would Blue Hill and Ogunquit or even Gorham. After all we are supposed to be steering people toward places where we believe through our experiences they would fit in and feel welcomed.

[brava4]

Yes, we are allllllllllllllllllllllll entited to our opinion. It is alllllllllllllllllllll in the presentation. I thought it was offensive and the point lost because of it. So you find him gruff too, then?

[artist616]

Thanks NMLM and Brava,
i did check into hallowell and there are a lot of galleries...this is an excellent forum for someone looking to educate themselves about the local culture....each response tells a story..thank you!

[artist616]

thanks Mainer! we can learn together :-)