How would you classify Waterville? (Portland: houses, neighborhoods, cinema)

[hinher]

Is it "real Maine," is it "northern Massachusetts" or is it in a category all of its own? It doesn't seem to be a prosperous southern maine town, but at the same time seems a lot more urban than what most would classify as rural maine.I don't mean to offend anybody withe the titles I used for the different parts of Maine, I simply picked those because they are the terms I most often hear to describe the two cultural sections of Maine.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Waterville is an old mill town that lost much of its industry. They are recovering nicely and have a great mayor who encourages business. He will soon be our new governor. No one economic, religious or social group dominates Waterville. I see it as small scale cosmopolitan.

[maineguy8888]

I never liked it, but then I had a few hours to kill there this fall and walked/drove around. I changed my opinion........seems like the downtown is in good shape; many great old buildings have been preserved; good variety of stores; a couple really nice parks; and it has Railroad Square Cinema (among other places). It's definitely not Massachusetts North......it's more of what you call "real Maine". I could definitely live there, I think.

[mainebrokerman]

waterville is a good size town, an old mainstreet, but many malls and many nice neighborhoods

many nice smaller towns around waterville- sydney, winslow, oakland,vassalboro.

[mensaguy]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

Waterville is an old mill town that lost much of its industry. They are recovering nicely and have a great mayor who encourages business. He will soon be our new governor. No one economic, religious or social group dominates Waterville. I see it as small scale cosmopolitan.

On balance, some people who live in Waterville have a very different view of the mayor's administration.

[AustinB]

Originally Posted by mensaguy

On balance, some people who live in Waterville have a very different view of the mayor's administration.

I think that you will find differing opinions everywhere.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by mensaguy

On balance, some people who live in Waterville have a very different view of the mayor's administration.

Yeah the ones he took welfare away from! Coming soon to a state near you...the end of blood suckers!

[Gulliver34]

I'm curious about Waterville, too, as it's one of a few communities we're considering for a relocation. How are the schools? Is there a good sense of community? Welcoming to newcomers? What about the housing stock? We can pay up to $650,000 or so, but that seems VERY high end for Waterville, and there doesn't seem much inventory there. Good cultural attractions, restaurants, things to do?

[maineguy8888]

Originally Posted by Gulliver34

I'm curious about Waterville, too, as it's one of a few communities we're considering for a relocation. How are the schools? Is there a good sense of community? Welcoming to newcomers? What about the housing stock? We can pay up to $650,000 or so, but that seems VERY high end for Waterville, and there doesn't seem much inventory there. Good cultural attractions, restaurants, things to do?

Can't answer most of your questions, but it's a fairly small town, so I would think it would have a good sense of community. It's coming back after being in the doldrums for a while. I saw some really nice houses while driving around Waterville recently. $650,000 would indeed be a very expensive house there, as it's not near the coast or Portland. You can get one for much less, I would think. It has the Railroad Square Cinema, which is really neat. Colby College has concerts, etc. I saw a decent number of restaurants while driving around........it has all the "chain" restaurants like Applebees, etc. and also had some local joints too (downtown).
Good luck!

[Gulliver34]

Thank you, maineguy - really appreciate it!