Best New England towns to raise a family (Portland, Kennebunk: sales, find a job)

[CRioux13]

My husband and I will be moving back to New England soon and want to find a small town to settle in. We were raised in Maine but are willing to live in NH or MA also. We want a small town feel, good schools, a very New Englandy feel, a town center with coffe shops, cute little restaurants and a night life. I dont want it to feel like I am living in a city. Any suggestions? I would like to be within 1.5 hours of Boston.

[WhoFanMe]

Kennebunkport comes to mind.

[Maineah]

Night life???....Not in any cute little town in Maine! They roll up the sidewalks around here at dark.

[mollysmiles]

yup... you were in the ballpark til you said that... "night life" is sitting outside at the ball park or on the deck or at the lake in the warm weather, and for me, high school basketball in the winter. You'd have had your pick of towns before that one little phrase though.

[AustinB]

Cambridge, Ma.

[CRioux13]

I disagree,
I know some towns in Maine with nightlife....Hallowell for example is a beautiful litle town with some great restaurants and nice bars. I'm not sure about places in NH and MA but thats what I am hoping people will be able to tell me

[mollysmiles]

Well, you and I have two very different definitions of "night life". To me, being able to get a coffee after 8 or find a restaurant open at 9 doesn't qualify. Good luck!

[OutDoorNut]

Originally Posted by CRioux13

My husband and I will be moving back to New England soon and want to find a small town to settle in. We were raised in Maine but are willing to live in NH or MA also. We want a small town feel, good schools, a very New Englandy feel, a town center with coffe shops, cute little restaurants and a night life. I dont want it to feel like I am living in a city. Any suggestions? I would like to be within 1.5 hours of Boston.

Somplace in New Hampshire--no sales taxes and no income taxes and fewer government laws interfering with your overall freedom. Less bother and less paperwork.

And another good thing about no income taxes: no state tax audits to worry about.

And last time I checked, New Hampshire's unemployment rate was significantly lower than Maine's, so better chance you'll find a job, and possibly for more money.

[Maineah]

When someone mentions night life I go back to my retail salesman days in Freeport. The biggest complaint was there is nothing to do in Maine after the retail stores closed around 7:00 PM and people from away get bored. There is plenty to do in Portland after the dinner hour. Hundreds of bars, restaurants, night clubs and other things. In summer there are ball games, in winter it's the Pirates or the Red Claws. The Mall is open until 10:00, there are movies, and other things to do as well.
I was going to suggest Yarmouth as a nice New England style town you might enjoy until you mentioned night life. There isn't any night life in Yarmouth. There is The Muddy Rudder for a drink, The Royal River Grill for a drink, The Deer Run Tavern for a drink, or The Amvets for a drink (only on weekends during the week they close at 8:00 Pm) That's it!
Freeport had a blues/jazz club open two years ago catering to the tourists who were bored. It lasted a year and a half and is now another empty building.

[gimme it]

Maybe Northampton, MA might fit the bill.