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I am amazed at how many spelling errors I left in that post, sorry.
I read this to my wife [she also makes soap], she informed me that the couple who bought the restaurant out in Lincoln, has had to have one go back to work part time. They had no knowledge of business taxes, and they failed to hire an accountant to file their taxes for them. So they messed up badly, and have needed one of them to work outside to support their restaurant.
Now for the bad news: and more specifically to your point [and I do apologize for not having stated this clearly in my previous post]: B&Bs are in tourist areas. Taxes are higher, prices are higher, and to get into an existing one will likely cost you $1,000,000. If you have a resulting mortgage payment that you must meet each month, then you will starve.
For a B&B to 'work', it must be in a 'hot' location, with no mortgage, and nobody taking a salary.
I am sorry to have to say this however, but moving to Maine while broke, with the hopes of operating a B&B, is not something that I can in good faith advise you to do.
On the other hand.
If you bought land out rural in a forest, and dropped a few one-room cabins on it. Each one secluded, each with: a kerosene stove, a chemical toilet, a 55-gallon drum for potable water, two beds, and a heater.
You could list them on the WWW, for artists or fishermen. Anyone wishing to vacation in Maine far away from the tourists.
You could buy that land for around $300/acre, and annual taxes would be around $1.00 to $1.25 per acre oer year.
Ice-fishermen and snowmobilers in the winter, etc,...
You could likely keep them filled most of the year.
Look around hard, and find a location with good paved roads and everyone will have easy year around access.
The other thing I would wonder about with any family living like that is how do they afford health insurance?...do they have a retirement set up for themselves?
I applaude anyone that could be that self-sufficient. But there are just certain things that you can't do yourself, are must haves and aren't cheap.
I checked this thread after being away for a while. I am thankful for all the insight people have provided. I will say though that there was one point I tried to emphasize which didn't seem to be adressed much.
The state is losing YOUNG people.
Alot of people are relocating to the state later in life it seems, or are retiring in the state. But seldom are enthusiastic young professionals actually moving into the state. Perhaps young professionals are moving to the southern Maine area to some extent. But to places like Brunswick, or say Augusta or Lewiston, where new lifeblood is needed, there is not much of an influx of young professionals from what I understand.
I was trying to emphasize that the state needs to embrace enthusiastic young Maine nerds like me who want to make a difference in the state, even if they are not from the state. I think that I was actually so unusual to my employer, simply because I actually was young and motivated to move to Brunswick.
Furthermore, maybe it would seem unusual any of the employers in Maine, to have a young person want to move to the area, simply because it maybe isn't happening all that much.
Maybe the problem is more specific to Brunswick, because of the base closure. I just think it would help if the community doesn't resort to a bunker mentality when dealing with the problem, and turn young professional outsiders away when they may need them the most.
One of the main things is that the employer may have been trying to protect the jobs for the locals who will be hit hard by the base closure. If thats the case, I can understand that. However, it has to be said that this is a bunker mentality of sorts.
I would also like to say that I think its somewhat of a myth that Mainers are super welcoming of tourists or people from outside the state. Thats not to say that people are outright mean, but that they are not nessisarily super welcoming. When any area, nomatter which state, is hit with economic problems, a certain us versus them mentality may develop amoung disgruntled residents. During certain parts of the 80's or 90's things may have been different in Maine. But nowadays, as with most issues in the state, I think a troubled economy pretty much is the beginning and end of the story. I do think however that there are few notable exceptions to this. In thriving tourist hotspots like Ogunquit or Bar Harbor, money is flowing, people are relivatively happy and are thus welcoming.
To me, the particular employer I tallked to didn't seem to fully appreciate his town or state, though perhaps this critical attitude was justified. Putting Maine's economic issues aside, some lifetime Mainers may be a bit bewildered at why outsiders seem to have an idealized view of the state, maybe because they don't know what its like to live in places like the hypersprawl suburbs of Boston or in the more materialistic areas in Connectcut.
But in the end, who am I to critisize? I really have NO right to. I AM an outsider. If I don't like what the state has to offer, I can look elsewhere.
Have you looked at Lee, Maine? We have everything for all four seasons including lakes, trails, a ski area and great schools. Home schoolers are welcome, but maybe one of your kids wants to play in a band. Newcomers are welcome and you can make it here.
I checked this thread after being away for a while. I am thankful for all the insight people have provided. I will say though that there was one point I tried to emphasize which didn't seem to be adressed much.
The state is losing YOUNG people.
Alot of people are relocating to the state later in life it seems, or are retiring in the state. But seldom are enthusiastic young professionals actually moving into the state. Perhaps young professionals are moving to the southern Maine area to some extent. But to places like Brunswick, or say Augusta or Lewiston, where new lifeblood is needed, there is not much of an influx of young professionals from what I understand.
I was trying to emphasize that the state needs to embrace enthusiastic young Maine nerds like me who want to make a difference in the state, even if they are not from the state. I think that I was actually so unusual to my employer, simply because I actually was young and motivated to move to Brunswick.
Furthermore, maybe it would seem unusual any of the employers in Maine, to have a young person want to move to the area, simply because it maybe isn't happening all that much.
Maybe the problem is more specific to Brunswick, because of the base closure. I just think it would help if the community doesn't resort to a bunker mentality when dealing with the problem, and turn young professional outsiders away when they may need them the most.
One of the main things is that the employer may have been trying to protect the jobs for the locals who will be hit hard by the base closure. If thats the case, I can understand that. However, it has to be said that this is a bunker mentality of sorts.
I would also like to say that I think its somewhat of a myth that Mainers are super welcoming of tourists or people from outside the state. Thats not to say that people are outright mean, but that they are not nessisarily super welcoming. When any area, nomatter which state, is hit with economic problems, a certain us versus them mentality may develop amoung disgruntled residents. During certain parts of the 80's or 90's things may have been different in Maine. But nowadays, as with most issues in the state, I think a troubled economy pretty much is the beginning and end of the story. I do think however that there are few notable exceptions to this. In thriving tourist hotspots like Ogunquit or Bar Harbor, money is flowing, people are relivatively happy and are thus welcoming.
To me, the particular employer I tallked to didn't seem to fully appreciate his town or state, though perhaps this critical attitude was justified. Putting Maine's economic issues aside, some lifetime Mainers may be a bit bewildered at why outsiders seem to have an idealized view of the state, maybe because they don't know what its like to live in places like the hypersprawl suburbs of Boston or in the more materialistic areas in Connectcut.
But in the end, who am I to critisize? I really have NO right to. I AM an outsider. If I don't like what the state has to offer, I can look elsewhere.
It's not really surprising that young people are leaving the state (well, those that do not move to Portland-a city with at least half of it's population under 35). Simply put, there is not much to do here. Older folks who have spent time in major metropolis' and those of retirement age can see the value of such a state, but I think that most people age 18-25 want a little bit more excitement in their lives.
As far as the young professional comment.....why would any want to move here? First off, there is no real industry in this state (yes, I know that there is some industry, but...) so what few professional jobs that are offered are few and far between. Second, what is the appeal to a young professional to take up a job out in the sticks, for 2x,3x,4x's less pay? Esspecially if they are upwardly mobile.
And....you have every right to criticize where you live. If it pisses someone off, then that is their problem. Unless you are drastically trying to change the status-quo, an opinion is an opinion.
1.) WHO says Maine's youth is moving out of Maine?
2.) SHOW me the statistics.....broken down.....I want proof that it's worse in Maine than other states. I looked for this stuff a couple of weeks, well, almost a month ago, and I couldn't find it.
It's not unusual at all for youth to "strike out" on their own. It's not unusual to have college age kids go out of state to school, or for kids to join the military. I'm just not sure when we look at this in reality that there's a "problem", or that it something different than what every state experiences.
Here's an article that discribes the problem: Maine (http://www.unity.edu/news/leaders1006.asp - broken link)
Here's another article by University of Maine from 2004: The University of Maine - News - June 25, 2004 - Student Project Explores Why Youth Leave Maine (http://www.umaine.edu/news/article.asp?id_no=794 - broken link)
Governor Baldacci touched upon the issue in his 2007 inagural address where he said, "You hear about [maine's] high tax burden, its ailing economy. You hear about out-of-control government spending, about young people leaving Maine in droves, about Maine?s inability to compete with other states and other countries."
The full inagural address can be read here: http://www.wcsh6.com/news/news_links/article.aspx?storyid=48890 (broken link) Somewhere in the speech, Governor Baldacci does say some people are moving into the state, and I think that it is true that Maine does have a decent rate of certain age bracket people moving to the state. But despite this, the younger age bracket people are leaving.
If you look you will see more stuff about this on the interent. I don't have an actual government agency report on this, but undoubtably, one exists somewhere.
Perhaps it is more acurate to say though that the population of Maine is aging at a higher rate than other places. What I mean is, young people ARE leaving, and also that more older people are moving in. This creates a situation where there will not be a enough (skilled) young workers in the state to replace older workers when they retire, creating a labor shortage. This is compounded by the problem that there is and will be a higher burden placed on the states health care system, perhaps with a weaker/smaller economic force to pay for the added tax burden.
Aside from the detail of all of that, it seems to me that it is important to have a vigorous youthful segment in society which can offer vitality and who is eager to create and try out new ideas. This to me is the most important aspect of the problem.
I do think that there are some career opportunities/upward advancement in places like Brunswick, Lewistown-Auburn, Augusta and Bangor. Not like what you would see in Boston or Portland maybe, but there are some. I for one don't mind not living in a huge city, that's why I thought that being in Brunswick would be OK. Its only 30 minutes from Portland and its a decent sized community with some stuff going on. Because of its location, I think someday Brunswick will see some true economic vitality in the future, perhaps several years after the base closes.
Well, I am seeing a youthful segment of society where I live in Maine. You started this thread saying that Maine doesn't attract youth, now you've changed it to Maine isn't keeping it's youth.
It's not really surprising that young people are leaving the state (well, those that do not move to Portland-a city with at least half of it's population under 35). Simply put, there is not much to do here. Older folks who have spent time in major metropolis' and those of retirement age can see the value of such a state, but I think that most people age 18-25 want a little bit more excitement in their lives.
As far as the young professional comment.....why would any want to move here? First off, there is no real industry in this state (yes, I know that there is some industry, but...) so what few professional jobs that are offered are few and far between. Second, what is the appeal to a young professional to take up a job out in the sticks, for 2x,3x,4x's less pay? Esspecially if they are upwardly mobile.
And....you have every right to criticize where you live. If it pisses someone off, then that is their problem. Unless you are drastically trying to change the status-quo, an opinion is an opinion.
Love your last three sentences!! I couldn't agree with you more!! Have a great night!
From census data, it seems that Maine's demographics break down is not that far from the average. We have less minorities, but in terms of age groups we are fine.
I could understand young adults leaving if they are seeking high paying jobs, wanting to go out and see the world, etc.
But I have been contacted by young adults who are interested in Farm apprenticeships, living on farms to learn organic farming methods. I see young people coming here to get back to the earth and healthy living styles.
So while there may be some young folks who leave, there are others who come here.
In the past two weeks, I have spoken with a half dozen 18-20 year olds who have came to Maine to study permaculture techniques. [which I find rather weird].
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