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I've been reading the posts on this thread and have a few comments.
The-Raven: I admit I was sad to see that the Quarterdeck was gone and new construction in its place. I like to visit when there is a cruise ship in and it seems they are "in" more often than in past years. Contact the members of the Cruise Ship Committee (email or phone) and voice your opinion. -- I wonder which ones on the committee are Maine natives--just curious. Barharbormaine.gov: Cruise Ship Committee
Maybe you would enjoy your visits to Bar Harbor more when no cruise ship is in. If you want to avoid most of the tourists, try visiting November-June. You might want to check the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce website before you visit to see if there is a cruise ship in port ....or use the Geddy's Live Webcam.
I have loved Bar Harbor, MDI, and Acadia National Park for more than 50 years. Bar Harbor has always had tourists/visitors into October. (btw, It's the Jordan Pond House not the Jordan Tea House even though the tea and popovers are popular.) I love to visit Bar Harbor, MDI, and Acadia National Park any time of year.
bangorme is right--"You must be new here. Mainers always complain about the tourists, then complain about the high taxes, then complain about the lack of jobs. Unfortunately, they don't see the connection between these things."
I think most Mainers prefer to have Maine experience very little change. I don't think everyone believes that all change is inevitable or welcome or an improvement. One of the greatest fears is that Maine will become like other undesirable places that people leave and move to Maine to escape. Becoming a resident doesn't make a person a Mainer except on paper. The truth remains to be seen in the actions and attitudes of the individuals. Residency without assimilation? Maine likes to be different in spite of the tough economy, tax complaints, and tourist season. Honestly, I have never heard one native Maine person say they like tourists (more crowded, more traffic, etc.); the tourist season seems to be something that is tolerated for the sake of the economy. I would like to see businesses hire more locals rather than imports--we are encouraged to buy local so why not hire local.
Do we accept or want to change "Maine, the Way Life Should Be"?
Excellent post. I have lived in Bar Harbor year around for 30 years and I have seen it go through many changes-not all of them good. I also was very sad to see The Quarterdeck come down-I worked there for 20 years.
Location: 3.5 sq mile island ant nest next to Canada
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zarathu
I'll be sure to tell that to the town of Bar Harbor next time they send me a tax bill. Over the past 4 years of not being a real Mainer, I've paid $10000 in taxes to the Town of Bar Harbor.
Thanks goodness for them that they don't require you to be a real Mainer to get taxes from property you own in the Town of Bar Harbor, or the taxes and services would be much much higher.
Oddly, as I've said before, its only ON THIS FORUM that I've ever heard of the phrase "being a real Mainer". No one that I know in BH seems to give a cr@p if you are a Real Mainer or not. In fact, everyone I know is excited about having another winter resident. Acadia Senior College has actually signed me up for a committee chair, and some real Mainers have invited us to Thanksgiving diner. We weren't excluded from participation in either event because...."Oh, I'm sorry.... I thought you were a real Mainer... I know I invited you, but now....well... you can't come."
And..... I've also never heard any one from any other state commenting on being a real Pennsylvanian, or real New Jerseyite, or real Marylander. IMO, I think its a kind of xenophobia which needs psychological treatment.
The real question is wether there is a Real Mainer Clubhouse, and whether Real Mainers buy things that were made in China, rather than Maine. I especially want to know if they have a secret handshake, and whether they parade about at night in pointy white hoods burning crosses on the lawns of not real Mainers. Will I be allowed to vote in Maine because I'm not a real Mainer? I won't have to pay the excise tax on my car, right? That would only be for Real Mainers.
So I take it you have never heard a Southerner (neighbor or LEO) say those 8 sweet words that will raise a chill up your back: "Y'all ain't from 'round here, are ya boy?"
The second one is quite the ignorant statement; even in jest. I'm quite surprised by it.
I'll be sure to tell that to the town of Bar Harbor next time they send me a tax bill. Over the past 4 years of not being a real Mainer, I've paid $10000 in taxes to the Town of Bar Harbor.
Thanks goodness for them that they don't require you to be a real Mainer to get taxes from property you own in the Town of Bar Harbor, or the taxes and services would be much much higher.
Oddly, as I've said before, its only ON THIS FORUM that I've ever heard of the phrase "being a real Mainer". No one that I know in BH seems to give a cr@p if you are a Real Mainer or not. In fact, everyone I know is excited about having another winter resident. Acadia Senior College has actually signed me up for a committee chair, and some real Mainers have invited us to Thanksgiving diner. We weren't excluded from participation in either event because...."Oh, I'm sorry.... I thought you were a real Mainer... I know I invited you, but now....well... you can't come."
And..... I've also never heard any one from any other state commenting on being a real Pennsylvanian, or real New Jerseyite, or real Marylander. IMO, I think its a kind of xenophobia which needs psychological treatment.
The real question is wether there is a Real Mainer Clubhouse, and whether Real Mainers buy things that were made in China, rather than Maine. I especially want to know if they have a secret handshake, and whether they parade about at night in pointy white hoods burning crosses on the lawns of not real Mainers. Will I be allowed to vote in Maine because I'm not a real Mainer? I won't have to pay the excise tax on my car, right? That would only be for Real Mainers.
First, you're talking about Bar Harbor. That's not like the rest of Maine. We've been in several parts of the state and have been warmly welcome anywhere we went. That doesn't change the fact that we're "from away." Bar Harbor has a significant number of wealthy people who came there from other states.
Second, people all over the deep south cast a wary eye toward unfamiliar people coming into their area. If you want to hear people defend the native heritage of their home states, go south. Jay Rockefeller moved to West Virginia in the early 1960's as a VISTA volunteer and has been in public service ever since. There are still a number of West Virginians that refuse to vote for "that carpetbagger," you know, "the New Yorker."
Bringing up pointy white hoods and burning crosses could get a cross burned in your front yard is some places in the south. That was really in bad taste.
BTW, keep paying your taxes to Bar Harbor. Real Mainers really dislike people who come into their state and won't even pay their fair share.
Bringing up pointy white hoods and burning crosses could get a cross burned in your front yard is some places in the south. That was really in bad taste.
BTW, keep paying your taxes to Bar Harbor. Real Mainers really dislike people who come into their state and won't even pay their fair share.
Isn't there anyone besides me who will publicly admit that we are really really really tired of this crap about Real Mainers and not real mainers that shows up on this forum. I have gotten numerous private notes about how people are tired of this, but most won't publicly admit it.
Its not in any more bad taste that than to have this flagrant xenophobia dumped in our faces as if its not only OK, but actually the right thing to do. There are no passports in the USA. People have the freedom to move and live where ever they want to.
Whats in bad taste is this continuous harping Un-American xenophobia about people moving to Maine. And its particularly in bad taste when the people who are moving in, are retired people who will not be taking jobs away from people who have lived there for a long time, but actually making more jobs by requiring services and food and stuff, by bringing in their pensions and retirement income. And then the Quote Real Mainers Unquote constantly complain that there are no jobs---what a discontinuity break here!! You will get new jobs when the population increases and more corporations "from away" move in to invest in Maine, just like retired people like me are doing. Its called Investing In Maine.
And then, to separate a part of Maine from another part("First, you're talking about Bar Harbor, that's not like the rest of Maine"---what an incredibly xenophobic and disgusting thing to say! especially for all the birthright Mainers who actually live there---and YOU talk about bad taste), and effectively call it Not the Real Maine smacks of Facism. While there are many move-ins who live on MDI who have invested their own money and pensions etc, there are also many native birth born Mainers who live there too. And of course this investment has paid off because there are lots of jobs on MDI. Of course for many of them you have to be well-educated such as Jackson Labs, the Maine Biological Labs, the College of the Atlantic, and the 105 non-profit corportations which reside on MDI.
Just label the people you don't like as less than you in some way, sub human, Not REal Mainers or whatever, and then you have the right to do anything to them or say any disgusting thing about them. Many of us here on the Maine forum are so very very tired of this Cr@p, and many very helpful and wonderful people have left the forum forever to get away from it.
There might be microcultures when it comes to states and towns but overall I find its about money and standing that brings out the best and worst.. Every state generally has both but also more of one or the other.. I find the states with the best economics have a string middleclass and are generally better places to live...........for me
Maine is a poor state and many areas are run down, but we also have the coast and the mountains and we are a tourist attraction, and a vacation destination.. on my one and only trip to West Va I got the opinion (granted it was based on limited information) that it was Maine without a coast... so basically mostly run down and hickish..
But people are people and I have met good and bad from everywhere.. And I tend to think that people feel comfortable with their own kind.. For me Maine lacks a middle class.. and is mostly poor.
The origional thread was about the changes to B.H. and whether they are good or bad.. I have been their several times and enjoy it for what it is... but if I am looking for quaint and local I would go elsewhere along the coast..
Isn't there anyone besides me who will publicly admit that we are really really really tired of this crap about Real Mainers and not real mainers that shows up on this forum. I have gotten numerous private notes about how people are tired of this, but most won't publicly admit it.
Its not in any more bad taste that than to have this flagrant xenophobia dumped in our faces as if its not only OK, but actually the right thing to do. There are no passports in the USA. People have the freedom to move and live where ever they want to.
Whats in bad taste is this continuous harping Un-American xenophobia about people moving to Maine. And its particularly in bad taste when the people who are moving in, are retired people who will not be taking jobs away from people who have lived there for a long time, but actually making more jobs by requiring services and food and stuff, by bringing in their pensions and retirement income. And then the Quote Real Mainers Unquote constantly complain that there are no jobs---what a discontinuity break here!! You will get new jobs when the population increases and more corporations "from away" move in to invest in Maine, just like retired people like me are doing. Its called Investing In Maine.
And then, to separate a part of Maine from another part("First, you're talking about Bar Harbor, that's not like the rest of Maine"---what an incredibly xenophobic and disgusting thing to say! especially for all the birthright Mainers who actually live there---and YOU talk about bad taste), and effectively call it Not the Real Maine smacks of Facism. While there are many move-ins who live on MDI who have invested their own money and pensions etc, there are also many native birth born Mainers who live there too. And of course this investment has paid off because there are lots of jobs on MDI. Of course for many of them you have to be well-educated such as Jackson Labs, the Maine Biological Labs, the College of the Atlantic, and the 105 non-profit corportations which reside on MDI.
Just label the people you don't like as less than you in some way, sub human, Not REal Mainers or whatever, and then you have the right to do anything to them or say any disgusting thing about them. Many of us here on the Maine forum are so very very tired of this Cr@p, and many very helpful and wonderful people have left the forum forever to get away from it.
Get off it, and move on!
I recognize that I don't have a shared heritage with those whose families have been in Maine for generations. Thankfully, I've never personally encountered any attitude other than friendliness in Maine (in fact Maine is the 'nicest' state I have ever been in, IMO). But for those 'real Mainers' who complain about such things as their tax burden, children going to college and moving away, lack of industry, etc, perhaps it is time to consider that the economic future of the state may well depend on those from away investing their 'non-Mainer' dollars in the state, and get over the fact that new people are moving in. Otherwise, I am not sure how any state would accomplish revitalization of the economy, without new investment.
... but if I am looking for quaint and local I would go elsewhere along the coast..
And to do that you don't even have to leave Mount Desert Island. You can visit
Bernard, or Southwest harbor, or any of the other quaint little villages in other parts of the island. The Village of Bar Harbor takes the brunt of the chintsy tourist trade, but there are many lovely parts, even just a couple of miles from the village that are still quite quaint. Have you driven by the Stone Barn, just 200 yards from my house?
Location: 3.5 sq mile island ant nest next to Canada
3,036 posts, read 5,888,747 times
Reputation: 2171
Quote:
Originally Posted by flycessna
There might be microcultures when it comes to states and towns but overall I find its about money and standing that brings out the best and worst.. Every state generally has both but also more of one or the other.. I find the states with the best economics have a string middleclass and are generally better places to live...........for me
Maine is a poor state and many areas are run down, but we also have the coast and the mountains and we are a tourist attraction, and a vacation destination.. on my one and only trip to West Va I got the opinion (granted it was based on limited information) that it was Maine without a coast... so basically mostly run down and hickish..
But people are people and I have met good and bad from everywhere.. And I tend to think that people feel comfortable with their own kind.. For me Maine lacks a middle class.. and is mostly poor.
The origional thread was about the changes to B.H. and whether they are good or bad.. I have been their several times and enjoy it for what it is... but if I am looking for quaint and local I would go elsewhere along the coast..
I agree. If you don't like what BH has become in your eyes, then stay away. Plenty of other places to go. Like you, I still enjoy it from time to time. Or I go to Castine or Lubec, etc. And I'm sure I'm being ignored but Z is correct; lots of other places on MDI if you make the right turn instead of left at the light. BH is a different anmal from the rest of downeast though. High tourist area with high value (money). Not a thing wrong there other than people who don't enjoy it going there and then complaining that they got what they asked for. IMHO.
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