Augusta Area Towns, Especially Heading Towards The Coast (Auburn, Brunswick: high school, colleges)

[mikeandaija2009]

Hello all, my wife and I are a mid-40's couple with 2 young sons currently living in Florida (hate it). We are former lifelong Connecticut residents who made the mistake of leaving New England for the Sunshine State. I could go on and on about why we dislike Florida, but I will save that for another time. Without a doubt, we will be returning to New England, it's just a matter of where. My wife has the opportunity to choose several locations with her job, and so know we are considering Maine. We have gone through all possibilities, pay/cost of living/taxes/school systems, and Maine is looking pretty good so far. We especially are looking for a more "rural" lifestyle, something that is difficult to find in the other New England States, unless you have a lot of money. We have looked at towns like Pittsford, Gardiner, Appleton, and Union. Any comments?

My wife and I are on the conservative side also. We are christian, and very family oriented. We don't knock on doors and hand out pamphlets, but don't care for the"in your face liberalism". Honestly, for this reason, we put Mass and VT at the bottom of the list. My family is originally from Northern Maine, which was very conservative from what I remember. Wondering what the area we are considering is like.

[elston]

I think you mean Pittsfield Maine (Pittsford is in Vermont). Pittsfield is a pretty, quiet, small residential town....a pretty typical small Maine town. I don't think you would find it a hot bed of liberalism...nor a proselytizing Christian citadel...just a nice town with nice people who believe in minding their own business.....most of Maine is like that. .

[Coaster]

The Augusta government-employee influence fades as you get farther from the capital. Gardiner/Hallowell -- well, let's put it this way, one of the most popular eateries in Hallowell is called the Liberal Cup. Appleton, Richmond, Searsmont, Pittsfield would all meet your requirements.

[mikeandaija2009]

Originally Posted by Coaster

The Augusta government-employee influence fades as you get farther from the capital. Gardiner/Hallowell -- well, let's put it this way, one of the most popular eateries in Hallowell is called the Liberal Cup. Appleton, Richmond, Searsmont, Pittsfield would all meet your requirements.

Thanks for the interesting input. I spoke in length to someone from Appleton about their home. They seemed very liked minded to us. They praised Appleton, especially the school system. They have 4 children, all of which attended the Camden High School. They all have gone on to do very well, after attending prominent colleges. It was a good sign and very encouraging for us.

[mainebrokerman]

Originally Posted by mikeandaija2009

Hello all, my wife and I are a mid-40's couple with 2 young sons currently living in Florida (hate it). We are former lifelong Connecticut residents who made the mistake of leaving New England for the Sunshine State. I could go on and on about why we dislike Florida, but I will save that for another time. Without a doubt, we will be returning to New England, it's just a matter of where. My wife has the opportunity to choose several locations with her job, and so know we are considering Maine. We have gone through all possibilities, pay/cost of living/taxes/school systems, and Maine is looking pretty good so far. We especially are looking for a more "rural" lifestyle, something that is difficult to find in the other New England States, unless you have a lot of money. We have looked at towns like Pittsford, Gardiner, Appleton, and Union. Any comments?

My wife and I are on the conservative side also. We are christian, and very family oriented. We don't knock on doors and hand out pamphlets, but don't care for the"in your face liberalism". Honestly, for this reason, we put Mass and VT at the bottom of the list. My family is originally from Northern Maine, which was very conservative from what I remember. Wondering what the area we are considering is like.

pittsford must mean pittston...close to gardiner-across the kennebec river

other towns around augusta are farmingdale, litchfield, west gardiner, manchester, readfield,

going towards the coast from augusta- whitefield, jefferson, dresden, wiscasset, alna,


ive lived in the gardiner area for many years....no in your face religion, and no in your face liberalism.

[mikeandaija2009]

Originally Posted by mainebrokerman

pittsford must mean pittston...close to gardiner-across the kennebec river

other towns around augusta are farmingdale, litchfield, west gardiner, manchester, readfield,

going towards the coast from augusta- whitefield, jefferson, dresden, wiscasset, alna,


ive lived in the gardiner area for many years....no in your face religion, and no in your face liberalism.

Yes, Pittston, sorry

[mikeandaija2009]

Politics and religion aside, I guess one thing we would like more than anything is to move to a place where the families are more like us, middle-aged. It was like that in CT, and it was almost something I never gave any thought to. Yes, there are young, and sometimes very young in my opinion, people having kids, but it has never been so noticeable as here in Florida. We go to the local park and 99% percent of the parents are 1/2 our age. I am told constantly, "what a cute grandson you have" when I bring my son to the store. I was 40 when my son was born, in Florida that must be grandpa age.

[elston]

Originally Posted by mainebrokerman

pittsford must mean pittston...close to gardiner-across the kennebec river

other towns around augusta are farmingdale, litchfield, west gardiner, manchester, readfield,

going towards the coast from augusta- whitefield, jefferson, dresden, wiscasset, alna,


ive lived in the gardiner area for many years....no in your face religion, and no in your face liberalism.

Oh I was wrong......I thought they meant Pittsfield....just because my parents used to live there....I guess it is a ways past Augusta.

[maineguy8888]

Anything close to the coast (except for in Washington County) will be very liberal. The Augusta area is liberal as well (thousands of state workers live around Augusta and almost all are liberal/unionistas/statists, etc).

[from_away]

We moved to Dresden last summer from the Midwest. Dresden is very quiet and rural, yet just a half hour drive south to Bath/Brunswick/Topsham and a half hour drive north to Augusta. Gardiner is a lovely little town. We do our grocery shopping there and there is a nice walking trail along the river that goes to Hallowell. Richmond is lovely too. Auburn is another option - lots of shopping, a college, nice little downtown...