Impact of cottagers (Portland, Bangor, Boothbay: for sale, renting, new home)

[tatans]

Like to know the general consensus of Mainers who live in towns innundated by the influx of people who own cottages and are from away, I know businesses will say they are teriffic for sales, but are not really fond of them, they smile of course over the till, cottagers in our town flood the downtown, crowd our hospital, contribute nothing to our new library and generally buy very little locally as they bring all their "stuff" from the big city and costco, their impact financially seems very small indeed, they are indeed much wealthier than the locals (maybe a jealousy factor here) but enough about Volvos, Lexus, BMW drivers whining about how primitive the locals are.
The only comparison I can relate to is small towns with Universities flooded with students 8 months a year, most locals ignore this influx, my query is, do Mainers think the same way with the masses of humans migrating North to their cottages? Does this have anything to do with the "Volvo Line" mentioned occaisionally here?

[western mass and love it]

Are these threads really constructive?

[Submariner]

Is there a distinction between 'cottager' and tourist ?

My town has a few camps owned by non-locals. They only come up here for few days at a time. They are mostly Mainers [assuming that you consider urbanites from Portland to be Mainers]

I only see out-of-state plates when I travel into Bangor.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

A "cottager" family has been coming to our town for 42 years. They are members of our community. They contribute much to our economy, pay their taxes and ask nothing in return except to be able to haul their own trash to our dump. They put no kids in our schools and create no problems for law enforcement. They are typical. They just bought a year round home in town and will retire here. Congratulations Len and Pam on your new home.


Western mass and love it; Any thread can be constructive or destructive depending on the mind sets of those who post.

[maineguy8888]

Yes, I think it's a fair thread. No sense trying "preemptive censorship".

Here in northern Maine, we are spared the mass influx of folks from away. That means that while we do enjoy SOME of the economic benefits, we are not overrun, and camps are not so highly priced that it is not out of the question for a local to buy one.

A twist is to be found in the St. John Valley; you see many, many Connecticut license plates there from May to October. That's because many folks have moved from the SJV to Connecticut over the years (starting in the 1940s), but the family ties remain very strong. So while many of the camp owners are technically from Connecticut, "not really".

[7th generation]

My business is supported by 40% locals and 60% tourists/camp owners. Couldn't live without them.
Just, (June 5th), purchased another store which happens to be the last one on #17 before they get to Rangeley- yep we love them and treat them as we want to be treated...especially in this economy.

[Coaster]

Originally Posted by tatans

Like to know the general consensus of Mainers who live in towns innundated by the influx of people who own cottages and are from away, I know businesses will say they are teriffic for sales, but are not really fond of them, they smile of course over the till, cottagers in our town flood the downtown, crowd our hospital, contribute nothing to our new library and generally buy very little locally as they bring all their "stuff" from the big city and costco, their impact financially seems very small indeed,

Not sure this is universally true. Summer people are often the strongest financial supporters of local libraries, garden and social clubs, hospitals, etc. In Boothbay Harbor and Greenville, two examples that I can speak personally to, cottagers are integral members of the community and provide crucial support for a lot of local institutions. Often they've been coming back every year for decades -- even a century or more in the case of multi-generational cottage owners. Family ownership of some of the cottages on Moosehead Lake in Rockwood goes back to the late 1800s, when the area was first discovered by Philadelphia summercators. And the locals appreciate their presence.

[RMoore007]

This thread got me wondering just how many people visit Maine each year and I was shocked at the findings.
I really had no idea that there were so many people that visited Maine each year. I thought it would be somewhere around a few million but after reading the Maine Office of Tourism Visitor Tracking Research for 2011, here is what I found out. https://www.visitmaine.com/resource/...report4-13.pdf

On page 17, it shows the Estimated Visitation to Maine, Net 2011 Visitors...both overnight and day visitors....17.8 million? Can this be correct? That's around 14 visitors per resident.

Half of them come in the summer at about 9 million and the rest in the other 3 seasons. There are many other statistics in that report too that are eye opening.

[western mass and love it]

I just feel like these threads are started with the intent to burn those "from away" at the stake.

I am "from away" and own a home in southern Maine. I pay my taxes , shop in town and use Maine companies to handle the renting and cleaning of my property.

You know what is the irony in all of these discussions. I bought my house from a Mainer and they had no issues taking money from someone "from away"

[maineguy8888]

See, now I feel that you are being antagonistic, Western Mass. Maybe it's just me.

I do believe those figures, especially when you see how many flood into Acadia and the major beaches from June through August.