In Portland for Relocation (Saco, Gorham: buying a house, buying, elementary school)

[FamilyMan1234]

Hello Mainers and City-Data users!! Again wanted to post in the Maine forums due to that I am on my first relocation trip here in Portland. There are numerous things I have learned about Maine through websites and with my realtor. There are some things that disturb me from what I learned but wanted to get some insight. I have been informed Mainers are sometimes very difficult to win over or a sense that you have to prove yourself to them. Is this factual or mere opinion?

As I search for jobs out here I am needing advice from Mainers themselves. Maine Medical Center seems to be one of the biggest employers for individuals in the healthcare industry. On the other hand the HR there seems slow to respond. Any advice on Maine Medical?

Another thing is there are numerous listings for jobs in my field and wife's field but they seem to not respond too positively or quick at applications in numerous places. One of my fears is since we are relocating we might be seen as "outsiders" from Maine. Is this just a fear or is it difficult for Mainers to trust incoming families?

Been to Seadog & Sebago Brewery and I have to say I am very impressed with their beer and brewing capabilities. Maine will be our next home for sure but the process is a challenge. Any referrals or suggestions would greatly be appreciated.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

HR staffs are overwhelmed with applications. Many of them are not viable applicants, but the applicants are required to apply in order to receive their benefits. They apply at the same three places week after week. It's a flaw in the system that overloads HR staffs.

[MadJack]

Maine people are cautious around out-a-staters or folks from away. We (not all) have had people move in, become friends, then suddenly move back where they came from with not so much as a word! We have also been subjected to out-a-staters moving in next door only to have them get on a town committee and ban parts of our way of life, or TELL us they are offended by our farm animals, or that we shouldn't shoot our guns, or . . .

Get the picture?
Mainers are fiercely independent. Mainers are also kind, friendly, helpful. BUT, cross us or try to change our way of life and we will be your worst enemy, not to mention make sure everyone in town know who you are and what you have done.

The sign you see when you come across the bridge, "Maine, the way life should be" means something to us. Basically don't bring your baggage because we don't care how you did things in Massachusetts, New York or where evah! We have heard it all before.
Maine should add to that sign, "don't like it, turn around".

Not everyone here is a crotchety old fart like me but many are because we have live through the bear scat. (BS)
Before buying a house here find out what your neighbors will be like. Most folks would NOT enjoy me shooting whenever I please, looking at a deer carcass hanging in the yard or watching me skinning animals 4 months of the year.

[elston]

When we relocated to Maine......we found people in general to be welcoming and helpful and friendly. That being said it is also worth noting that most neighbors and people we met were from away also. I had Maine roots but both my partner and I were "from away". It was never an issue....not even a teeny-tiny one. We lived in Gorham and went to church in Saco and went to Portland for social/cultural activities. Those communities were outstandingly warm and welcoming.

My parents moved from Long Island NY to Pittsfield Me and then Eastport.....they also found acceptance and community. Mom was active with the community group that sponsored the Egg Parade....(a big event in Pittsfield) and Dad was active in the Odd Fellows and served on a variety of town committees.

When I moved to NH many years ago.......we bought a house in a small town.....and we never felt acceptance or a sense of community.....we were "flat landers" and our house was referred by the name of the previous owners, "the old Wolf's Place" for the 20 years we lived there......I had occasion to go back to visit and the house was now The Bryant Place.....the owners before the Wolf family owned it. We never were part of that town. Our kids who went thru Elementary school and high school there...also never felt full acceptance in the town....and they all moved away.
Two of them now live in Maine and have many friends and connections....a third is now a "good ol' boy living in SC.

We didn't experience even a smidge of that closed community anywhere in Maine. People talked, were helpful and friendly.

[mainebrokerman]

welcome!!!

you will like portland,,,my son now lives in portland,, going to college,
ive seen different parts of portland lately and it is an attractive city...plenty to do!!

id listen to elston, as for being welcoming to outsiders, he speaks the truth..

if you follow the golden rule, you will be fine- be nice and others will be nice to you

[slyfox2]

You may need to live here. I have a friend who is a FNP with my family practice. She has a husband who is also a nurse practicioner, and had applied also with the hospital. The hospital runs all the family practice's on the island. The nurse was commenting on an application and saying that it was too bad this great possibilty lived in NH because he would be a great candidate, and was just what they were looking for. She had a different name than her husband of 15 years and still does. As soon as they discovered that he'd forgotten to change the address on his resume to MDI(actually 4 miles away), he was hired immediately.

Before I moved here, and retired, I found a job on the island that they couldn't fill because no one had the exact qualifications that they were looking for. I did have the exact qualifications and a almost 40 years of experience. I even owned a house on the island. But because I didn't then live here, no one even bothered to reply to my application.

I'm retired now and don't want the job. They finally decided not to fill it because they never did find anyone with the required skill set---who lives nearby.

Mainers are among the most caring people I've ever met any where east of the Mississippi. My wife called for an appointment with our health clinic today because she thought she had an infection. They couldn't give her a place and they called all the other clinics on the island to find if there was a space but there were none. So she got one for tomorrow. But 30 minutes later they called back to say that they'd had a cancellation and she could come in immediately. In 35 years of living in mid-atlantic with a very caring medical practice, once you had an appointment set, we were never called back because they had a cancellation no matter how sick we might be. They simply moved on with the clients that were there. ONLY in Maine are people this concerned and caring for each other---in my experience.

But to get these special things, you have to live here. That's not to say that they wouldn't step over backwards to assist the tourists, and I've seen that too---and in the same medical practice.