Small Towns Near Portland? (X-Post from Portland) (Brunswick, Biddeford: health insurance, neighborhoods)

[CBaillo]

Are there more rural areas outside of Portland that would still be within commuting distance from it? Some town names to look in would be useful if you guys could provide any. I haven't been there yet, but I'm assuming that there might be a chance like many cities in the far NE, that cities were surrounded by more rural land.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Mark S.]

Going north you've got Falmouth, Yarmouth, Freeport, Brunswick, Bath.

West you've got Windham, Gorham, Standish, etc.

East you have Lobsterville, Fisham, Sharkmouth, and Crabport.

South of Portland I wouldn't really call small towns. They're suburbs of north Boston.

[TerryDactyls]

South - Saco and Biddeford??

[CBaillo]

Awesome, thanks. Now I at least have towns to work towards. Are all these towns, good places to raise a family? I have a total of two daughters and my wife. So schools, safety, etc are important.

I'm used to rural living in the snow, so that's not in question.

[elston]

South of Portland.....Buxton, Scarborough, Saco......all small towns that are commutable to Portland.....and are well worth looking into. They are all family friendly towns and places I would have loved to raise my family.

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by CBaillo

Awesome, thanks. Now I at least have towns to work towards. Are all these towns, good places to raise a family? I have a total of two daughters and my wife. So schools, safety, etc are important.

I'm used to rural living in the snow, so that's not in question.

For raising a family, I would NOT recommend:

East you have Lobsterville, Fisham, Sharkmouth, and Crabport.

Sharkmouth especially can be quite dangerous.

Of the others, the only ones I have any real experience with are Yarmouth, Freeport, Topsham, Brunswick, and Bath. Those are all quite safe. I've heard some not so nice things about the Bath junior high and high school though. No personal experience myself; just things I have heard from people who do live there.

I just don't know much about Gorham, New Gloucester, etc. Sorry.

One thing though: I don't know that I would call any of these towns truly "rural." They're all towns within easy driving distance of Portland. If you want truly rural communities, then you're going to have to go quite a bit farther from Portland. That said, nearly all of these communities have rural areas, farms, etc. just outside of town.

[Mark S.]

Also CBaillo, I notice you're in Vancouver, WA. As a former Washingtonian myself, I can tell you that you'll be in for a bit of culture shock, but in a good way.

In Maine, the mountains are much smaller. What we call mountains wouldn't make a reputable foothill in the Cascades. But because of that, we don't have dangerous earthquakes, volcanoes, or mudslides.

In Maine, you'll have four seasons. Summer can be hot and muggy, especially in July and August. Autumn is absolutely glorious. You can still go outside without a jacket most days, but the nights are cool and crisp. Winter is a true winter. Lots of snow. And some years (like this one), it doesn't want to go away. Spring is beautiful, though it tends to be very short. Most years, there is snow on the ground one week, we get a week or two of spring, then we're putting up our air conditioner and counting the days till October.

Constant heavy traffic that makes you want to go Green Acres does not exist. There is occasional bad traffic due to an accident or weather, but freeways that double as parking lots do not exist in Maine like they do in the West.

The pace of life is more family friendly in northern New England. That said, life isn't always easy. A friend of mine puts it well: Maine is a great place to live, but it's a hard place to make a living.

Definitely come for a visit before you make your decision. You'll be glad you did.

[elston]

I bought and lived in Gorham.....and I loved it. A sweet town with friendly people, polite children and a good schools. It has a nice down town with pretty much everything you need on a daily basis......banks, restaurants, a great little coffee house, supermarket, friendly family owned hardware store......its the kind of town with flags flying from the light poles, a college campus, abundance of blooming trees.....the spring parade of blossoms is amazing. Lots of nice neighborhoods in town, developments just outside of town and farm land....and its all within commuting distance of Portland. It is very safe.....life in Gorham is very sweet.

[CBaillo]

Originally Posted by Mark S.

Also CBaillo, I notice you're in Vancouver, WA. As a former Washingtonian myself, I can tell you that you'll be in for a bit of culture shock, but in a good way.

In Maine, the mountains are much smaller. What we call mountains wouldn't make a reputable foothill in the Cascades. But because of that, we don't have dangerous earthquakes, volcanoes, or mudslides.

In Maine, you'll have four seasons. Summer can be hot and muggy, especially in July and August. Autumn is absolutely glorious. You can still go outside without a jacket most days, but the nights are cool and crisp. Winter is a true winter. Lots of snow. And some years (like this one), it doesn't want to go away. Spring is beautiful, though it tends to be very short. Most years, there is snow on the ground one week, we get a week or two of spring, then we're putting up our air conditioner and counting the days till October.

Constant heavy traffic that makes you want to go Green Acres does not exist. There is occasional bad traffic due to an accident or weather, but freeways that double as parking lots do not exist in Maine like they do in the West.

The pace of life is more family friendly in northern New England. That said, life isn't always easy. A friend of mine puts it well: Maine is a great place to live, but it's a hard place to make a living.

Definitely come for a visit before you make your decision. You'll be glad you did.

I lived in Central New York for a number of years, and grew up in Los Angeles, so the culture shock is already accounted for :-P I always tell people that even growing up in LA, I was always a small town guy at heart, and that theory was proven when we lived in New York. We were in the sticks and I loved every moment.

The only reason we went back was my mother was dying of cancer and we wanted to spend her last days with her, and then we chose Portland so we could be closer to family in case that happened again. But living here in the PNW, is just a reminder that our hearts are really in the NE.

I've never been rich. So the struggle of living is something I'm well acquainted with. Even here in Portland, I work two jobs. The day job for stability and great health insurance, and I deliver papers at night for the extra money. When we lived in NY I worked for Cornell for the day job, and I apprenticed at a winery for the love of it, and working towards open our own winery. So I'm a hard worker by nature :-)

And I absolutely LOVE the snow and cold. My friends have always thought I was crazy but I'll put up with 6 months of snow, to get 4 seasons, instead of the 8 mos of summer that was growing up in LA. And NY was always muggy as hell in the summer LOL. But autumn, was just stunning. Watching whole hillsides turn to blaze orange and red was amazing to see.

I've already spoken to a few lobster fisherman that said if I got there before the season, and they hadnt hired anyone yet for it, they'd be happy to hire me as a sternman. Nothing would make me happier than working with my hands all day again, especially on the ocean. I absolutely hate desk jobs. But having a family early it's always been a balance between safe money, and pursuing what I would rather do.

[CBaillo]

Originally Posted by elston

I bought and lived in Gorham.....and I loved it. A sweet town with friendly people, polite children and a good schools. It has a nice down town with pretty much everything you need on a daily basis......banks, restaurants, a great little coffee house, supermarket, friendly family owned hardware store......its the kind of town with flags flying from the light poles, a college campus, abundance of blooming trees.....the spring parade of blossoms is amazing. Lots of nice neighborhoods in town, developments just outside of town and farm land....and its all within commuting distance of Portland. It is very safe.....life in Gorham is very sweet.

Sounds pretty much like what I'm looking for. Thanks for the first hand experience. I'll definitely look into there.