Demographics Dilemma in Maine (Portland, Lewiston: 2015, crime rate, how much)

[bolehboleh]

Demographic Dilemma in Maine | Al Jazeera America

Saw this on Al Jazeera this morning. I'm not from Maine but I was wondering what you guys think.

[maineborzoi]

I have to disagree with several things said. All with the same summary- and that is retirement.
I think the reason why Maine is the higher medium age is simple- Retirement.

Most states- if one is just on Social security or even a modest pension and SS, one can not possibly retire there unless their home is paid off- and even then- taxes are another matter. Cost of utilities, personal property taxes ( if app) etc- leaves most states in that situation. One does have options but hardly is ourselves etc willing to move into a townhouse and watch the paint peal....

I do not see alot of kids here nor places we have been so far. I do see however alot of 20 something year olds. However- mostly what we see are people probably about our age- that 50's to 60's group. Those of us that have come from other states, to own the home we live in, and still have an adventure while the moderns of being able to do basic shopping etc.

I want to point out though that I read that Maine is the highest for people to own their own home, and one of the largest for owning their own business.
Maine also has the lowest crime rate in states.

So- how I see it- NY may have the bulk of their age people in their 30's- ( taking the average 20 somethings to 50 somethings) - their stated average.
So Maine has a higher medium age.. big whoop.. if that tells me anything is that Maine people live longer..

(* ya know- I never was one of those cruise type people... )

[woxyroxme]

My wife and I will probably be fairly old when we are financially able to move back. When I was a kid in the 60s and 70s I had a lot of relatives in Eastport and they were all old too.

[maineborzoi]

I frankly find these " demographic studies" rather amusing . Talk about self fulfilling reterioc..

I mean- what person wanted show all the states were the same?
What part of each should have a certain percentage of children etc? I guess the testers do not have a clue that the baby boomers can out of those coming back from WW2 = then having families- then having their own family..

Why do these demographic" so called studies show much more than anything other than a census.

If nothing else- Maine does not have to increase building schools.
Yes- i am being a tad bit flip- but honestly- who pays these people to do these worthless studies.

Again- with the media- just print the facts and discuss conclusions- or leave it be. ( we need more Fox channels here- at least they would discuss it instead of telling us what to think,... )

They should say " Maine has the highest medium age in the US due to the amount of retired people coming/staying in the state"... Younger people with families have to work. Instead of beating this up what is not here- how about focus what is here...

All I can say is, never mind the heat of florida, but I certainly don't want the beach scene with a bunch of traveling college kids either. One doesn't have to have ' people born there" to show a steady in population.
They said dropping in certain age groups.. yup.. people get older. Florida use to be a lazy ' older peoples' state until Disney moved in- then Universal. ( and look at the mess they have now..)

[DauntlessDan]

Maine had best get some decent, well paying jobs in the state if they want to hang on to their population. That is, Central and Northern Maine. Metro Boston Maine (Southern Maine) probably doesn't have so much of a problem as they can probably live in Maine and commute to Massachusetts.

[GregW]

FWIW - You neighboring New Hampshire has a similar demographic. We have a substantial number of people moving from other New England states to avoid an income tax. Many of these folks are retired and that raises the average age.

Southern NH has a fairly prosperous economy based on the Boston Metro industries and financial concerns. The rest of the state, particularly north of Concord and the Notches, is not doing so well and has, as far as I know, a loss of younger people looking for decent jobs. Note- there is an anomaly around the University/Medical/R&D industry around the Hanover/Lebanon/Dartmouth College complex. This area has enough highly educated population and money to create its own economy.

I think that Maine should look at this successful area and try and duplicate it. Both states must realize that the future is not in mass manufacture of millions of widgets but start up companies in the very high tech electronic and medical areas. These developments can expand into modest size but highly profitable manufacturing enterprises.

[Gingrich]

I looked at this report from Al Jazeera TV. I wonder why exactly is this a "dilemma"? If Maine has an older, retired population so what? Younger people who WANT the lifestyle will find creative ways to earn a living and develop businesses in Maine, or not. Supposing a million "refugees" from Africa and Iraq and other middle eastern countries WERE to move to Maine (the report does highlight refugees and how they like Maine), would this be what is needed or wanted? Would it make Maine a better, more desirable State? Is that the answer? Just asking?

[Northern Maine Land Man]

GregW notices:
"Note- there is an anomaly around the University/Medical/R&D industry around the Hanover/Lebanon/Dartmouth College complex. This area has enough highly educated population and money to create its own economy.

I think that Maine should look at this successful area and try and duplicate it."

We have that in Maine. We call it Bangor.

[LordSquidworth]

Originally Posted by Gingrich

I looked at this report from Al Jazeera TV. I wonder why exactly is this a "dilemma"? If Maine has an older, retired population so what? Younger people who WANT the lifestyle will find creative ways to earn a living and develop businesses in Maine, or not. Supposing a million "refugees" from Africa and Iraq and other middle eastern countries WERE to move to Maine (the report does highlight refugees and how they like Maine), would this be what is needed or wanted? Would it make Maine a better, more desirable State? Is that the answer? Just asking?

Because without a decent working population the state won't have the tax income to sustain itself.

[HighTechRocker]

There are plenty of jobs available in the greater Portland area that do not require travel to Mass. I'd say from Biddeford at the south to Augusta at the north, including all the communities in between (Portland/South Portland, Lewiston/Auburn, Brunswick/Bath, etc). My understanding is that the Bangor area has a fair number of employment opportunities as well given its size.