The 'feel' of cities/towns in Maine...what is your opinion? (Portland: home, schools)

[emu742]

I think one of the hardest things about being way out here and not there, is the fact that we cannot get a 'feel' for the different parts in Maine, and are unable to travel for the time being due to dogs, jobs, cost etc. But we are trying to get a good feel for it, and the areas we want to plan our future trip for in scouting out Maine ...

So my question really is just this... if you can describe the overall 'feel' of the cities/towns in Maine in comparison to one another... for example if its touristy or rural or religious or hippy or hurried or slow etc etc etc anything that comes to mind Just so we have a generic idea of the different areas in Maine and how life moves along in each And yes we are still on the tip of our exploration and looking at all cities and all towns big and small!

[7th generation]

Western mountains:
Slow
Beautiful
Rural
Friendly people, but you will find this attribute anywhere in Maine.
Snow
Best skiing on the east coast
Appalachian Trail and all the wonderful hiking and snowshoeing.
Rivers, lakes and streams.
Laid back, but not too "hippy-ish"
....and snow!!

[msina]

It's rural, slow and friendly here. We're in the "snow belt" meaning we usually are in the pathway of most of the heavy snow moving through Miane. We have an IGA, a Rite-Aid, a couple pizza places, three unpretentious restaurants, a True Value, a Family Dollar and, I noticed today that the laundrymat has reopened. There are no Dunkin Donuts, Irvings has coffee and some food as well. We have two Dr.'s offices, (one is very good) and lots of farm country. Great for kids and pets.

[BacktoNE]

Portland:
Younger, hip, artsy, busy but not crazy.
Coastal.
Expensive for Maine.
Easy to Boston.
Good shopping.
Lots of suburbs with their own personalities.


Waterville : (my home town)
College town.
Decent schools.
Sports oriented.
Very close to the Belgrade Lakes.
Centrally located to mountains or coastline.
Shaky job situation.
Reasonable housing prices.
Working hard to make a come back, but it's a slow process.

[AustinB]

The Blue Hill area is gentrified hippys and quite progressive,ie liberal.
Beautiful coastal area that has been bypassed by the acadia park/Bar Harbor crowd. A number of small towns with one of the last true commecial fishing villages, Stonington.
The population more than doubles in the summer around here.

[emu742]

msina...where is 'here'?
Where is the blue hill area? Midcoast? Belfast/Rockport/Rockland/Camden?
How does Easport compare to midcoast such as Rockport, compare to Portland, compare to Saco for example? What are the differences besides the populations...

[msina]

Hi emu,.. I'm in Beautiful, downtown Milo. Just a stones throw from Dover-Foxcroft.
As you drive into town you come to intersection, directly in front of you is the True Value. Spelled out in wooden letters on the front of the store is "A Friendly Town". In my opinion, this is correct.

[AustinB]

Blue Hill is mid coast... between Penobscot Bay and Mount Desert Island.

[Acadianlion]

Originally Posted by AustinB

The Blue Hill area is gentrified hippys and quite progressive,ie liberal.
Beautiful coastal area that has been bypassed by the acadia park/Bar Harbor crowd. A number of small towns with one of the last true commecial fishing villages, Stonington.
The population more than doubles in the summer around here.

S-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-hush, Austin.

Please don't TELL anyone!

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by msina

I'm in Beautiful, downtown Milo. ... Spelled out in wooden letters on the front of the store is "A Friendly Town". In my opinion, this is correct.

That's where I saw that sign! Thanks MsIna, I remember seeing that during one of my wanderings around the state, but for the life of me couldn't remember where. Was afraid to post a question because I figured I would get the whole (Oh looky, Bydand's mind is slipping again) I get it enough from the DW already I wasn't about to subject myself to possibility of more from you fine people.