Eastport (Washington: for sale, 2015, violent crime)

[BlackBear04]

My wife and I are originally from central Maine and are planning on retiring in Eastport. We've both been working out of state for some time now and the last time I was even in Washington County was over 15 years ago. My question is, how safe is Eastport these days? I read about a murder of a 75 year old right in town back in 2015 and another young man from Eastport who recently kidnapped and raped a girl in Pleasant Point. I also saw that Eastport had 4 police chiefs in a 5 year period and that it has a relatively high statistic of thefts/burglaries.

The thefts don't scare us as much as what appears to be a pattern recently there of younger people committing some seriously violent crime/murder. Everywhere gets murders and rapes, sure, but we'd like to move back to Maine precisely because we remember it being so safe. I remember this specific area always being the poorest in Maine but certainly not dangerous or unsafe. Is Washington County and Eastport/Pleasant Point this bad now? Also, are vacation homes that are empty/unoccupied for months at a time targeted? We are snowbirds and our other concern is our house getting vandalized when we are away in the winter.

Thanks to any locals who can weigh in!

[mensaguy]

There are several people who post regularly on this forum that live in Eastport, have relatives there, or know the area well.

The crime in Eastport is almost nonexistent. Read the police report in the Quoddy Times to find out what law enforcement in that little town in really like. There was indeed a murder down on lower Clark St. a few years ago. It was such an unusual event that there were multiple state police cars in town for several days conducting the investigation. If you have no murders for several years, then one occurs, your murder rate has skyrocketed. In reality, it is meaningless to the real safety of the town.

People in Eastport leave their doors unlocked. They not only leave their cars unlocked when they go to the IGA, they leave the engines running in the winter time.

Our house is vacant in the winter, and we have never had anything vandalized in the 13 years we have owned it.

[woxyroxme]

The guy that killed the man on Clark St. had been trying to get some money from him and wound up killing him, he had a history of crime and mental illness, I was in Eastport shortly after it happened for my aunt's memorial service.

I plan on retiring To Eastport myself, my grandparents lived there along with several other relatives and have been in town several times for extended periods of time over my lifetime so it's not like I am going somewhere I am not very familiar with, it certainly beats where I am now.

[BlackBear04]

Thank you both for your input. Just a few other Eastport questions if you don't mind:

- Is there much of a difference in quality of life living on Moose vs. Carlow Island? Seems like Eastport proper is a bit more dense and then north Moose Island and pretty much all of Carlow are sparsely populated with a lot of land. Just wondering if there's a reason for that and if there's pros/cons to one area versus the other.

- Does the city have any laws you know of that require year round lawn care (mowing in the spring/summer/fall, snow removal in winter)? Just about everything we've looked at has a sizeable lawn/yard and everyone seems to keep up really well with mowing and yard maintenance. We like that but until we can retire there permanently there might be months at a time where we can't mow the yard. Additionally, we both have health issues that would make mowing a yard difficult sometimes. Do you know if the city requires this and if so, is there a local business that we can hire to do this?

- Any word yet on if the Deer Island ferry will ever come back? Someone told us it has been gone two years in a row now. Just curious.

Thanks!

[retiredtinbender]

Originally Posted by BlackBear04

Thank you both for your input. Just a few other Eastport questions if you don't mind:

- Is there much of a difference in quality of life living on Moose vs. Carlow Island? Seems like Eastport proper is a bit more dense and then north Moose Island and pretty much all of Carlow are sparsely populated with a lot of land. Just wondering if there's a reason for that and if there's pros/cons to one area versus the other.

- Does the city have any laws you know of that require year round lawn care (mowing in the spring/summer/fall, snow removal in winter)? Just about everything we've looked at has a sizeable lawn/yard and everyone seems to keep up really well with mowing and yard maintenance. We like that but until we can retire there permanently there might be months at a time where we can't mow the yard. Additionally, we both have health issues that would make mowing a yard difficult sometimes. Do you know if the city requires this and if so, is there a local business that we can hire to do this?

- Any word yet on if the Deer Island ferry will ever come back? Someone told us it has been gone two years in a row now. Just curious.

Thanks!

Carlow's was subdivided about 20 years ago. Lots are large and waterfront and, as it's waterfront, taxes are going to be higher there compared to in-town. Mosquitoes and deer are prevalent. It used to be farmland way back in the day.

We have no laws on proper lawn care. If you want to let it grow and hay in the fall, go right ahead. You're going to hear some griping around town about it though, if you're in town. But there's nothing the city can do. Same with snow. Let it pile up if you like. The mail won't deliver if they can't get in though. There are a few people around that are in the lawncare/plowing/shoveling business to help you out. All very good.

I haven't heard anything definite on the ferry yet. There have been talks/meetings lately.

Good luck to you and welcome to Eastport. We'll leave a light on for ya.

[maineguy8888]

Ask about the red ants. I'm serious.

[mensaguy]

The property taxes on Carlow Island are VERY high. There are only a few houses on the island, and there are always properties for sale there. There must be reasons that things are the way they are on that island.

It's not hard to find somebody to cut your grass or plow your snow. One thing you should consider is having somebody on call to look in on your house when you're away. It's a good thing to have your house checked after a big storm or when there has been a power outage.

[woxyroxme]

Originally Posted by BlackBear04

Seems like Eastport proper is a bit more dense and then north Moose Island

This would go back to the olden days, there was 5000 people living in Eastport in 1900 and several sardine canneries on piers on the east side of the island so that is the side where the houses were built. Wadsworth was once on a pier until it was destroyed by the groundhog day gale over 40 years ago, it filled the breakwater area with debris and ripped some siding off my grandparents house. My great aunt worked at the last surviving sardine cannery through the 1970s which burned down in 1980.

[90077]

Originally Posted by maineguy8888

Ask about the red ants. I'm serious.

https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/2550e/

https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/2551e/

[maineguy8888]

Originally Posted by 90077

https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/2550e/

https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/2551e/

My understanding is that they are really bad around Eastport\Pleasant Point.