relocating to Waterville, Farmington, Bingham area (Portland, Augusta: rental market, house, college)

[wildwolf265]

My wife and 9 month old and I are relocating to this area for work and an adventure. We are in our early 30's. We ae looking for a cool area to live in. What I mean is cafe's, pub's/micro-brewery's, live music, vegetarian restaurants, outdoor markets etc. Can any one give us advice, and/or info on the area?
In addition we are hoping to rent a house. Any advice on that venture will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks-
Chris, Lissa, and Willow

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by wildwolf265

My wife and 9 month old and I are relocating to this area for work and an adventure. We are in our early 30's. We ae looking for a cool area to live in. What I mean is cafe's, pub's/micro-brewery's, live music, vegetarian restaurants, outdoor markets etc. Can any one give us advice, and/or info on the area?
In addition we are hoping to rent a house. Any advice on that venture will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks-
Chris, Lissa, and Willow

I take it you've never been to any of these areas because they not like the description of what you're looking for. Waterville has about two pubs and a small but pretty nice down town area. Farmington is a sleepy college town, and Bingham....well Bingham is a "don't blink or you'll miss it" kind of town. There's nothing wrong with any of them but the word adventure doesn't really come to mind when I think of these places. I'm sure others will have greater detail for you.
Welcome to the forum!

[island mermaid]

Originally Posted by wildwolf265

My wife and 9 month old and I are relocating to this area for work and an adventure. We are in our early 30's. We ae looking for a cool area to live in. What I mean is cafe's, pub's/micro-brewery's, live music, vegetarian restaurants, outdoor markets etc. Can any one give us advice, and/or info on the area?
In addition we are hoping to rent a house. Any advice on that venture will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks-
Chris, Lissa, and Willow

I agree with Maineah, all are nice little towns however I can't help but feel that you'll be bored to tears in either of them. Imo, the only town that fits the description you're looking for is Portland or a neighboring town close enough to get to Portland to enjoy the things you're looking for. Good luck with your search!

[mainebrokerman]

id suggest driving thru some of these towns, get your own "feel"

i really like the bingham area, to jackman,,a huge recreation area ..one of the most beautiful areas in the state, if you like outside recreation

micro-brews seem to be popping up everywhere (maybe im just noticing more of them)

the outdoor markets,,,thier is a circuit of farmers markets in maine,,
but overall towns with a more liberal or "artsy" flavor to them, would probly be towns more along the coast.. except for a few ,,hallowell,(south of augusta 5 miles) is one of them, an old main street, it does has a brew pub, called the "liberal cup", and the town is noted for being quite diverse.

[Coaster]

I'll add a ditto to the above. Farmington comes closest to what you're looking for, but only because Waterville and Bingham are so far away from your requirements. You really need to be in the Portland area for all of that stuff.

BTW, do you already have a job in the area? If not, in this economy it might be tough to find one.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

The only town I can think of in southern Maine that meets your criteria is Bethel. I'm not sure if the Sunday River microbrewery is in Bethel or across the town line, but it's right there. The area is growing due to the ski area. I have no knowledge of the rental market over there.

[wildwolf265]

Thank you all. We are relocating in part to be in one of the most beautiful places in the world and for work. I have to live in the area I will be a rep for. The northern most point of Jackman, Farmington - Waterville, Harmony and Bingham. Anyway in that general area. We are in our early 30's with an 8 month old. We love the outdoors, art's, market's, brew's and live music. I realize that finding the perfect place in this are may difficult but we would like to be able to make fiends. Any advice would be great. In addition we will need to rent a home so tip's on that process would also be helpful.

Thanks-
Chris, Liss and Willow

[CapeCodder]

Originally Posted by wildwolf265

Thank you all. We are relocating in part to be in one of the most beautiful places in the world and for work. I have to live in the area I will be a rep for. The northern most point of Jackman, Farmington - Waterville, Harmony and Bingham. Anyway in that general area. We are in our early 30's with an 8 month old. We love the outdoors, art's, market's, brew's and live music. I realize that finding the perfect place in this are may difficult but we would like to be able to make fiends. Any advice would be great. In addition we will need to rent a home so tip's on that process would also be helpful.

Thanks-
Chris, Liss and Willow

I agree with the others that Farmington comes closest to what you're looking for...but you may need to find some other interests to fill in those artsy gaps. When I think arts, markets, brew's, and live music I think more Boulder CO than Farmington. Hallowell has a kinda artsy vibe...maybe Belfast or Camden? I haven't lived her long...but I've driven around and investigated a lot. You might have to drive a bit to get the flavor you're looking for.

Best of luck to you though, hope you love it!!

[BacktoNE]

I lived in Waterville for most of my life in Maine. What you are looking for doesn't really jive with what WTVL offers, but there are a couple of good restaurants and, of course, Colby College offers a decent variety when it comes to the arts. WTVL is an easy drive to many locations, less than 1 hour to Farmington, or parts of the coast, just a few minutes out to the Belgrade Lakes area. WTVL's best feature is its central location to so many other places.


ETA: Waterville does have a very active downtown association which is working to rejuvenate the entire area. There is a large rehab project underway at the old Hathaway Mill, brought about my a Colby alumnus and costing millions. It will be a combination of retail, arts, residential and office space, overlooking the Kennebec River. An excellent idea if they can find enough people with the income to be able to live in the residential portion.


Farmington has UMF and some scenery but, from what I've observed, not too much else. Not a bad place, just not really much going on based on your preference liset.

Bingham to Jackman is going to offer you a lot in the way of outdoor activities. Whitewater rafting, hiking, boating, x-country skiing, etc. It's a very scenic area but I don't think there is much there for the arts or restaurants other than pub/rustic steak house kind of places.

[bringselpup]

I'm kind of midpoint between Waterville and Belfast. And I tend to head towards Waterville when I make shopping runs because it has more options than Belfast. But my instant thought was Waterville does not strike me as what you are looking for. Belfast down to Camden and maybe even further seems more organic and crunchy.

Augusta is an easy drive also but I don't know enough about it to say whether you might want to consider finding a way to be in your territory but near enough that Augusta provide you with some kultcha.