Considering moving to Northern Maine, Aroostook County. (Presque Isle, Fairfield: real estate, apartments)
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I'm currently serving in the United States Navy and I'll be retiring in just a year or so after a very long 20 years. I'm originally from Southern Maine and (we) My wife is originally from California are, considering moving up north to either aroostook or washington county when I retire. I'm hoping that some of the members here can recommend some great towns to look at with some potential employment opportunties.
Thanks in advance for any help.... Hope to be Maine bound soon.
Themo's,all though i can't help you with info about the job market, i can tell you a little about living in aroostook county, i have been here a month , moved here from Rhode Island where i was born and raised.The first thing i would say is that aroostook county is a very unique area both to maine and otherwise, in a nutshell living here is all about the LIFESTYLE, what i mean by that is for the few things it lacks, like tons of stores on every corner,infra structures of things like jobs's and real estate, they are a little harder to find here than in other areas. You are left to find things like that through personal knowledge and hearsay.For the most part that's why imho that the LIFESTYLE here in aroostook has remained unchanged. You should consider these things before moving,reliying on family and friends here is a must, having nature and weather so close to your back door tends to keep you grounded to reality and does not let you take friends and family for granted like other lifestyles do.Progress or what most people call progress like more jobs,more businesses, more money,sounds great on the surface but it ends up changing the local lifestyle forever. Living here in [the valley] in [the county] is a very delicate microcosm with acadian and french canadian influences. In a nutshell it's a little piece of heaven.For the few little things you give up on the surface you gain back things that most of us have given away in the name of progress. Sense of community,respect for others,and a delicate harmonious relationship with nature and the surrounding enviorment. If you care about things like natures beauty and wildlife, and the ability to access it on a grand scale this is the area for you, on the other hand if you mostly care about money and the perfect job regardless of the location this might not be the best choice for that kind of thing. These are just my opinions, i hope at least it will help you look closer at an area that offers many things that other areas no longer have.
I understand your retiring, many families up there are military retired families (two generations my father and grandfather) and I will be in a few more years as well. As stated it is a lifestyle change, when the biggest thing on news is not a shooting, but instead how much snow and who won tonights bball game, it is a different feeling.
Jobs, job markets, depends what you want to do. My father works in caribou/limestone area, what used to be Loring AFB, but now has many GS jobs in DFAS up there, as well as those who rebuild tanks and HuMMVEEs (spelling?) and many other jobs there. You can also look for jobs, though not the best paying, working for the tater farmers or wood harvesters of ashland. If you have some questions, ask or pm em my way, I'll try to help you out
What's your rate, Sailor? You might find something right down your alley. There is a company building blimps at the old Loring Air Force Base. DFAS is there. Jobs are not plentiful, but there are jobs available.
I left out a alot of information which could have helped you all offer some advice. I'm from Maine originally and have always missed the lifestyle. I love the great out doors and I'm not looking for a high paying job or to become wealthy in Northern Maine. Instead,I'm seeking a lifestyle which offers a safe place to raise my families and a sense of community......
I'm an Airframes Chief so my background is aviation (for you non Navy folks a Chief is an E-7) My fellow Navy brothers here know what happens though if you ever call genuine chief an E-7. Loring is an option I didn't consider. I'll have my retirment pay so I really just need a full time job to augment that, keep the lights lit and food on the table. My wife and I have owned homes at different duty stations so we could afford a reasonable down payment on a home up there keeping a mortgage payment affordable. I've been online quite a bit looking at the Presque Isle area. That area seems like it has enough infrastructure to satisfy my wife and everything else to satisfy me and my out door hobbies. I also noticed there is a Lowes in that area which would be a great place for me to work.... I'm a bit of a home improvement nut so a fixer upper house on some land would be a dream come true.
I still have family in Southern Maine, so we'll have a small support structure at least located in the same state.... Although I remember traveling up to Madawaska growing up and it taking all day.
What are some town's I should look at around Presque Isle and Loring with affordable housing and a few acre's of land? Am I being reasonable to expect to find a habitable house on some land for around 100K? There's light at the end of the tunnel and I can't wait to get home for good. Appreciate all the replies.....
The_mo's imho you should be able to find a more than a nice place for that amount, what i have gone through in the last 2 years of looking could fill a book. I still have my folder of realtor's if there is some way of sending them to your email i will do so if you choose. The first thing that irratated me was realtor sites that searched by name of town, i can't imagine a more limited way of doing things, suppose you wern't from the area.then you have to go get a list of all towns and go one by one and then be aware of the town lines, i don't think so. There are so many small towns in Aroostook, each one has it's own likes and dislikes, at least for me, one of the most important things for me was the [feng shui] of the location,there are many realtors in the aroostook area which are not national chians, those had the best selection, there are even some who don't belong to the maine mls, or realtor.com, that was what i had my best luck with, i know that there was an area near presque isle that i loved called fort fairfield, it was just beautiful, the area that i ended up in reminds me allot of that spot. Good luck on your search
Towns...local to presque Isle, I don't know how local you'd like to be but heres a few with distances to PI:
Easton--appx 8-10 miles
Westfield--right outside of pi depending on area (between mars hill and presque Isle)
mars hill--15 miles
Blaine/bridgwater-20-25 miles
washburn--12-15 miles
Fort Fairfield--15 miles
There are many small towns, iwth lots of land basically, and not too much as far as price. Talked with my parents yesterday, they said that there was a house right outside of Loring that was a forclosure for about 70k, pretty nice, but was split into two apartments, basically tear down the wall and go right? As for aviation mechanic, presque Isle airport would be my best bet, or like was said, loring has a few different projects, the blimps, re arming and rebuilding hummers from overseas, you know, fun stuff!
I was the Airframes Officer at Quonset Point some 40 years ago. Loring should be a great opportunity for somebody with your skills. Another one is the Border Patrol. I'm told there has been a huge reorganization and the whole thing now comes under Homeland Security, but like all things government it means bigger. They will be hiring for the next two years. If you are in decent shape you can get in. Your government service counts. I know one retired Chief who could not get in because he has bad knees. He was in intel.
You'll like this one. I was a brand new ensign when I went to the Antarctic. Our crew chief was a 1'st Class Metalsmith (AMH1). He liked to attempt to play tricks on me. He made Chief on the cruise. The other chiefs wanted to make up a plaque for the Chief's mess and asked me whet his rate was. The day he put on his hat there was a brand new plate on the door. "Chief Aviation Plumber's Mate".
I was the Airframes Officer at Quonset Point some 40 years ago. Loring should be a great opportunity for somebody with your skills. Another one is the Border Patrol. I'm told there has been a huge reorganization and the whole thing now comes under Homeland Security, but like all things government it means bigger. They will be hiring for the next two years. If you are in decent shape you can get in. Your government service counts. I know one retired Chief who could not get in because he has bad knees. He was in intel.
You'll like this one. I was a brand new ensign when I went to the Antarctic. Our crew chief was a 1'st Class Metalsmith (AMH1). He liked to attempt to play tricks on me. He made Chief on the cruise. The other chiefs wanted to make up a plaque for the Chief's mess and asked me whet his rate was. The day he put on his hat there was a brand new plate on the door. "Chief Aviation Plumber's Mate".
Your baaad
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