A good place to live in Maine ? (Portland, Bangor: homes, job market)

[Drew1972]

I am 37 years old, My wife is 33 and we have 2 sons age 13 & 15. We live in Delaware and we dislike it with a passion ! My wife and I got married a little over 4 years ago and with a small request from me, We honeymooned at a bed and breakfast in Wells. We loved the people, I dont really understand how anyone can say people in Maine are not very welcoming We asked alot of questions and everyone seemed very happy to answer. I am very active within our community, I umpire in our little league every year, I participate in the local Polar Bear plunge every winter. I love helping , participating, and just helping out. My wife and I WANT TO KNOW WHAT A HOME FEELS LIKE ! We want to provide our boys with a good, safe, and quality education.I guess my question is: Where in Maine is the best place to live and still be able to find half wat decent jobs ? #2 Is there any aerosol companies in Maine ? My WIFE WORKS WITHIN THE INDUSTRY, Please if there is anyone out there who can point us toward our dream with any tips or advice I would really appreciate it.

[Submariner]

Maine has a locally depressed economy. Completely un-attached to the recent national recession.

There is very little work in Maine.

It started back when refrigeration was invented, and the ice-block shipping industry went bust. They have never recovered from that bust.

If you had a job lined-up, then it would be roses and heather, milk and honey, pork and beans.

If you had a pension [like me], then it would be great. Maine is wonderful.

But with no income, life is going to be real hard.

[Drew1972]

Thank You for the reply, I would never dream of moving myself and my family without a job lined up first. That would be dangerously irresponsible of me, I just needed to know where the best place to start looking would be. Than it would be a choice of that location to live at or the surrounding towns. Despite the economy, I do have a belief that if you want something bad enough than there's nothing that can stop you from acheiving your goals, at least that used to be an old saying that made this country once great. I have to thank my time I served in the us army, they taught me how to adapt to any condition or location, and it seems Ive been doing that my entire life. Beekeeper, my goal is to make a great life in Maine and whatever it takes, I will do because thats just who I am.

[RMoore007]

Sounds like the hardest part is already taken care of. Your attitude.
Everything else is just opportunity and logistics. If you don't look for any problems, you won't find any opportunities. Good luck.

[wabanaki]

I like your attitude, tried to rep you but !!.

Originally Posted by RMoore007

Sounds like the hardest part is already taken care of. Your attitude.
Everything else is just opportunity and logistics. If you don't look for any problems, you won't find any opportunities. Good luck.

[Submariner]

Drew1972-
Looking at things from the 'Delaware' advantage point everywhere in Maine will tend to have: much lower crime, lower taxes, lower stress, lower cost-of-living, less traffic, lower priced homes, ... overall it is much more rural [more so as you travel North].

... I dont really understand how anyone can say people in Maine are not very welcoming

Well, I was rather un-welcoming to you, in my previous post.

Often when new posters begin talking about moving to Maine, there is a bunch of folks who will jump in with lots of negatives. Which draws a nice contrast to my usually positive and encouraging posts.

This time decided to get that ugly messiness out of the way, first thing, myself. Before they jump in.

So, ...

... I am very active within our community, I umpire in our little league every year, I participate in the local Polar Bear plunge every winter. I love helping, participating, and just helping out.

It seems to me that folks who stay shut-in are most often those who end-up disliking Maine.

When I got here, I immediately began checking out the American Legion and VFW, the Masonic lodge and Shrine.

How you get involved is entirely up to you, of course. I think it is a key factor that is left missing in why some folks decide to dislike Maine.

... My wife and I WANT TO KNOW WHAT A HOME FEELS LIKE ! We want to provide our boys with a good, safe, and quality education. ...

Safety? this is it!

Education? when we moved here we still had one child in public school. It was amazing the differences. Going from a highschool with thousands of students, to a HS with less than 400 total student body, was a huge change. With less than 100 kids in each grade-level, they actually knew each other. The teachers knew the kids by name and often the teachers knew the families as well.

Our youngest has a learning disability, and we found that the HS here really tailored their curriculum to meet his abilities and to challenge him.



I know nothing about the 'aerosol' industry.

Good luck

[mollysmiles]

Originally Posted by RMoore007

Sounds like the hardest part is already taken care of. Your attitude.
Everything else is just opportunity and logistics. If you don't look for any problems, you won't find any opportunities. Good luck.

I agree!

[melinuxfool]

Originally Posted by Drew1972

I am 37 years old, My wife is 33 and we have 2 sons age 13 & 15. We live in Delaware and we dislike it with a passion ! My wife and I got married a little over 4 years ago and with a small request from me, We honeymooned at a bed and breakfast in Wells. We loved the people, I dont really understand how anyone can say people in Maine are not very welcoming We asked alot of questions and everyone seemed very happy to answer. I am very active within our community, I umpire in our little league every year, I participate in the local Polar Bear plunge every winter. I love helping , participating, and just helping out. My wife and I WANT TO KNOW WHAT A HOME FEELS LIKE ! We want to provide our boys with a good, safe, and quality education.I guess my question is: Where in Maine is the best place to live and still be able to find half wat decent jobs ? #2 Is there any aerosol companies in Maine ? My WIFE WORKS WITHIN THE INDUSTRY, Please if there is anyone out there who can point us toward our dream with any tips or advice I would really appreciate it.

You might like look into Hope, Maine. It's not far away from Camden and Rockland and is one of the nicer communities. It's a nice rural town, but beautiful. It's sort of a mountainous area. Also is nearby Appleton. Appleton Ridge is beautiful!

I'll second the depressed economy, but there are jobs out there. The cost of living in Maine is low, but income reflects it as well. Don't expect to make 50 grand on one salary, but it doesn't really take 50 grand to survive here either.

[Acadianlion]

Originally Posted by Drew1972

I am 37 years old, My wife is 33 and we have 2 sons age 13 & 15. We live in Delaware and we dislike it with a passion ! My wife and I got married a little over 4 years ago and with a small request from me, We honeymooned at a bed and breakfast in Wells. We loved the people, I dont really understand how anyone can say people in Maine are not very welcoming We asked alot of questions and everyone seemed very happy to answer. I am very active within our community, I umpire in our little league every year, I participate in the local Polar Bear plunge every winter. I love helping , participating, and just helping out. My wife and I WANT TO KNOW WHAT A HOME FEELS LIKE ! We want to provide our boys with a good, safe, and quality education.I guess my question is: Where in Maine is the best place to live and still be able to find half wat decent jobs ? #2 Is there any aerosol companies in Maine ? My WIFE WORKS WITHIN THE INDUSTRY, Please if there is anyone out there who can point us toward our dream with any tips or advice I would really appreciate it.

Now, very often at this point, I jump right in and try to spash a little reality into the optimistic faces of the impossibly optimistic fools who say that they really want to find 'home' in Maine.

But sorry Forestbeekeeper and anyone else who is holding their breath, I am not going to do it here.

Oh, I think the usual advice applies. That you have been to Maine on vacation is nice, but Maine isn't at all like what you think you saw when you were all pumped up and celebrating your wedding. Maine is much, much different.

But if you even THINK that you liked what you saw, then by all means you should explore it, and don't wait too long: you are 37 and time's awasting!

Step one is to make a trip up to Maine. No, not Wells, because if you have been to Wells, you have crossed the state line. Between Wells and the state's largest city (Portland), lies the ENTIRE state of Delaware. (Well, almost).

No, this trip your destination should be Bangor, and you should plan to stay there for a week. From there travel around and see everything within a fifty miles circle, even if it is only for a drive through. By all means go down to explore Acadia National Park...worth one day in your "fact finding mission", but this time, NOT more than that.

Go up the Interstate and stop near where Forestbeekeper hangs out....the unorganized territories offer cheap living and little else, but you need to see it. Go to Augusta, and see the state capitol....you need to see this, too.

All within 50 miles of Bangor. And while you are there, plan on looking for jobs of all kinds. A week will give you some flavor.

Now, BEFORE you come, make a list at home of your available job skills. Once you have that list, you can then match it up to what may or may NOT be available ANYWHERE in Maine.

When you have returned to Delaware from your one week visit to Bangor and environs, you will have visited or briefly seen about 20% of Maine. You will have yet to stop and visit in the greater Portland area, which is where the majority of Maine's population is, and where the majority of the most common opportunities for work is...this area, roughly a 50 miles radius circle in the southwestern most part of Maine...is often called "North Boston", because it is more like a suburb of Boston than the rest of rural Maine.

And of course you will not have seen eastern most Maine...the real "Downeast...nor Aroostook County which will amaze you in comparison to Delaware, nor the northwestern most mountainous part of Maine. But all of that can wait a while.

After a longer visit, you can judge how well you will do in the job market and then start to actually make applications. And you will also know whether or not THIS kind of environment will really work for you, socially, politically and financially.

Your attitude about making it work for you is laudable. It is 90 points on a scale of 100. But you need to know exactly what is in store for you, and then with a sense of adventure, you CAN make a fine life for you and your family here, although it might be unlike anything that you have thought would be yours to begin with.

I speak from experience. I moved to Maine thirty plus years ago without a prayer, and only a small cottage to live in that my family owned. I had neither regular heat nor hotwater that first winter. I had two degrees neither of which were employable at the time, so I started a small business doing odd jobs utilizing the meagre seventh grade shop skills that my school department in Massachusetts insisted that I have. There have been many more advantures since then, and no, I am not still doing odd jobs: but I could.

If this 'make do' attitude is truly that of you and your family, you can make it in Maine. So, roll up your sleeves, and have a family "think about" to decide if you all are up for the adventure of a lifetime. You won't get beaten by anything in Maine, Maine's economy, Maine's weather or anything else except your ultimate unwillingness to dig deep into your own personal strengths and resources.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

And if you need a hand in resurrecting the ice block industry, I am one of few here who has actually done it. It's a seasonal occupation best performed in February when most other occupations are in their slow times.

As to the aerosol industry; as soon as the ice block season tapers off, Maine is in need of bug repellent aerosols.