Is Provincetown Right for Me? (Sherborn, Wellfleet: appointed, neighborhoods, quality of life)

[migrjo]

Dear Friends ~

I moved to Portland, Maine ten weeks ago and, sadly, have to admit there is a hateful undercurrent here and I'm not sure I can live the rest of my life happily with it.

A friend who grew up on Cape Cod is convinced I'd be happy living out my life in Provincetown. Please read my city-data post about Portland, check out my Facebook page and give my your thoughts about whether or not P'town is right for me.

Thanks!

Michael


"I've been in Portland two months as of yesterday. There is much that I love about it but here are a few things that have surprised me that none of my research prepared me for.

There is a lot of homlessness and panhandling. It may be a flaw in me but when I am asked repeatedly for spare change it sets my teeth on edge.

It seems that most pedestrians smoke. You walk from one cloud of second-hand smoke to another to another. Jerry Seinfeld once joked that he second-hand smoked two packs a day. I think of this joke often while walking in Portland.

I started a thread here at one time about whether or not it's smart to try to live in Portland without a car. The answer is yes and no. If you can arrange your life so that you walk everywhere it can work but, if you need a bus, they are very unreliable. Delays of up to 25 minutes are not uncommon. This doesn't work if you are on a schedule.

The thing that has most surprised me and disappointed me is that twice within two months I have been called names in the street. I am sixty-one years old and I don't believe I've ever been called a name in the street anywhere else that I've ever lived. Twice?!? In two months?!? Could there be a hateful element in Portland?

It occured to me that, for balance, I should include what I love about Portland in this post but I've decided against it. I did extensive quality of life research before my move and it is not hard to find glowing reports about Portland from many sources. I respect and stand by everything good I learned during my research...which makes what has disappointed me even more perplexing."

[brightdoglover]

Uh... where is your post about Portland?
Offhand, I'd say Ptown would suit anyone who could afford to live there. It's quiet in the off season, and crazy busy/crowded in the season. I rather assume that being gay or wearing a rainbow or whatever wouldn't draw a second glance. I'm straight, have visited Ptown a few times, and find it beautiful and very expensive. Perhaps the OP is retired?

[migrjo]

Dear brightdoglover ~

My old post about Portland was the second half of my post above; the part in quotation marks. What city-data.com removed was my Facebook page link. They were uncomfortable with my full name being on my Facebook page.

Michael

[kmann-sherborn]

I think it's hard to say whether Provincetown would be right for someone without knowing what they're looking for. It does have a lot to offer and is a fun place to visit. Personally I think all the tourists would drive me nuts in the summer if I lived there but maybe it's not so overrun with people in the summer once you're away from Commercial St? I'm not sure. My favorite part of the Cape in the stretches of Wellfleet by the Cape Cod National Seashore. Once you drive past the commercial stuff on the highway with the tshirt stands, drive-in etc, there are some beautiful, peaceful neighborhoods and gorgeous ocean beaches and pretty little ponds and a little artist community. I know people who say they feel like it's way too desolate in the winter though.

[brightdoglover]

Best wishes to the OP wherever he decides to go or stay.

[ogre]

Kmann-Sherborn's post makes a good point in the first sentence. The original post mostly tells what you didn't like about Portland. Though one can infer that part of what you're looking for is an absence of those particular drawbacks, it would still help people have a better idea how good a fit P-town would be if you gave an overview of the characteristics you were looking for in a town (including objective info like your housing budget), not just what you wanted to avoid.