Wells (Portland, South Portland, Sanford: houses, new construction, high school)

[gdubs31]

I'm going up to Maine in about a month for labor day weekend for a vacation and check out houses for a possible move. My search is centering around the Portland area, but wanted to get a sense of what Wells is like. I imagine it's Cape Cod where everything closes in the winter & heats up in the summer. There seems to be affordable housing (including new constructions) there and is a reasonable distance to NH, which opens up job opportunities for my fiancée. The high school there also seems to be rated highly.

Questions I have from locals are:
1. Is it bearable to live there year round?
2. Is there enough things open like convenience stores, restaurants etc in town, or at least in local towns?
3. What would the traffic be like during the busy season as I'd have to commute to Portland

If anyone would like to throw some more details out there it would be helpful.

[KEVIN_224]

I lived there once...but that was 1974-77.

I haven't been on US Route 1 in Wells in a LONG time. My brother was recently on it, however, along with Mile Road, the connector between that and Wells Beach. He said that little seems to have changed there since the last time I was by that.

Wells is Exit 19 from I-95/Maine Turnpike. The first exit involving Portland is 44 (I-295 North). Go one exit further for the Maine Mall and ME Route 114 (Exit 45) and you're looking at 26 miles each way. And that's only South Portland.

Good luck with your Wells quest!

P.S. If coming off of I-95/Maine Turnpike, take a left to get into the town center and to US Route 1. Take a right for ME Route 109 to Sanford. There's very little to see in between. I know because I lived in the sticks west of that way back when!