Exploring Colorado to Portland (Liberty: to rent, insurance, house) - Maine (ME) -Portland, ME metro area - City-Data Forum

dhden2000 · 10-12-2015, 08:12 PM

Grew up in Connecticut and left for Denver 25 years ago. Now researching a potential move back to New England. I seem to like northern NE the most. I have siblings who live in NH and also Boston so I would have some family in the area which is a plus. I have visited both NH Seacoast and Portland area last May. Just seeking some feedback on Portland as a place to live for somone in my age group which is late 40's and single working in IT field. I'm active outdoors and into sailing, kayaking, hiking and a little skiing. Looking for a smaller city than Denver and less crowded, less traffic, closer to the ocean. Things have gone crazy here over the past few years with huge number of folks moving to Denver. Getting expensive, crowded and traffic is awful. Try driving up the mountains on the weekend and it's a parking lot of stop and go for hours.

Seems as though there are plenty of things to do and see in Portland for a sinlge person? I am curious if I'd be making a mistake moving there if single at my age? Also seems like it would be wise to live close to downtown in order to be close to pubs, restaurants etc.. What is the vibe like in Portland? How bad is traffic on the highways around the city? Is it pretty easy to get up to the mountains from Portland to hike or ski? Taking the Amtrak Downeaster to Boston also sounds like fun? I also own a boat that I could bring with me which is a 23 foot sailboat if there is anywhere to use it there. Probably a little more water than Colorado!!

Any feedback on the area good and the bad is appreciated, thanks.. Cheers

dubthang · 10-13-2015, 10:41 AM

I'd make sure you have a job lined up first. Jobs (with good pay) are the hardest thing to come by in Portland. The cost of living is a little cheaper here, but salaries vary based on the type of job and its relationship to Boston or NY.

Portland is slowly getting more populated. That said, traffic is heavy at times. Heavy enough that it can take 30 minutes to get across town... something that I can bike in half that.

There are plenty of outdoor activities, and you can get a slip for your boat if you want to leave it docked in the ocean. I don't think being single would be a huge problem for you, but that all depends on what you are looking for I guess.

I think it is always a good idea to live on the peninsula first so that one can really get the vibe of Portland. After a year or two, you can always move somewhere else.

dhden2000 · 10-14-2015, 01:23 PM

Thanks dubthang for the response. I work in IT for a company that builds software for the insurance industry and it appears there are several insurance companies in Portland such as UNUM, Memic, Sunlife that have IT departments and so looks like there is some opportunity for me. I could likely work remote in current job as well however I wouldn't want to do that for long as I think I would go crazy being home full time every day. There is alos the prospect of working for Liberty Mutual down in Dover, NH which puts me int he general vicinity I guess...

dubthang · 10-15-2015, 05:16 PM

Dover is a good ways from Portland. I made the commute for a bit between Portland and Dover, but it was during off traffic times. Best I could do was around 45 minutes, but generally it will be longer.

Memic is right on Commercial St. by the water. They are a good company. I just worked on a training video with them for my job. UNUM is a good place to work also, but they are not on the peninsula so a short commute is required. I don't remember exactly, but I believe Sun Life is right downtown in the Arts District. I don't know much about them though.

dhden2000 · 10-16-2015, 08:34 AM

I was thinking that if I found work with say Liberty Mutual I'd live in the Dover/Portsmouth area so no major commute. I have visited Portsmouth, NH as well which I like but it seems much smaller than Portland and pretty sleepy though I'm sure it's also a fine place to be. I too have heard some good reviews of MEMIC at least on Glassdoor.com. I'm just doing some leg work and research to find out if Maine or NH could make sense for me. I realize in Maine you have income tax but maybe the property tax is a little lower? One nice thing about CO is our taxes tend to be on the lower side both income and property however with home prices soaring our property tax bills are increasing quite a bit as well. If I were to move I would just have to rent for at least a year and explore. I sure would like to sell my single family home in spring at the top of the market and take that check to the bank!

dubthang · 10-19-2015, 03:40 PM

I love the Dover/Portsmouth area. Lived there for a few years while I attended UNH, and stayed for a bit after I graduated. If the job and money is good, you can't go wrong with southern NH. There is plenty to do there, and the lack of income tax is a great thing. There are plenty of small towns around to house shop in so you can pick your property taxes too.