PT members from Maine? Need infomation

[yorkster]

Hey,
I'm considering a move to Maine (most likely the Portland or surrounding area).
Would like to know more about the area (ie, activities, weather, are the people friendly, jobs, & general way of life, etc.) I already know it's quite cold and alot of snow in the winter, but I like that, so it's fine with me.
Any other info would be helpful.
Thanks

[yorkster]

forgot to ask this about Maine:
what's the cost of living like? for example what would a 2 bedroom apt./condo rent for? Or a average 3 b.room house sell for?
Where I'm living now (Seattle area) real estate is out of control- to buy an average 3 b.room house w/ small yard is anywhere from 300K (outside the city), to 700K (inside the city).

[Tralee]

I live in Maine and have my entire life. Maine is great because it has four seasons. The summers are not extremely hot. Winters are cold, and we do get a lot of snow. From december to january the weather usally doen't get above freezing. Feb. is why we get the most snow and jan is when it is the coldest.

I'm not to sure about cost of living

The people in Maine are very nice friendly. Portland is a very nice city on the ocean. Umm Maine isn't very different then other states. There are few people that a real maine lobstermen.

any other question I will try to anwser as best as I can.

[kuhio98]

You can do a search on the internet for Portland, Maine and find out some information. I've been to Maine once and I loved it. If I ever leave Alaska, Maine would definitely be on my list of possible places to live.
http://www.ci.portland.me.us/
http://www.maine.gov/portal/living/moving.html
http://homes.mainetoday.com/moving/relocating/
http://www.maineco.org/advantages/lifestyle.htm

Another thing you can do is call/write/e-mail the Portland newspaper and get a subscription (or find out if their newspaper is online--The Anchorage Daily News is online). That way you can look at what houses and apartments are going for and what jobs are paying to help you make up your mind about moving.

[elizabethann]

I love Maine. My brother lives in Maine and I live 45 minutes from the border, so I'm there frequently. Portland is a beautiful city on the ocean. Lot's to do. Portland Seadogs baseball in the Summer is a lot of fun. Lot's of lighthouses to explore and Portland has some old forts on the water that are great to explore and bring your dog. They have a great shopping district too (Planet Dog is a cool store). If you consider yourself an outdoorsy type of person, you'll love Maine. Kayaking, sailing, hiking, biking in the Summer and snowmobiling, skiing, snowshoeing in the Winter. And if you love to shop, there is Kittery Maine where all the outlets are (and LL Bean in Freeport).

As far as the cost of living, I know it's cheaper than NH - but not by much. If you live further North, it's very cheap. But the closer South, it gets more expensive.

I'd love to live in Maine myself someday. I always thought it would be great to live way up North (until I heard they got 2-3 feet of snow a few days ago, then I remembered I didn't like snow). I've since changed my mind and want to move to Florida.

For 2 summers I would drive 1.5 hours to Portland to rehabilitate seals. They have an organization in Portland that rehabs injured/abandoned seals. If you're interested in that, you could become involved with it. They train you and it's AWESOME!!

Good luck!!

[yorkster]

Thanks everyone for the info- and kuhio98 , those links were helpful.

Real estate looks like it's going up-up-up there. Not too much less than here, but still a bit less, so I better get there soon.

The more I see & read about Maine, the more I feel that's where i want to go. It has everything: the ocean, mountains, seasons, history and it's beautiful!
Having lived in the Seattle area for so long I'm kinda spoiled because there are all those things here too. (except we don't get as much snow).
It's always been so great here to be at the beach and an hour later in the mountains. And there is nothing more beautiful than sitting a boat in Lake Washington (in the middle of the city) and seeing Mt. Rainier on one side of you, and then Mt. Baker on the other. I'll miss it here if I really do go. Not to mention my family and friends.

I've never done anything like this before, and I'll be doing it alone (except for my dog and 2 cats), so it's scary.

I am now looking at some towns just outside Portland that I think I can afford better. If anyone has info/suggestions about that it would be helpful. Not being familiar with the state, I've come up with: Scarborough, Biddeford, and Lewiston. At least the real estate website said they were close and Scarborough being only "7 minutes" away. It looked like more than that to me on the map.

[yorkster]

[QUOTE=elizabethann] Lot's of lighthouses to explore and Portland has some old forts on the water that are great to explore and bring your dog.

QUOTE]


COOL!!!