Portland, ME Intel

[Mazderati]

Winter is a solid five months, so definitely need to have good plans to get out.

Thanks to catholic charities of Maine there is diversity in town with immigrants. Outside Portland it gets pretty white.

Both of these are on the cons list. 4:00 PM sunsets can be a grind. Good to hear there is some diversity in the city at least.

You can hang out with Dunfee when you get there

Is he busy creating subforums?

Moved to Portland in ‘98, can confirm/agree with most of what’s been mentioned already.

If you like ocean it’s hard to beat, I’ve skied and fished for stripers in the same day. The only other place in New England I’d live would be NEK Vermont. Beyond that I’d go back out west for real winter.

Urban exodus right now is crushing real estate like the rest of the cool places. I’ve got a couple 3 units on Munjoy Hill, hit me up if you ever need a short term spot. I’m full now but have had a steady stream of 3-6 month folks while they look for a place to buy.

Great town, changed a lot since I’ve been here but it’s a cool zone

Been watching Portland real estate for about a year and price increases are noticeable. But, I guess that's been the case for real estate in most places. Thanks for the offer. I usually rent for a year when moving so may take you up if it looks like Portland is the next stop.

[JimmyCarter]

Everythings been mentioned already.

Food is great.
Beer is great - Lone Pine is excellent, Bissell Bros., Maine Beer relatively close.
Quality of life seems pretty good
Job market was doing fairly well pre-COVID

Homeless/drug problem is not as frequently mentioned but it's very real.
Alot of the good RE has been snatched up by out-of-staters, so you may be competing on a Maine income against buyers on a NY/Boston income

[ticketchecker]

Fog stoke

[Benny Profane]

Doesn't seem like a good place to be homeless, with that winter.

[cat in january]

Yup those are negatives in my book too.

On the plus side the music scene (precovid) is excellent and the kayaking, sailing, boating is some of the best

[Benny Profane]

Yeah, I'd drop some bucks on a nice kayak living there.

[bennymac]

I’ve dropped some bucks at the strip joint there back in the day.

Sugarloaf has a special place in my heart. Still see that sticker on lift towers everywhere. Fond memories of blowing up my marker bindings on a bump run and then patrol came and cut my lift ticket off my jacket cause we ducked a rope to get to that trail. Had to ski out on one ski and buy new bindings at the base. Then had to talk my way into getting my 3 day lift ticket reinstated. Expensive trip for a young and broke me.

[gravitylover]

What's the name of that totally commuter oriented bike shop in the old warehouse building? I think it's Port City Bikes. That's a cool shop and the owner knows what's up. I'd probably head for Allspeed though, they're all about mtb and ski leaning toward sidecountry/backcountry. This thread made me think that I need to get back up there, I like that city.

[ötzi]

Man we used to go to Portland sometimes when I was a kid, that place was a serious dump in the '70s. In the '80s you could see they were trying but it was still pretty doubtful. Amazing the changes. Mostly good but not all.

edit: engrish

[bennymac]

as a kid Old Orchard Beach (super touristy beach front amusement park area) was a lot of fun - maybe it’s tacky and trashy now. Maybe it was trashy back then too but we loved it.

Freeport (outlet store town) was a fun place to go despite not having any money to buy anything. I could fondle the North Face and Patagonia gear and pretend to myself that I was in the market.

[ticketchecker]

On the plus side the music scene (precovid) is excellent and the kayaking, sailing, boating is some of the best

The music scene was popping at the seams pre-covid, so far we've lost one good club and another one that is a fav of the Deadheads here is hanging on by a thread. Testament to the kind of town it is we've raised almost $70k in a gofundme to try and save that one.

Yeah, I'd drop some bucks on a nice kayak living there.

Picked up a P&H Cetus last year, what a dream machine. Blows my old Tempest 170pro away.

I've paddled most of the coast, not in one trip but that's a bucket lister for me to do that. It's spectacular out there, this summer for reasons I've yet to determine I saw more porpoise than the last five years combined. They were like grey squirrels were on the side of the road two years ago, except alive.

What's the name of that totally commuter oriented bike shop in the old warehouse building? I think it's Port City Bikes. That's a cool shop and the owner knows what's up. I'd probably head for Allspeed though, they're all about mtb and ski leaning toward sidecountry/backcountry. This thread made me think that I need to get back up there, I like that city.

Yup, Port City Bikes is the drone you're looking for. Percy is the man

[bennymac]

The music scene was popping at the seams pre-covid, so far we've lost one good club and another one that is a fav of the Deadheads here is hanging on by a thread. Testament to the kind of town it is we've raised almost $70k in a gofundme to try and save that one.



Picked up a P&H Cetus last year, what a dream machine. Blows my old Tempest 170pro away.

I've paddled most of the coast, not in one trip but that's a bucket lister for me to do that. It's spectacular out there, this summer for reasons I've yet to determine I saw more porpoise than the last five years combined. They were like grey squirrels were on the side of the road two years ago, except alive.



Yup, Port City Bikes is the drone you're looking for. Percy is the man

I never owned one but I have paddled that coast and sometimes in a P&H boat and always drooled over how dialed and polished they seemed. Jealous.

[Mazderati]

Freeport (outlet store town) was a fun place to go despite not having any money to buy anything. I could fondle the North Face and Patagonia gear and pretend to myself that I was in the market.

LL Bean has some neat stuff and despite being giant it's a comfortable store and I may have snoozed in front of the fireplace.

[BC.]

as a kid Old Orchard Beach (super touristy beach front amusement park area) was a lot of fun - maybe it’s tacky and trashy now. Maybe it was trashy back then too but we loved it.

Freeport (outlet store town) was a fun place to go despite not having any money to buy anything. I could fondle the North Face and Patagonia gear and pretend to myself that I was in the market.

We went to Old Orchard Beach as a kid in the late 70’s/early 80’s. Shared a house on beach with another family for a few weeks a summer. Don’t remember much except playing around on beach/ocean all day/week long....wonder what that house looks like today?

[Benny Profane]

A few podcasts interviewing Karl Strand, president of Sugarloaf. First just pre Covid, second this September.


https://castbox.fm/vb/310366142. (part one)

https://castbox.fm/vb/311779337. (part two)

[guide]

https://www.bonappetit.com/story/por...-the-year-2018

From ME, lived in the Portland area (Cape E) for over a decade. Once, explaining to someone the seasons, I noted that the trees DON'T have leaves for ~ 7 mos of the year.
2 hours to the 'Loaf, 90 mins to Someday Bigger, night skiing at Mt Abrams, xc at the Pinelands.
Bone chilling temps/humidity in the winter. I don't miss that.
Local saying goes, "You can't enjoy/deserve the summers if you don't stay for the winters."

[riser4]

Don't forget those POC from Mass that the former governor warned were coming to deal heroin and get your under age daughter hooked and pregnant. What were their names again? Shifty and Lefty?

[cat in january]

Ayuh our gov liked to brag he was Trump before Trump was Trump

[ötzi]

^^ Stephen Colbert on the right, I didn't recognize him at all, read it in the comments.

[Gman]

The Portland, ME peninsula is on a short list of places to move. Been a few times in both seasons, humidity and winter. Enjoyed it. Strong food game. Strong beer game. Walkable. Easy trips to ski as long as snow is still a thing. Lots of outdoor rec options. Anyone live there? What do you like? Dislike?

Where do you live now and where else besides Portland are you looking at? Also what industry do you work in? Are you married? Do you have kids? I got married in Maine about 5 years ago up in Boothbay and have spent considerable time in Portland over the past 12 years.

Pros for me are:
beer scene
food scene
housing costs (relative to boston where I was before moving to CA)
vibe
on the water

Cons:
fucking cold in the winter
depending on your baseline schools are medium
diversity, not a ton of POC
not a town where there are bunch of growth industries thriving


Portland, Me is cool as shit to visit May-Oct but after that it's dark early and really fucking cold. Also depending on what you do for work, there aren't a ton of high paying jobs relative to bigger cities. Covid has certainly changed this a bunch but if you're not in healthcare and eventually if you have to go back to an office environment, it's not like a bunch of companies are rushing to portland to set up shop. I think a lot of it is going to be relative to what your priorities are and whether you have an established community of people to tap into.

I just left the Boston area and moved to CA to be closer to friends and outdoorsy shit. If I was going to come back east it would probably be somewhere in VT like the Mad River Valley/Stowe area. Food and beer game to me is on point with Portland, mtn biking blows portland out of the water, and more options for ski resorts. Pm me if you want to chat more about it.

[ötzi]

I mean, it's only a hundred miles north of Boston, it's not the Arctic. And temperatures are moderated a bit by the ocean. It is gray and windy and bone-chillingly damp a lot in winter though. January average high/low 31.2/13.4.

[Mazderati]

Forgot the Dana Carvey show was a thing. I guess everyone else did too with only one season. Good skit, though.

[Ottoclave]

There really isn’t any other place on the east coast where you can have access to the ocean and the mountains as easily as Portland.

Winter does linger though.

[ötzi]

There really isn’t any other place on the east coast where you can have access to the ocean and the mountains as easily as Portland.

It's further from Portland to Sugarloaf than it us from Boston to Cannon, so nah not really

[ötzi]

Maz, you ever check out Portsmouth NH? Cool spot, smaller than Portland but also closer to Boston and access to sports, theater, airports, hospitals etc. Lots of restaurants, good food scene for sure. Plus no income tax.

Newburyport MA is also pretty cool, even smaller than Portsmouth but still kinda happening.