Moving to Maine

[Zewnten]

Don't post here hardly, mostly read, at all but I need a local's perspective.

I'm done with Colorado summers and it's people, been here for 6 years now. I grew up in north Idaho, western Montana and eastern Washington area and miss the trees, water, winter, and countryside. But the wife is from California and can't handle the constant cloud cover of the PNW and I'm looking for some place with winter that's sunny. Maine is pretty sunny in the winter, I'm told. Does anyone concur or disagree?

I hate moving but I'm having a hard time seeing much future here plus I miss the work I did in Idaho; logging equipment, some quarry stuff, etc. In Colorado its scrapers and excavators only with a few other things thrown in here and there. I've been looking at jobs and the only ones I see are down by Portland, ME which isn't really where we want to be from online looking, crowded mostly. Does anyone know of anything not being advertised the usual means; indeed, craigslist, etc?

Trying to move and find our hopefully forever place while the economy is half way going. So I appreciate all the help.

[Southside]

There are two Maines and Portland would be like a mini Denver. There are a lot of nice places in the state that would have some resemblance to the Idaho / Montana area you know, but not Portland.

Western Aroostook or Somerset Counties come to mind, the challenge is economic opportunity. 

[Menagerie-Manor]

I was interested in retiring to Maine after spending as much time there as we did over the years living in NJ but my wife was not a willing participant complaining about the cold damp winters along the coast where I wanted to be. Summer climate is very comfortable and enjoyable for outdoor activities since you can dodge the east coast heat and humidity, but the deer and black fly's can be a real mood killer at times. Not a lot of winter coastal snow but that wind off the bay can cut right thru at times. We opted for southern coastal Oregon for the weather and I know what you mean about the cloud cover with the marine layer we experience here.

[peakbagger]

I grew up in Maine but moved to NH since 1987. There are multiple Maine's (its the biggest state in New England. Northern Maine (the "county" gets more snow than parts of Alaska. Eastern Maine (east of Bangor tends to get ocean effect storms and snow. Central Maine tends to be bit sunnier. Southwest Maine is getting crowded, lots of Mass transplants. the Greater Portland area is booming but its drawing in folks from all over and real estate is very intense. Anywhere directly on the coast is going to be high priced driven by the vacation market. 

Maine's economy is usually fragile, if the economy burps Maine feels it hard. Its a high tax state, usually in the top 3 or 4 overall in the nation. NH on the other hand is in the bottom 3 or 4 (no sales or income taxes but real estate taxes can be steep). With the Gulf of Maine warming, tropical storms have a better chance of making it north and coastal Mass, NH and Maine all are prone to Nor'easters which are effectively winter hurricanes with snow. That said for the long term the inland northeast is expected to bear the least impact of global warming in the US. If you have a heavy equipment background, Pike Industry's pretty well own the paving business in the state and Maine has lots of roads. Cianbro in Pittsfield Maine is a major Northeast Civil contractor. Keep and eye out for Bangor area work, its a growing area. There are large areas of Maine that are permanently depressed, Washington County tends to be one and inland north of I95 are all suffering from the collapse of the pulp & paper industry. 

One running joke in rural Maine (and NH) is that the locals may not be welcoming to new folks for a while, the reason is that many folks move up north in the spring, have a great summer and fall and even early winter but around New Years they are staring at 3 months more of winter and by the end of April the for sale is out. The locals figure why waste the effort until the new folks have hung around for a year ;) 

  
 

[woodroe]

The housing market is really tight right now if you are thinking of buying 
an existing home. 
We've had an influx of home buyers from south of the border since
the virus scared them out of the cities . 
That mass exodus caused home prices to double here and housing most everywhere
has become scarce and outrageously priced. 
Not trying to scare you off but thats the reality of the hosing market right now. 

The logging industry isn't all that robust right now either but you should be able 
to find a job operating other heavy equip. in highway or earth working outfits.

Locally , E.L Vining construction /trucking/heavy equip.is advertising for help in all areas of their business , might give you an idea of what to expect for salary etc.
Good luck !


Careers at E.L. Vining & Son, Inc., Farmington, Maine.
 
 

[Bruno of NH]

Economy wise you would be better in New Hampshire or Vermont. 
Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of Maine I just don't think the jobs are there other than the Portland area.

[Ricker]

If you run run heavy equipment, work on heavy equipment or have a CDL drivers license there are plenty of jobs to be had in central Maine.  The big thing is the real estate market.  Most homes are way over priced in my opinion.  But when the bubble busts I think there are going to be plenty of short sale houses on the market cause folks won't be able to afford them with $6 gas and $8 home heating oil this coming winter.

[Mooseherder]

Coming from Colorado the real estate may look like a bargain.  Presque Isle is booming from what I can tell.  They're opening a new Freightliner dealer there.   Plenty of 40 acre parcels available and not necessarily listed on the market other than a sign on the road.  Lots of surrounding towns with closed storefronts except Caribou and Houlton.  South of Houlton, 120 miles north of Bangor just beautiful area with land.  The nicer homes have sold already you may have to build what you want after moving.  Worth a look around Aroostook County if you like 200 inches of snow.  Sometimes the winters are way long. 

[Southside]

And the sledding is way awesome!  I should say "It's wicked good"  ;D

[barbender]

"Hosing market", was that a pun?😂

[woodroe]

"Hosing market", was that a pun?😂

Ahaha. Missed that spelling error but yeah home buyers are getting hosed here.
In fact some of these out-o-staters are now regretting buying a fix er upper for
$300K. Many homes sold for MORE than the asking price and were paid in cash. 

[snowstorm]

Coming from Colorado the real estate may look like a bargain.  Presque Isle is booming from what I can tell.  They're opening a new Freightliner dealer there.   Plenty of 40 acre parcels available and not necessarily listed on the market other than a sign on the road.  Lots of surrounding towns with closed storefronts except Caribou and Houlton.  South of Houlton, 120 miles north of Bangor just beautiful area with land.  The nicer homes have sold already you may have to build what you want after moving.  Worth a look around Aroostook County if you like 200 inches of snow.  Sometimes the winters are way long.

freightliner of maine sold out several months ago. to valley equipment in nb. and after the daigle sale to allegiance it makes freightliner of me the only westernstar dealer

[maineshops]

We retired up. Here  in ludlow 15 years ago from Laramie wy. Absolutely love it even with 200 in of snow on occasion. Had a log cabin built on 25 acres of woods. Lot of basted apple trees that I have been grafting good apples too. Fair zone 3 gardening, etc. got a small sawmill, heet with wood, mow a couple acres etc. don't pay close attention to the job market but we see signs often wanting help. My opinion is that the Massachusetts crowd has ruined the southern part of the state similar to California ruining the Denver area.

[Zewnten]

Really appreciate all the advice. With my work and kids it's hard to explore areas during vacations, and as big as Maine is I need to narrow it down to a place to start. New Hampshire isn't really what we're looking for but thank you for the alternative, those are always handy.

[terrifictimbersllc]

 :P

[snowstorm]

if you want to work on logging equipment then bangor or way up north. class 8 trucks portland aurbun or bangor. i was talking to a guy a while back that worked for the deere dealer in houlton. he was telling about a hydraulic pump he replaced on a bunchier up in the allagash it was -40 when he got there and the same when he left

[Southside]

At least it wasn't cold that day. 

[Mooseherder]

 :D
Still raining here today and temperature feels like 37 degrees.
If the farmers hadn't planted all their fields yet it will be a while before they can drive in the field.  It may be getting too late.  

[maineshops]

Rain here in ludlow too. My tomatoes are just sitting there doin nuthing. Had a fire going all day in the great room, take the chill off. No shoveling though. Yet . Love Maine. Dan

[K-Guy]

I grew up in Alberta and now live in Maine. The country here is very nice but it is not a place for anyone looking for sunny winters. If that is your criteria, I would recommend Idaho or Montana.

[Southside]

You have a sunnier winter there than we do here Stan. Definitely noticed that after moving. My memory wants to say The County is sunner in winter than central Maine too.  

[K-Guy]

Oh the winters aren't bad here but if you want them sunny, the best is to be on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains. Most of the rain falls in the mountains.

[PoginyHill]

I grew up in southern Maine, been in northern Vermont most of my adult life. If I were looking to relocated to the northeast and had a "portable" job like the OP, I would choose NH. Anything north of Manchester would be good in my opinion.

[moodnacreek]

My vote is for N.H. also but if I moved to Maine I would want to be near Bangor and Dysart's truck stop.

[Zewnten]

I grew up in Alberta and now live in Maine. The country here is very nice but it is not a place for anyone looking for sunny winters. If that is your criteria, I would recommend Idaho or Montana.

Is Maine cloudier than Idaho? North Idaho is probably 6 months of solid clouds and didn't figure it could be much more than that?