looking to move: Comparing the surrounding towns (Portland, Lewiston: sales, houses)

[zimm17]

Hello,

We're very interested in moving to the Portland area and visiting in April to house hunt.

We'll both be retired military, getting by on our retirements and possibly starting a small business. So no work commute (yet). We'll have 2 middle schoolers and want the best middle and high schools we can afford.

Assuming a budget of $500-750k for a family house, how do the surrounding towns rate? Is there a simple description of what sets each one apart? Looking around on google maps, street view, and youtube, it's hard to differentiate them.

We'd like a yard big enough for our huge dog and my wife wants to grow some plants. I'd like a 2 car garage as I tinker with cars. My wife would like to be close to a coffee shop and even be walkable to a brew pub, I'm fine with a country setting.

Is Cape Elizabeth so expensive because of the beaches, the 10/10 high school, or both?

We're looking at (and please add any that we missed):

Scarborough
Windham
Gorham
South Portland
Cape Elizabeth
North Deering

[Mark S.]

I am of course biased. I am not a big city person, but I would recommend the towns NORTH of Portland rather than south. South of Portland is basically northern Massachusetts.

You should check out Brunswick. Schools are great. Walkable downtown area with two good coffee shops and several fantastic restaurants. $500-750k would buy a good home in Brunswick.

Brunswick also is the last stop on the Downeaster, so if the mood strikes you, you can always take the train into Portland or points beyond --- Boston, New York, etc. There is talk of extending rail service up into Lewiston / Auburn and eventually Montreal, but I'll believe it when I see it.

Brew pubs? There are three in Brunswick: Flight Deck Brewing (which always seems busy), Moderation Brewing (downtown Maine Street), and Black Pub Brewing (never been there). And if you want to walk across the bridge into Topsham, you've got the Sea Dog, where you can drink and dine on the deck right over the river.

Brunswick also has two large grocery stores, two smaller specialty grocery stores, a fantastic public library, Bowdoin College, and indie movie theater, the best Indian food I have found on the planet, and a Wal-Mart and Lowe's if that's your thing. And the city does a pretty decent job of keeping the roads clear in winter.

[WhoFanMe]

Originally Posted by zimm17

Hello,

We're very interested in moving to the Portland area and visiting in April to house hunt.

We'll both be retired military, getting by on our retirements and possibly starting a small business. So no work commute (yet). We'll have 2 middle schoolers and want the best middle and high schools we can afford.

Assuming a budget of $500-750k for a family house, how do the surrounding towns rate? Is there a simple description of what sets each one apart? Looking around on google maps, street view, and youtube, it's hard to differentiate them.

We'd like a yard big enough for our huge dog and my wife wants to grow some plants. I'd like a 2 car garage as I tinker with cars. My wife would like to be close to a coffee shop and even be walkable to a brew pub, I'm fine with a country setting.

Is Cape Elizabeth so expensive because of the beaches, the 10/10 high school, or both?

We're looking at (and please add any that we missed):

Scarborough
Windham
Gorham
South Portland
Cape Elizabeth
North Deering

The towns vary in average and median sales price and geography. The median sales price in Cumberland County for 2022 was $491,723, with a significant difference in individual towns. For your visit in April, it might be a good idea to pick out houses you like in each community and schedule a trip to all of them in a day or two. Even the same town can have very different areas that vary significantly in value and amenities. There are several websites that review schools and most towns have local Facebook groups where you can get a pulse for what the residents are discussing.

[Vance Mack]

Think about Saco and https://www.thorntonacademy.org/ Best bang for the buck
Saco/Biddeford the new Greater Portland

[ilovemycat]

I think you will be happy wherever you land. We retired from the federal govt and moved here in 2010. Originally, my internet search had many towns - but one by one we eliminated some and wound up buying in Cape Elizabeth at the end of 2009. I eliminated Portland- our daughter, who was living in S Portland, felt hubby would not be happy there - parking, traffic etc. Eliminated Scarborough because they were always voting down the school budget and it was kind of sprawling. The towns of Cumberland, Yarmouth, Falmouth, seemed to have higher property taxes than Cape, at least when we were looking. So, we wound up looking in Cape and So Po. My grandkids go to school in So Po and it is a super city. After living here over a decade, I have friends all over (from all my volunteer activities) and just think it is a wonderful state to live in. I second Mark S regarding Brunswick. It would be a great place to live and raise a family. I think in your price range you will find a house in a community you will love. My advice is to let the house guide you, and then a realtor, who will show you around. As long as the schools have a good rating, if you find a home, in the setting you like, go for it. Best of luck to you and your family.

[newonk]

Seconding Brunswick too. It has a great retiree community and Bowdoin offers alot culturally. Its more of a separate universe from Portland, doesn't feel as much like a suburb but its own thing. Great restaurants and easy to get to the mountains or the ocean, up into Midcoast which is beautiful. More affordable than Portland but prices have gone up alot. Also second Saco, a great community and nice downtown. We have lived in Cape and SoPo and love both for proximity to Portland. SoPo has great walkability, convenience, and we have found very friendly and beautiful. Cape is more spread out and rural, amazing beaches and state parks, also pretty accessible to Portland. The housing stock is just very low - you have to move super fast!

[tarragon]

Why Maine?

[OutdoorLover]

Gorham and Scarborough are also nice, but I think Brunswick has good access to/from the south - with the Amtrak service and with a divided highway connecting it to Portland and points south. Brunswick and Gorham have more of a traditional town center. While the Maine Medical Center in Portland is the best hospital in the state, Brunswick's Mid Coast Hospital is above average - with both a cardiac catheterization lab and a certified primary stroke center - there is no doubt that those facilities will improve your odds of faring better if afflicted with a stroke or heart attack, relative to many other hospitals in the state.

Cape Elizabeth is beautiful, but it does seem pretty pricey. They have some absolutely stunning parks - Crescent Beach, Two Lights, Fort Williams/Portland Head, but they don't really have a walkable downtown area. There are some mansions in that area that probably help to drive up the costs of other homes.

Brunswick has a nice walkable downtown, with the Bowdoin College campus and a number of nice places to eat. Bowdoin College also has a fine arts museum. It doesn't have a great waterfront, but the Harpswells and Popham Beach and Wolfe's Neck are all closeby.