Whats wrong with Lewiston?? (Portland, Auburn: rental, house, safe neighborhoods)

[lewistonnative]

Originally Posted by Maine-iacWannabe

My wife and I are considering a move to Maine, particularly the Auburn Lewiston area. Now all of a sudden we are overhearing that Lewiston is NOT a nice are to live in. We cant find any official statistics to back up those claims and would appreciate any advice. Thank you

You are correct, Lewiston is NOT a nice place. I grew up in Lewiston in the '50's and '60's when apartment house landlords lived in the homes they owned. They took great pride in maintaining their properties even down to small gardens planted in the limited space available between buildings. In the 1970's, Lewiston started going downhill and continues to do so to this day. The once tree-lined neat streets now house rundown apartment buildings, with low lifes hanging outside at all hours of the day or night, drugs being a BIG part of that city's problem. The population is slovenly obese, toothless and hooked on some drug or other. Believe me, you DON'T want to live there.

Nearby areas that are more pleasing to the eye include Brunswick, Bath, Cumberland, Gray, Poland, Auburn.

Do yourself a favor - move anywhere else but Lewiston - it may save your life.

[Chip Morrison]

Originally Posted by Maine-iacWannabe

My wife and I are considering a move to Maine, particularly the Auburn Lewiston area. Now all of a sudden we are overhearing that Lewiston is NOT a nice are to live in. We cant find any official statistics to back up those claims and would appreciate any advice. Thank you

My wife and I moved to Auburn 30 years ago -- and could not have made a better decision. The recent renaissance of the LA area has a lot of folks checking us out and moving to the area. There is a growing economic base, lots of good housing, good schools and a vibrant arts community.

[tkx7]

"L.A., it's happening!" -TV commericials

[speaker781]

*sigh*

If you're from nyc, lewiston wont be bad. Basically nothing in maine is really bad or a "ghetto". There are some towns that have run down mills, and a few people might do drugs, and they might not be 100% white anymore, and yes. By maine standards that is probably bad.
I moved to Sanford from a Boston Ghetto and i find it funny how everyone here thinks there town sucks and you have the fake little gang and all that. Nothing to really worry about, unless you're afraid of white people who drink beer and yell a little.
Please ignore what the member said about comparing Lewiston and Sanford and a few other cities to Lawrence MA and Trenton NJ.

Because: Heres a few stats according to city data (i know it's not all 100% correct because not everyone fills out population stats and not all crimes are found, but it gives an idea)

-Lawrence MA - Races in Lawrence:

* Hispanic (59.7%)
* Other race (36.7%)
* White Non-Hispanic (34.1%)
* Two or more races (6.2%)
* Black (4.9%)
* American Indian (1.3%)
* Vietnamese (1.0%)
* Other Asian (0.8%)

Murders:
1999 - 3
2000 - 3
2001 - 4
2002 - 2
2003 - 8
2004 - 4

-Trenton NJ - Races in Trenton:

* Black (52.1%)
* White Non-Hispanic (24.6%)
* Hispanic (21.5%)
* Other race (10.8%)
* Two or more races (3.2%)
* American Indian (0.8%)

Murders:
1999 - 8
2000 - 14
2001 - 13
2002 - 19
2003 - 13
2004 - 18

Now, some so called bad cities in Maine...

-Biddeford Races in Biddeford:

* White Non-Hispanic (96.2%)
* Two or more races (1.1%)
* American Indian (0.9%)
* Hispanic (0.7%)
* Black (0.6%)

Murders:
2000 - 0
2001 - 0
2002 - 1
2003 - 0
2004 - 0

-Sanford Races in Sanford:

* White Non-Hispanic (95.1%)
* Two or more races (1.2%)
* Other Asian (1.2%)
* Hispanic (1.0%)
* American Indian (0.8%)

Murders:
2000- 0
2001- 0
2002- 0
2003- 1
2004- 0

And now....Big and Bad Lewiston

Races in Lewiston:

* White Non-Hispanic (95.0%)
* Two or more races (1.7%)
* Hispanic (1.3%)
* Black (1.1%)
* American Indian (1.0%)

Murders:
2000 - 0
2001 - 1
2002 - 1
2003 - 2
2004 - 2

ive given all the info you want, if you dont know what to believe about what people say about lewiston, youll just have to go there yourself.

[GrittyMcDuffy]

The Lewiston mayor resigned.

Check out this site for info on real estate talk and housing bubble:

http://thehousingbubbleblog.com/?p=1897#comments

[daisy123]

We moved to Lewiston after living in downeast Maine and Windham, ME. We have a blast here. We live downtown, but if i had kids I would suggest living on a quieter street. There is a lot to do..we go to the library a lot (both Lewiston and Auburn have beautiful libraries...), there are great places to eat..and whoever said that Lewiston has no nightlife or culture needs to look around..there is music, plenty of pubs and clubs, poetry readings, beautiful churches,art shows, public theater, colleges, films at Bates and the library,,,,,and not to mention the franco american festival and balloon festival!!! People think Lewiston is rough..and I guess it is compared to towns like Minot, lol...but believe me, its like any working class city.
P.S:When my mom came to visit from Canada, she said"Oh, your street looks like Archie Bunker's"...

[maineboy51]

I don't live in Lewiston, but I do work there, and have for several years. The people I know there are friendly, hard-working and very decent. Lewiston has strong Quebec/Canadian roots. It's true that in recent years many Somalian refugees have chosen Lewiston as a place to settle- many have come up from Atlanta, GA for the lower housing costs and the safer environment.

Like any place, you can probably find trouble in Lewiston if you go looking for it, but for the most part people are great there.

[mmpottlehill]

i have lived in the lewiston-auburn area for most of my life. i also lived in columbus, ohio for over three years. i moved back to auburn (and would have been just as eager to move back to lewiston) because i got tired of hearing police sirens and helicopters all the time.

lewiston has a bad reputation. that doesn't mean that it deserves it. there are plenty of "decent" places to live in lewiston. if you are relocating and spending a significant amount of time researching where you want to live, i doubt that you are looking for section 8 housing in the more downtrodden quarters.

I find it funny when people say things like, "don't move to lewiston. it could save your life." please.

as for the Somali population here-- well, personally i tire of the zero-sum mentality that insists that somehow their presence means they're gonna get "less." the Somali population has brought a new richness in diversity and culture to an area in need of such.

ADDITIONALLY, it really bothers me (being of "french-canadian" roots myself) that someone would suggest that the french-canadian parochialism still holds sway. that's just not true. i helped organize a three day franco american rendezvous last month, which included TONS of different cultural events, right here in lewiston auburn. and believe me, it was decidedly liberal in bent.

i live in auburn on a nice quiet side street in a nice brick house (one of five in a row) with a nice family on the left (the wife is from ireland) and a nice widow on the right, who is african american and whose husband was in an extremely well-known maine folk band. i am a writer and a grad student. that's a sample of three houses on an average streeet in the lewiston auburn area. like anyplace else, we've got our problems. but i don't have to worry about a lot of things i've worried about in other citites and states.

hope this helps!

[Coaster]

Compared to any urban area outside Maine, Lewiston-Auburn is heaven on earth. Those Somalis moved here from Atlanta because they are for the most part decent, hard-working people who were driven out of Georgia by the crime and lousy quality of life. The folks here who have sung the praises of L-A have it right, IMO. Maybe 10-15 years ago I would have suggested looking at Portland first, but L-A has really come up in the world since then.

[DavidoftheNorth]

Originally Posted by speaker781

*sigh*

If you're from nyc, lewiston wont be bad. Basically nothing in maine is really bad or a "ghetto". There are some towns that have run down mills, and a few people might do drugs, and they might not be 100% white anymore, and yes. By maine standards that is probably bad.
I moved to Sanford from a Boston Ghetto and i find it funny how everyone here thinks there town sucks and you have the fake little gang and all that. Nothing to really worry about, unless you're afraid of white people who drink beer and yell a little.
Please ignore what the member said about comparing Lewiston and Sanford and a few other cities to Lawrence MA and Trenton NJ.

Because: Heres a few stats according to city data (i know it's not all 100% correct because not everyone fills out population stats and not all crimes are found, but it gives an idea)

-Lawrence MA - Races in Lawrence:

* Hispanic (59.7%)
* Other race (36.7%)
* White Non-Hispanic (34.1%)
* Two or more races (6.2%)
* Black (4.9%)
* American Indian (1.3%)
* Vietnamese (1.0%)
* Other Asian (0.8%)

Murders:
1999 - 3
2000 - 3
2001 - 4
2002 - 2
2003 - 8
2004 - 4

-Trenton NJ - Races in Trenton:

* Black (52.1%)
* White Non-Hispanic (24.6%)
* Hispanic (21.5%)
* Other race (10.8%)
* Two or more races (3.2%)
* American Indian (0.8%)

Murders:
1999 - 8
2000 - 14
2001 - 13
2002 - 19
2003 - 13
2004 - 18

Now, some so called bad cities in Maine...

-Biddeford Races in Biddeford:

* White Non-Hispanic (96.2%)
* Two or more races (1.1%)
* American Indian (0.9%)
* Hispanic (0.7%)
* Black (0.6%)

Murders:
2000 - 0
2001 - 0
2002 - 1
2003 - 0
2004 - 0

-Sanford Races in Sanford:

* White Non-Hispanic (95.1%)
* Two or more races (1.2%)
* Other Asian (1.2%)
* Hispanic (1.0%)
* American Indian (0.8%)

Murders:
2000- 0
2001- 0
2002- 0
2003- 1
2004- 0

And now....Big and Bad Lewiston

Races in Lewiston:

* White Non-Hispanic (95.0%)
* Two or more races (1.7%)
* Hispanic (1.3%)
* Black (1.1%)
* American Indian (1.0%)

Murders:
2000 - 0
2001 - 1
2002 - 1
2003 - 2
2004 - 2

ive given all the info you want, if you dont know what to believe about what people say about lewiston, youll just have to go there yourself.

I think the statistics you are using might be missing the target, but they do suggest the following:

1. Disaffected Lewistonians are not unhappy because Lewiston is not 100% white - it's something else.

2. Just because the murder rate is relatively low doesn't mean everyone is basically happy.

I would guess that Lewistonians, as citizens of yet another former Maine mill town, have some anxiety about what to expect for their and their family's material future.