Good, affordable place in Maine if you're an artist (Portland: how much, homes)
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Affordable water view in a artist community is almost an oxymoron in Maine now. Think Bucks county. Portland and the coast is where it's happening for anything resembling steady art sales.
That being said you might be able to get way Downeast or up north in towns above or around Bangor, or a tourist trap in the central or northwest part of the state. $200k will get you a halfway decent lake lot in a lot of places.
What are Eastport, Calais and Robbinston like? I saw some homes in those areas that looked nice and they had a view of the water.
Also, I just checked out Lincoln and that looks really nice, too! Very affordable....to the person who recommended it -- thank you!
Thanks for your help, everyone....I know this message kinda turned out to be all over the place instead of one specific topic....
Eastport has a large artist community....it seems to grow more every summer, and Lubec does as well. The area is beautiful and property is still affordable (but shhh don't tell! )....I really don't think you could go wrong in Robbinston or Calais either, but I will say that Calais has the higher taxes of those towns. I grew up in Eastport, and live in Calais now because of the great school dept here, but when the kids are grown, I'll move back to the house there . Try looking each of the towns up online, and see what you think! We're not big in population down here, and it's rural with town centers.....I will say the sense of community is very strong though, and you'll never be without help when you need it!
Eastport has a large artist community....it seems to grow more every summer, and Lubec does as well. The area is beautiful and property is still affordable (but shhh don't tell! )....I really don't think you could go wrong in Robbinston or Calais either, but I will say that Calais has the higher taxes of those towns. I grew up in Eastport, and live in Calais now because of the great school dept here, but when the kids are grown, I'll move back to the house there . Try looking each of the towns up online, and see what you think! We're not big in population down here, and it's rural with town centers.....I will say the sense of community is very strong though, and you'll never be without help when you need it!
oh, also check out Perry
Thank you soooo much, Molly, for the helpful info! I was hoping you would get on and answer as I have seen many of your other posts and you seem to be very knowledgeable about this area of Maine as well as seeming to be a very friendly person!
At any rate, we won't even get to check out Maine 'till next summer....but we kinda wanted to narrow down the areas of Maine to check out since we'll only be able to go up for about a week and it's a 12-hour drive from where we live in Pennsylvania....
P.S. We are also kinda thinking of moving to Erie, Pennsylvania to possibly live on the beautiful Lake Erie, plus it would probably be easier to stay within our state, however, the more we think about it, the more we are leaning towards Maine.....it just seems like it would be nicer plus the property taxes *do* indeed seem to be much lower there than in Erie (or mostly *anywhere* in Pennsylvania, for that matter).
May I ask one more question, tho? I know this will probably sound stupid, however, I live on a mountain in Pennsylvania and nowhere near water (the only natural disasters here are earthquakes, although extremely minor and extremely rare) and was wondering if you get a lot of hurricanes and/or flooding in Maine? I guess that's the only thing that worries me about moving there....
we have had some big spring storms and have had some troubles along streams and rivers...but I wouldn't call it a normal thing to experience severe flooding. We do see a normal, expected rise in the spring of the water levels. Along the coast, during a storm we sometimes see higher than normal tides, and sometimes this can cause a significant amount of damage....it doesn't happen every year. We also keep an eye on the wind along the coast during a storm, because that can also make a difference in the amount of damage we get. However, that being said, these types of storms are not a regular happening here...hurricanes are very rare, tropical storms maybe a bit more common, but still not a yearly happening
we have gotten a few little earthquakes in different parts of the state, but nothing major
also my vote Maine vs Erie.....Maine! you get lakes plus ocean plus mountains plus low crime plus outstanding helpful people you can count on.....
You should come up and travel around looking at different places for a bit. As far as water views go, it is so easy to get to the water from most places in Maine I am not sure that actually living in a house with a direct view of the water would be as much of a priority once you are here. For instance, having just moved to Portland, not a day goes by without seeing some water. We really are surrounded here. Even the school my nephew attends has water views (I'd never have learned anything there for daydreaming LOL) and we have to be careful which way we walk or drive places when we have a goal in mind or my water loving two year old flips out when he sees the water.
Look into the Blue Hill Peninsula- not only the town of Blue Hill, but Sedgwick, Brooklin, Penobscot, even Deer Isle and Orland. LOTS of galleries and artists, as well as nice towns and relatively decent house prices.
we have had some big spring storms and have had some troubles along streams and rivers...but I wouldn't call it a normal thing to experience severe flooding. We do see a normal, expected rise in the spring of the water levels. Along the coast, during a storm we sometimes see higher than normal tides, and sometimes this can cause a significant amount of damage....it doesn't happen every year. We also keep an eye on the wind along the coast during a storm, because that can also make a difference in the amount of damage we get. However, that being said, these types of storms are not a regular happening here...hurricanes are very rare, tropical storms maybe a bit more common, but still not a yearly happening
we have gotten a few little earthquakes in different parts of the state, but nothing major
also my vote Maine vs Erie.....Maine! you get lakes plus ocean plus mountains plus low crime plus outstanding helpful people you can count on.....
Have you or anyone else looking at this message sustained damage from flooding and/or a hurricane? I guess the prospect of this happening, even if rare, is a little scary to me.....
I realize, tho, that it's the chance you take if you want to live in a beautiful coastal town in Maine, but was just wondering if many people on here have experienced this?
Have you or anyone else looking at this message sustained damage from flooding and/or a hurricane? I guess the prospect of this happening, even if rare, is a little scary to me.....
I realize, tho, that it's the chance you take if you want to live in a beautiful coastal town in Maine, but was just wondering if many people on here have experienced this?
Thanks,
.....Sue
Maine gets serious winter. We have snow and ice, and wind especially after a storm comes up the coast and goes east out to sea. We also have high winds in the deep winter. It is a fact of life. In recent years the winters have moderated. My first winter in Maine as a permanent resident was 1977-78 and we had a LOT of snow here on the coast, and the from December to the early part of February was extremely cold. I was living in my family's little summer camp, and with only a fireplace and old cook stove for heat, I learned an awful lot about living with cold. But the point is, that despite living in a little summer camp that rocked and rolled when the wind came howling in off the water, I survived and now look back on the experience with considerable pleasure, and I would welcome the opportunity to do it all again.
I had one very exciting experience living in the old cottage during a big wind storm that wasn't a hurricane or even a severe storm at all. IT happened at night when my daughter was visiting me from college. At around ten we heard this rushing sound much like a train going by. It lasted for about half a minute or so, but the whole place shook and my first thought was that perhaps a plane had crashed nearby.
The next morning, right off the porch steps lay a very large old spruce tree that had just given up and blown over in the wind. The rushing sound apparently had been the branches scraping down the side of the old camp. Three feet further south, and it would have landed in my bedroom.
I have felt some earthquakes here too, and Maine has its share...mostly small ones that go unnoticed. Maine's rivers will dam up with ice in the spring, and that is when a lot of flooding of the river banks will occur, but it is far from a regular experience and really not to be feared.
Basically, Maine has a wide variety of weather and natural occurences that will make life interesting if you are willing to experience it, but from my experience, I would say NEVER frightening.
excellant advice and link dmyankee,... I was gonna post the same link the guild has a great reputation and following. As for a water view,.. You will find property much more affordable on a lake or river than on the coast I think.
I've never personally had any flooding at all, not even a little water in the basement (knock on wood... ) But there are many old homes in Maine that either due to the type of foundation or the location (either on the lot or just within the area) will sometimes experience a wet basement after a heavy rain. I have a friend who has a pump in his basement that he keeps "just in case"....he just pumps out any water, and if it gets damp he opens the doors to outside to air it out.
When I was little we had a roof leak one year because a few shingles had lifted in the wind, but really, it was nothing that was difficult to fix.
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