Downeast or The County?

[Northern Maine Land Man]

If you find a south facing slope that gets a lot of sun and is reasonably sheltered from the wind you can grow peaches and Bing cherries. You have to cover the cherries with cheesecloth or the birds will eat them all.

[roundscomplete]

Thanks for all of the information on those trees guys!

[JoulesMSU]

Why would you want to live in either?

Seriously, just wondering. As you mentioned in the original post, there are lots of negatives to both, and not really many positives. My wife is from Houlton and she's glad she "got out". If you are looking for a place with drugs and welfare, then Houlton is a great place I guess. Otherwise... (from what I've seen and heard) I'd stay away.

Is it "Maine or bust" though? If you are just looking for somewhere that you can get a lot of land for cheap, in a nice location, then the Midwest might be the place for you. I'm from Michigan, and I could point you to West Michigan if you want a place where you can buy cheap land in a beautiful landscape while living somewhere that doesn't have a drug/welfare problem. Towns around the Manistee National Forest are in a great location because there is a ton of natural beauty, but then if you drive 1 hour south, you find the second biggest city in the state (Grand Rapids, pop: 192,000).

IMO this proximity to GR is why these small towns don't have the same kind of problems that The County and Downeast have, because people from Grand Rapids go up there to vacation and pump money into the local economies. And the kids/young adults from the forest towns have a place to go do stuff - as opposed to kids/young adults in Houlton/Calais who have nowhere interesting to go (Bangor, pop: 32,000, is twice as far - 2 hours), so they resort to drugs for entertainment.

There is even a town named Holton there.

[kellysmith]

Originally Posted by JoulesMSU

Why would you want to live in either?

Seriously, just wondering. As you mentioned in the original post, there are lots of negatives to both, and not really many positives. My wife is from Houlton and she's glad she "got out". If you are looking for a place with drugs and welfare, then Houlton is a great place I guess. Otherwise... (from what I've seen and heard) I'd stay away.

Is it "Maine or bust" though? If you are just looking for somewhere that you can get a lot of land for cheap, in a nice location, then the Midwest might be the place for you. I'm from Michigan, and I could point you to West Michigan if you want a place where you can buy cheap land in a beautiful landscape while living somewhere that doesn't have a drug/welfare problem. Towns around the Manistee National Forest are in a great location because there is a ton of natural beauty, but then if you drive 1 hour south, you find the second biggest city in the state (Grand Rapids, pop: 192,000).

IMO this is why these small towns don't have the same kind of problems that The County and Downeast have, because people from Grand Rapids go up there to vacation and pump money into the local economies. And since Grand Rapids isn't far away, the kids/young adults from the forest towns have a place to go do stuff - as opposed to kids/young adults in Houlton/Calais who have nowhere interesting to go (Bangor, pop: 32,000, is twice as far - 2 hours), so they resort to drugs for entertainment.

There is even a town named Holton there.

One word answer....Poppycock! I'm happy for your wife, however I taught school in Houlton for 25 years and I'm afraid you are painting with too wide a brush. You wife must have been running with the wrong crowd. The vast majority of kids here are outstanding. Yes, they leave town to find work, but I know many who wish that could stay, and many are coming back after making a living somewhere else. Most people don't lock their doors...Be real here!

[maineguy8888]

Originally Posted by JoulesMSU

Why would you want to live in either?

Seriously, just wondering. As you mentioned in the original post, there are lots of negatives to both, and not really many positives. My wife is from Houlton and she's glad she "got out". If you are looking for a place with drugs and welfare, then Houlton is a great place I guess. Otherwise... (from what I've seen and heard) I'd stay away.

Is it "Maine or bust" though? If you are just looking for somewhere that you can get a lot of land for cheap, in a nice location, then the Midwest might be the place for you. I'm from Michigan, and I could point you to West Michigan if you want a place where you can buy cheap land in a beautiful landscape while living somewhere that doesn't have a drug/welfare problem. Towns around the Manistee National Forest are in a great location because there is a ton of natural beauty, but then if you drive 1 hour south, you find the second biggest city in the state (Grand Rapids, pop: 192,000).

IMO this proximity to GR is why these small towns don't have the same kind of problems that The County and Downeast have, because people from Grand Rapids go up there to vacation and pump money into the local economies. And the kids/young adults from the forest towns have a place to go do stuff - as opposed to kids/young adults in Houlton/Calais who have nowhere interesting to go (Bangor, pop: 32,000, is twice as far - 2 hours), so they resort to drugs for entertainment.

There is even a town named Holton there.

I was in Houlton yesterday. I think we are talking about parallel universes here....

[CabinCritter]

Originally Posted by JoulesMSU

Is it "Maine or bust" though? If you are just looking for somewhere that you can get a lot of land for cheap, in a nice location, then the Midwest might be the place for you. I'm from Michigan, and I could point you to West Michigan if you want a place where you can buy cheap land in a beautiful landscape while living somewhere that doesn't have a drug/welfare problem. Towns around the Manistee National Forest are in a great location because there is a ton of natural beauty, but then if you drive 1 hour south, you find the second biggest city in the state (Grand Rapids, pop: 192,000).

What I see here is drugs and welfare. Unfortunately, every State has this issue like it or not. Just because you personally do not know someone on drugs or on welfare does not make that a true statement. You just don't know if they are. Not everyone is happy about admitting they use drugs or are on welfare. Not all drug users look like the meth posters we see on the media and so forth. Welfare you may never know if they don't tell you or you are not the cashier that takes the EBT card. It is everywhere and continues to grow because the economy is crap and people become addicted. You may be right and have a clean town but you may not be. Maine is no better nor any worse than any other State for those two matters.

I have a drug house about 5 homes down from me but I don't consider my town trash just because of that. I've lived other places where drugs appeared to be absent yet people just through their trash outside their door. That I considered a trash town. lol Its all perception and what your opinion is of a town. If you don't like it for whatever reason, you don't like it. That's all, but drugs and welfare are everywhere.

It does sound like Michigan is beautiful. I know a few folks that live up that way and they love it.