Biddeford/Saco in the summer (Portland, Old Orchard Beach: rentals, mover, condos)

[maybemover96b]

How much of an increase in population is there in this area in the summer season. I grew up near Cape Cod and even 30 years ago traffic and crowds were significant and annoying (except for business owners who lived off of summers).
What is Biddeford/Saco area like. Appreciate any and all opionions. Thanks all.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by maybemover96b

How much of an increase in population is there in this area in the summer season. I grew up near Cape Cod and even 30 years ago traffic and crowds were significant and annoying (except for business owners who lived off of summers).
What is Biddeford/Saco area like. Appreciate any and all opionions. Thanks all.

Nothing compared to what you see on Cape Cod. I spent the bulk of my life in S.E. Mass but spent 4 years in the Portland area (recently moved back to Boston) including 1 in Old Orchard Beach so I've seen both enough to make a comparison.

The worst is in Old Orchard Beach. Some estimates I've seen say the town can have close to 100,000 visitors staying at a time. Now, I haven't seen any data to support that, nor do I believe there are anywhere near 100,000 hotel rooms/campsites/rentals in the area (or even 1/3 of that), but the population in OOB swells significantly regardless of what the actual number is. Traffic along Cascade Road, Old Orchard Street, West and East Grand Avenue, and Blue Point Road can get slower, but not TOO bad. East and West Grand Ave closest the center of Old Orchard have been the worst in my opinion, but nothing like driving Route 6 along the Cape Cod Canal (BEFORE they removed the rotary at the Sagamore). It's just not even close to that volume of traffic.

Biddeford and Saco seem to handle the increase in visitors just fine. Saco's Ocean Park area is much quieter in the summer even though it does see some extra visitors. Traffic isn't really a problem at all until you get into OOB. Biddeford Pool (Biddeford's waterfront area) is even less populated than Ocean Park. It too sees only a minimal increase in traffic.

Holiday Weekends (4th of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day) can bring added traffic to the interstate (1-95 and I-295), but rarely is it TOO terrible. There have only been a few times when I've sat in traffic on either of those roads.

Route 1 in Saco/Biddeford gets slower near the center of Biddeford and Saco, mostly due to the amount of traffic lights. This is slow year-round and I'd hardly attribute it to the volume of traffic. Route 1 near Funtown/Splashtown in Saco can get slower, but not too bad.

I attribute much of the better traffic flow to smart infrastructure. OOB is the busiest attraction in the area. The access roads are really designed to keep the bulk of OOB traffic off of Saco and Biddeford's busiest areas. The tiny I-195 spur connects I-95 to edge of Old Orchard Beach. This handles the bulk of traffic to/from Old Orchard and it keeps that traffic off of Route 1 which would likely be a nightmare otherwise.

I would hardly consider driving through Saco or Biddeford in the summer months a problem. Even OOB is small enough where the traffic isn't backed up for too long in town (again, like you see on Cape Cod... Route 6 and even 6a at times were parking lots). There's certainly a noticable increase in visitors, but not TOO many (though I'm sure there are locals who disagree) and the roads are capable of handling these tourists.

[maybemover96b]

Irfox,

Thanks for the great info. the comparison to rt 6 and 6a is perfect for me as that is the area i lived near wareham, etc. and I remember the nightmare of trying to get over the bridge to the Cape. That was when the rotary was still there.
Since you seem to know about the Biddeford/Saco area I wondered if you could also tell me what you thought of the newspaper there, The Journal Tribune and also what the area is like culturally. I see from CD info the area heavy democratic, etc. But what about arts and music and the friendliness of people to new residents.
Thanks.

[lrfox]

You're welcome. You lived in Wareham? I'm from the Lakeville area. I graduated from Apponequet High School. I like Wareham, but the summer traffic is a complete pain.

Are you interested in moving to the area?

Saco and Biddeford, I feel, are like the Red-Headed little sisters to Portland. I don't mean that in a bad way... I'll try to explain.

Saco is a small town with a nice, historic downtown (relatively lively for such a small place), some beautiful old homes and a wonderful public school campus. As with much of Southern, ME it's mostly built up around Route 1 (and East of Rt. 1 towards the ocean) and becomes much more sparsely populated as you head West of Route 1 and away from Biddeford. Parts of Saco are rural, parts are suburban, but I wouldn't call any of it urban. Main St. has some wall-to-wall shops, but it's more reminiscent of a small town's downtown than a city's.

Biddeford was a small manufacturing city. It's a little smaller than but has a similar setup to Taunton, MA (I don't know if you're familiar with Taunton, but if not, North Adams, MA is a good comparison too). It has a number of large brick factories lining a swift-flowing river. Adjacent to this is a Main Street/Downtown area with wall-to-wall buildings containing some shops and restaurants.

In the middle of the river, right near downtown Biddeford is an Island. It's called "Saco Island" and it's mainly a large mill complex and there's an adjacent train station which is used by Amtrak's Downeaster serving Boston's North Station and Portland.

On the other side of Saco Island (opposite Biddeford), you have Main Street Saco complete with shops and restaurants and the like. Just beyond this small strip of commercial buildings you have some old historic New England homes (and the Beautiful Dyer Library and Thornton Academy- Saco's public high school).

The "culture" of the area is unique. The Mainers I came across (from outside of Saco or Biddeford) generally disliked the two towns, ESPECIALLY Biddeford. I found myself liking both of them quite a bit. Biddeford has grit (something that's hard to find much of in Maine and many are happy because of that). This is why I say Biddeford (and Saco) are like Portland's red-headed little sisters. There's a very obvious attitude that's partial to Portland over Biddeford or Saco in the area.

Some of the negative stigma attached to Biddeford is well deserved. It IS, in fact an old mill town that deteriorated with the loss of manufacturing. You see the same story all over New England (look no further than Taunton, Fitchburg, North Adams or Lawrence and Fall River on a larger scale). As a result, there are some pretty expansive vacant mills and many vacant storefronts. There is a population that is largely poorer and uneducated. This is a turn off to many (which is entirely understandable). I also think the fact that it's not the sparkling image of "pristine" Maine (i.e. beautiful hamlet nestled in a cove, lake or mountain nook) gives it some negative stigma as well.

The good news is that there's a localized effort to help Biddeford. Rail Service (which is in Jeopardy due to lack of funding) has been beneficial to the area and adaptive reuse of some of the old mill buildings has certainly been good. University College (an affiliate of the University of Southern Maine) has taken up a large amount of space in an old mill on Saco Island and others have been used for Condos, restaurants, etc.

Biddeford is trying to follow the lead of cities like Lowell, New Bedford, North Adams, Manchester NH, and even Pawtucket RI which have lost the manufacturing industry but are attempting to use alternate means to find their way out of their rut. Those cities have made strides in rebounding (though they are by NO means perfect or completely revitalized) and Biddeford isn't too far behind. Furthermore, Biddeford doesn't have the crime trouble that cities like New Bedford and Lowell have historically had (it's MUCH smaller) so that's one less obstacle to overcome.

Biddeford's downtown is aesthetically VERY nice. The architecture is great. In fact, I often argue that Biddeford's historic downtown is in better shape than Portland's (the much more highly regarded city) which has many gaping holes in the streetwall and too many surface parking lots. With a bit more diversity in the types of business and residences there, you have the ingredients for an EXCELLENT downtown area and I feel Biddeford is on the way there. The difference between Portland (which really is a nice little city) and Biddeford's downtown is the business. Portland is established and thriving in terms of businesses but Biddeford is struggling. Architecturally, it's tough to argue that Portland is better especially when you consider how many holes and gaps there are. I'd rather have a mouth full of good teeth than a good number of PERFECT teeth with a few holes and gaps. That's how I think of Biddeford. When more businesses come (and they will), it'll be an excellent place.

Now, you asked about Arts. the area's "art" scene is really centered around Portland. It has the typical small city arts scene with a symphony orchestra, a VERY nice art museum and a number of art galleries around. There is an art college in Downtown Portland too (Maine College of Art). There's small underground music scene there too. In all, the arts are pretty well accepted and a large part of Portland's draw. Biddeford/Saco don't have a presence like that and they should. The arts have been a HUGE factor in many cities' revitalizations. This is evident in Downtown New Bedford (right down the road from Wareham) where artists and galleries, museums, music, art schools, etc have really been a force in making the area a better place. Portland can chalk a lot of its success to the artistic community that begun its revitalization. Biddeford needs more arts. I believe it will see more artists as they look for space (and there's plenty of it in the mills in Biddeford) for cheap as they're priced out of Portland. But for now, Portland is the central and primary artistic force in the area.

I found that people in both towns were pretty welcoming to outsiders. Much of this is because many of the people are well aware that in order for their towns to progress, they need to attract new residents. The major reason, though is just because that's how Maine is. There are some "sticks in the mud," but there is a friendliness in Maine that is atypical of Southern New England.

I found the paper there (The Journal Tribune) to be, quite frankly, terrible. In fact, even the primarly local paper (the Maine Telegram/ Portland Press Herald) is mediocre at BEST. One of my biggest complaints about Maine in my time there was the real lack of quality in the local media (TV, papers, radio, etc). I may have read the Journal Tribune 3 times total. Once to give it a shot, twice to give it a second chance and three times because there was nothing else to read around me. I won't read it a fourth time. The quality of writing was poor. In all of the local papers most articles covering anything but the most local events (even Boston professional sports) is AP, Reuters, etc. There are seldom articles on regional, national, or international issues written by a staff writer. The local news channels rarely cover any event happening outside of Maine. If you're looking to work for the local paper, please, fix it! If you're looking for a quality paper, you're going to be out of luck.

The area is mostly democratic, but not 100%. The people are friendly and the cost of homes is relatively low. I believe the whole Portland/Saco/Biddeford area is much quieter in the summer than the Southcoast (Fall River/New Bedford/Wareham) and CERTAINLY Cape Cod. The arts scene in that area is a bit more visible than what you'd find on the Southcoast, but not necessarily better. I prefer New Bedford's Symphony Orchestra to Portland's (which isn't bad).. I simply think it's better. Portland's art Museum is better than New Bedford's by a good degree, but the independent galleries on the Southcoast are far better than the Portland/ Biddeford area. I prefer food on the Southcoast to dining in the Portland/ Biddeford area by a long shot. Portland has some lovely restaurants and is known as a foodie town, but it's nearly all American food. Furthermore, there are only casual restaurants (some serving great food like Fore Street and Hugo's) but nothing for fine dining. The seafood isn't as good as one would expect (not in the same ballpark as the Southcoast). The availability of all sorts of authentic ethnic foods (particulalry Portuguese) on the Southcoast was great.. I still miss that. The nail in the food coffin for me was that the Southcoast had relatively easy access to cities like Boston and Providence where you can truly find World-Class dining if the relatively good Southcoast scene wasn't enough for you. You can't do that in Maine. Portland has a FEW good (you could even say great if you wanted) restaurants, but you don't have the options you do on the Southcoast. Biddeford is particularly weak in the food world.

If you are considering a move, I would HIGHLY recommend Saco. Biddeford has certain areas (particularly Biddeford Pool) that are wonderful, but many that you may want to avoid for the time being (I wouldn't call them dangerous though). I find Saco (and Biddeford to a degree) to be highly underrated. They're also both slightly cheaper alternatives to Portland. If you're not looking for someplace particulalrly pristine, the Saco/Biddeford area will be a good fit. If you want some place that's a bit less of a work in progress and established, go to Portland (it's safe, relatively affordable, and pretty). That entire region of Maine is very nice. It's large enough to give one a sense of place/location, but small enough to feel as if you're away from the rat-race and not stuck in a major urban area (if you couldn't tell from my posts, I prefer the urban areas which is why I left Maine... otherwise, it's a wonderful place).

I've rambled for too long. Hope this helps!

[maybemover96b]

Irfox,
Please don't feel like you rambled on. Your thoughts and insights are much appreciated, as is the time you took to write them.
BTW, you of course remember Lorenzo's Pizza. Are they still in business?
Thanks again. I did wonder what others in town think of the Journal Trib for their local coverage of local stories.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by maybemover96b

Irfox,
Please don't feel like you rambled on. Your thoughts and insights are much appreciated, as is the time you took to write them.
BTW, you of course remember Lorenzo's Pizza. Are they still in business?
Thanks again. I did wonder what others in town think of the Journal Trib for their local coverage of local stories.

Oh yes, Lorenzo's is still around down there.

If you want some other perspective (and I'm sure you do) send a message to the user, "elston" who lives in the area. He may have a good take on some of your questions. It's only a matter of time before he sees this thread and responds, but you could drop him a message.

[elston]

Irfox: once again you are responsive to the OP and your discription is accurate in fact and in emotive quality. I totally agree. (but then again I love the Saco/Biddeford area--and if I had the money to invest....couldnt imagine a better local and community...)

[lojac99]

Irfox - Biddeford is a lot like Taunton?
Are you serious?

Taunton is riddled with crime. May as well be Lawrence. And its nowhere near the ocean.

[elston]

Just came home from a theatre production in Biddeford.....a wonderful little theatre from the early 1900's restored and a jewel box.....saw HAIR.....a very strong production. Biddeford was busy tongiht.....there are some beautiful old store fronts on Main Street.

[lojac99]

If they could just clear out the transients who rent within that one mile radius of downtown.. sky would be the limit.