Why is Maine a poor state? (Portland, Augusta: lawyers, job market, to live)

[Jud6yolas]

I thought it was interesting at least.http://reouge.blogded.com/1.jpghttp://reouge.blogded.com/2.jpghttp://reouge.blogded.com/3.jpghttp://reouge.blogded.com/4.jpg
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[JoulesMSU]

Some of you are pretty dense. Yeah, enjoy your 55 mph drive then, god forbid anyone mentions a better way to do it.

But the point remains - Maine is a poor state partially because lack of infrastructure.

Therefore, a highway (or two) to connect it with the biggest population center(s) nearby is clearly a terrible idea (here's my sarcasm).

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by JoulesMSU

... Would you rather spend hours driving on a 1-lane back road to get to a vacation destination, or take the highway the whole way? I'd want to take the highway... so I would go visit Vermont instead of Maine. I postulate that is what happens more often than not; Quebecois go to Vermont instead. Maybe I can find some tourist data to see if I'm right or not.

I lived in Scotland for a few years, where I learned to drive on 1-lane roads. I find it interesting that anyone in the US is familiar with pelicans. There are very few 1-lane roads in Maine. For the most part, when a road in Maine goes down to 1-lane they post flaggers to direct traffic. Americans are not used to driving by pelican.

All of the roads connecting Maine to Canada that I listed are all 2-lane roads. [as far as I know of] I bet if there are any 1-lane roads crossing the border, someone else will pipe in the data.

When you say 'highway' I am assuming that you mean 4-lane divided roads like I-95.

I do prefer to drive straight, rather than an hour out of the way, and an hour back again. A straight line is a more direct route. Which is why we have some many good roads doing it.

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

As part of our statehood deal, when we traded our status as an independent republic for a state in these united states, Vermont forbade the construction of any roads to Canada from Maine. Those roads you mentioned will simply have to be shut down so traffic can be routed through Vermont first. (sarcasm alert).

That makes more sense

Originally Posted by JoulesMSU

... a highway (or two) to connect it with the biggest population center(s) nearby is clearly a terrible idea (here's my sarcasm).

It may be different down in North-Boston, but up here in Maine we have lots of roads. All population centers are inter-connected by use of roads.

Bangor is the economic hub serving 2/3 of the state. Every time I go into the city I see lots of Canadian plates. I bet there must be near to a thousand vehicles coming to the city on any given day for shopping tourism or for medical tourism. If I make a trip to the city for some hardware and I see a 20 Canadian plates, on my short trip, I can not be seeing more than 1% of how many are actually in the city.

[maineguy8888]

I've been going to Old Orchard for 30 years, and lived right near it for 7. It always amazes me to see how many Quebec people are there; they absolutely do come to Maine. It is a long drive for them, but they come back every year. They spend tons of money at Old Orchard.
There are tons of other tourists in southern and coastal Maine from other places too; they spend a huge amount of money. Plus the very wealthy summer residents along the coast and on the lakes. There are hordes of them, and they all spend.
The poor are pretty well taken care of in Maine; certainly better than in almost any part of the world.
I don't think Maine is so much a poor state as it is somewhat lazy. It never used to be this way.

(By the way, while the rest of Maine dithers about whether or not to build an east-west highway, the Canadians are finishing up the last phase of improving the TransCanada Highway just north of Maine. They have spent massive amounts of money on the entire highway over the last 10 years. It is toll-free, and is a fantastic road).

[Yuptag]

Originally Posted by JoulesMSU

One of the big things that I have noticed (having just moved here recently) is the lack of connection with Quebec. It's not very easy to get to Quebec City or Montreal. These two major cities that could facilitate a lot of trade (or at the vest least, tourists) are only accessible via highway if you drive through Vermont!

This is completely ridiculous when you consider that Quebec City has over 500,000 people, nearly half of Maine's population, and Montreal has MORE people than Maine does. That is a lot of people who live nearby but don't have easy access to this state, and most likely spend their time (and money) in Vermont or upstate New York instead.

A highway from Montreal to Augusta and another from Quebec City to Newport would be a huge boon. Heck, add another one from Saint John, New Brunswick to Bangor as well and it would really make the state more accessible to its neighbors.



I'm from Michigan, where we also border Canada, although not much. There's a huge body of water between us and Ontario for the most part. However, where you can cross on land, we made sure to make it possible - you can go across from either downtown Detroit or the Flint/Port Huron area. Additionally, there is a highway that goes straight up to Sault Ste. Marie in the Upper Peninsula, which is another border city. These are literally the only points to cross from, but they are all covered via highways to make it easy to get to.

So it's very odd that Maine is surrounded by Canada, and yet only has 1 major entry point on land (in Houlton). Quebec is a huge providence with lots of people and resources... and it's like you are trying to ignore that they are there!

[drvjmj]

I just bought a house close to the Penobscot River on one acre. Taxes are $1973. That is a great savings compared to the $9000 on a 75 x 125 lot in New Jersey.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by drvjmj

I just bought a house close to the Penobscot River on one acre. Taxes are $1973. That is a great savings compared to the $9000 on a 75 x 125 lot in New Jersey.

Congratulations

When will you be moving into this new house? I would hate doing a mid-winter move.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

"I mean, just pretend you live in Quebec City for a second. Would you rather spend hours driving on a 1-lane back road to get to a vacation destination, or take the highway the whole way? I'd want to take the highway... so I would go visit Vermont instead of Maine."

We do have one lane roads that go into Canada. There are game cameras there and they take photographs of your vehicle plate. You will get a phone call about it or a knock on the door. It's better to take our two lane roads or even the four lane road called I-95 that goes into Canada to join the Trans-Canada Highway.

As to destinations, there is a reason that Old Orchard Beach is called the "Quebec Riviera". It has the biggest population of Quebeckers in speedos on the planet. If you are visiting Quebec and run into a language problem, just say the magic words: "Old Orchard". They will bend over backwards to help you because you are from Maine and know about Old Orchard. It's like a spiritual experience for Quebeckers.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

To get pack to the original question in this thread, Maine is a poor state because 52% of Maine is ruled by a group of unelected functionaries whose written goal is to prevent development in the largest part of Maine. The people who live there cannot even vote for the people who rule them. No other state has anything like it.

I need to head out to an appointment. One of the apologists for our oppressive system will jump in here. I'll summarize when I get back tonight.

[Bruce Bell]

The liberals (who run the State) make it to easy to get on welfare. People flock here to get on welfare. They even come from foreign Countries. Ask about Lewiston......