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Hi,
In regards to schools- there is a good website called greatschools.com.
I'm investigating relocation myself, and I always look up various houses on realtor.com- and then check out the name of the school district where that house is located (or the specific elementary, high school name)...then you can research the specific school on greatschools.com. It gives parent reviews, socio-economic status of the students, test scores, teacher stats, etc. I've found it to be very interesting/helpful. Hope that helps a little.
You can also "compare" cities in a state. There are a lot of options.
Last edited by gish; 08-18-2006 at 09:49 PM..
Reason: after thought
I understand what everyone's saying about it "could be worse" and so on. However, I believe someone else posed this same question: Everyone is emphasizing that employment is mainly in the medical, law or teaching field...okay fine. Everyone's saying it's rather expensive to live there. Then people proceed to say that Maine is against large development or does not want to be "industrialized" and there are lack of jobs. So, again, I repeat the same question as whomever asked it before me: What do you people do for a living up there? Is it possible that everyone in Maine is a doctor/nurse, lawyer or teacher? Come on, there's got to be something else, or the whole d*mn state would be empty.
I'm not trying to be rude, however, I'm just not following what people are saying.
I have followed all the links in here for quite a while and had to comment here.
Pixieshmoo:
I have followed that you are a realtor and your husband is a contractor. What you have been told about lining up work before you move is best. Work is what you make of it and in Maine (centrally speaking) I have found that it is there if you want it. We have been planning our move to Maine for close to 5 years. We have our log home built and are now in the process of building small cabins on our property to rent out for our business. My husband is a mason which he desperately wants to retire from here in S. Jersey. NJ State is killing our small business by forcing us to pay astronomical insurance premiums for the business as well as business taxes.
In the past two years that we have been back and forth to our new home we have made great friends and neighbors, found out that not all locals will like out-of-staters, received job offers and been ripped off by local contractors when they find out we "must have money" because we are moving there from NJ.
What I'm losing perspective in saying is--your life will be what you want to make of it--no matter where you live. Personally, we look forward to move our children from S.Jersey (as soon as we can sell our house!). Yet, as much of the research I have done to make sure they will go to good schools, and they will be able to have activities to participate in, there will always be a concern as to what will come in the years to follow. Will they stay active or get caught up in the wrong crowd? (Isn't that every parent's nightmare?) I can walk through our Maine town and see successful people and happy families and I can also see those that are content on living on welfare or just working enough to pay their rent. I don't know what part of NJ your from but I can tell you that where I live, there are the same type of people here.
Maine will be more expensive in some ways but will compensate for that in other ways. I am willing to pay more for my utilities, less for my taxes, more for my car registration, less for car insurance, give up my convenience stores for breath taking views, see what I mean? I know I am moving my children to a place where they will have a better chance of growing up with a childhood. Kids can be kids there. They are not under the microscope of the fashion eye and having to be more adult than what they are. The culture of the country in Maine is not overrun with rap music that refers to sex in every song. We turn on the TV in Maine and see news like anywhere else, except that it isn't one murder or robbery after another (we get Philly news at home).
I don't know if you follow a religion but it helped us. We knew all the common sense of having to save money, research where to live, prepare what we would do for an income, but we also prayed about it and found peace with our decision. My family (parents/in-laws)are not happy about us moving 9 hours away but support our decision.
Hope this gives you a little boost to follow your dream...where ever it might be. Good Luck to you and your family!
Hey, freeme, this is exactly what my family did. We left the Jersey shore and moved just outside Auburn 2 weeks ago. Watching the Philly news was like a scary science fiction story compared to the local news here. Ok, so it's only been a few weeks, but so far, it's paradise. Good luck!!!
Registering a car in Maine is cheap. It is not the registration that costs money, it is the tax on the vehicle itself. The newer and more expensive your car, the higher the tax. My 1991 Audi station wagon costs around $160 per year to register, including the excise tax paid to the town. The tax is a form of personal property tax and has nothing to do with registering the car for road use.
Pixieschmoo, if you are a realtor and know how to [b]work[b] as a realtor, you can make a decent living anywhere in this state. BUT if your idea of being a realtor is to sit in the office and wait for "laydowns", you will have a hard time. My experience with the real estate community is that the vast majority are long on sitting on their rumps waiting for someone to wander in and demand to be sold something, and very, very short of generating their leads and making the sales. I have been here for quite a while now, and have bought and sold real estate as a developer, and most realtors are slugs. If you want to WORK, you will have a good life here doing almost anything you chose. If you think you will find a cushy job with a boss that will take care of your every need and provide a huge benefit package, then you need to stay in metro New York where population density makes that sort of life more likely.
FreemeJersey: Yes, I am a realtor (however, haven't been doing it very long)...I appreciate and agree with what you've said (and silly as it may sound, it was very inspirational). The problem is that most of what my husband and I have heard is that even in our fields of work, "it aint' gonna happen in Maine". I've been told that unless you're in a tourist spot in Maine, you're not going to sell real estate and also that contractors don't even succeed there all that much (which actually surprised me because I thought the opposite). I have friends there who desperately want us to move up there, yet they're also some of the ones who tell us there's no jobs, etc. So, you see how I've come to a standstill.
I also have people who would be sad to see us go, whom of course I would miss dearly, and we have people (my in-laws) who would think it's some evil plot to never have to see them again (hmm, doesn't sound all that bad LOL!) But I'm also someone who loves to drive and travel so it's not like we'll never see these people again.
What you are describing that you are moving to is what we're looking for. Giving my children a "childhood" is extremely important to us and although you can't put them in a bubble and always protect them, moving them out of an area like where we are now, surely lessens some of the temptations. As for where we are, we're in North Jersey, about a 15 minute drive to NYC. So as you may assume, we are also very weary of turning on the news. I can't remember the last time we've seen good news (maybe 10 years ago). I too am tired of worrying that my daughter is going to start acting like she's 25 (I'm not talking about "attitudes", I believe they all test us with that) but you are right, kids around here are being pressured to keep up at such a fast pace, the fashion, the hair, makeup, boys...I don't remember being so boy crazy at those ages. Everything on TV is in some way related to sex (even the slightest inuendos)...it's sickening and it's only becoming more predominant around here. As for religion, am I fanatical? No, but I do pray for wisdom and guidance and I trust that the Lord will place us where he sees fit for us to prosper (and I don't simply mean financially, I mean healthily, happily, spiritually, safely, financially). However, patience is a very hard virtue to maintain sometimes (ugh). But thanks again for your "advice"....very much appreciated.
AcadianLion: I completely agree with you...however, I haven't been a realtor very long at all so I'm kind of just starting out. But I have learned in this field so far that you must be a go getter because technically ANYBODY can get their license. I have always been a hard worker (since I was 15) and you are correct in saying that most people do "wait around" for leads or property to be sold. Unfortunately, around here you tend to get mixed up in the shuffle because real estate agencies are like nail salons (there's one on every corner). So it's definitely a job in making that reputation for yourself (and yes, it's you who has to do it, not your agency).
Did you move from S. Jersey? We are about 30 minutes west of A.C., just off the AC Expressway. Where is Auburn, ME? Is that located in the southern part of ME? We are moving to Somerset County - very, very rural setting. Lots of farms and woods but that is what we wanted. Can't wait to make the move but with bubble burst of the real estate market, it has made selling our 6 acre farm more difficult (unless we want to sell it below market value, but who wants to do that?).
Yes. We lived in Atlantic City. Auburn is about 45 miles north of Portland. We sold our house for less than the asking price just because it was on the market for so long, almost 9 months. The house we bought in Maine also sold for less, so it balanced out. Good luck with your move!
pixieshmoo,
your concerns addressed in your posts could have been written by someone living in my neck of the woods: southern California. We have the same crime, overcrowding, congestion, pollution, traffic, high costs as you have in South Jersey. My wife and I have been investigating Maine for its values, idyllic scenery, simplicity in life, etc as a place to relocate. I am just as confused, however, after reading so many posts about the pros and cons. We realize that there are both good and bad conditions wherever one goes and that one needs to accommodate a trade-off, if you will. I am an elementary school teacher and I know I won't be able to match the income and benefits I'm currently receiving from the L.A. city school district but we desperately want a better atmosphere for our young children to grow up in. I don't even want them walking around the corner without watchful eyes guarding them. Gangs run rampant here and law enforcement provides no protection. In fact, they themselves are often shot at.
We also have been quite fortunate not to have shelled out expenses for major heating oil costs. Winters here get down to the 40's (which is probably child's play for Mainers). So are we crazy for thinking this move? As far as the entries that mention Mainers' attitudes regarding those "from away", some of us in large cities experience the same thing from our immediate neighbors on our blocks. People in cramped cities are often wary and suspicious of others. And sometimes with good reason.
I obviously have more research to do. I will ultimately need to visit and experience life in Maine but from a resident's viewpoint and not from a vacationer's one. Many posts in this forum have been informative and yet I still can't get a solid perspective on direction. Relocating is, after all, among one of the top stress factors so it's quite natural to vacillate in one's thinking. You don't realize just how small our country is until you start searching for a new place to live.
Good luck in your search. Maybe one day our families will actually find ourselves as neighbors in Maine.
Cormier: I couldn't agree with you more regarding everything you said. Where you live does pretty much sum up what I feel about NJ (actually I live in North Jersey though, but that doesn't change a thing!).
I have researched some wonderful areas of Maine (in the greater Portland area and even a little further up). I could give you websites I found,etc. however, if it wasn't for the fear of the "career" thing, I'd move there tomorrow without blinking. Leaving our family and friends is also puts a major damper on things, New Jersey is all we know and everyone we love is right here even if some of them are an hour or two away. However, I do not want to jeopardize my childrens' growth and potential to be whatever kind of wonderful people they can grow up to be by keeping them here because we're "afraid" to move away from everyone. Lastly, as with anywhere, you're always concerned and hopeful that your children will stay away from drugs and the wrong people (gangs also run rampant here), but moving them out of such tempting situations like we have here would definitely help and not hurt the situation.
If you find out any useful info. or see what you like when you visit, please let me know (and I will do the same). Hey, having neighbors who know what you're going through sounds wonderful!! Good luck to you too.
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Work in Maine
Pixieshmoo
