Recent Transplants to Portland (South Portland, Brunswick: insurance, lofts, condo) - Maine (ME) -Portland, ME metro area - City-Data Forum

thechappells · 12-03-2013, 01:28 PM

Hello! We are seriously considering a move to Portland. To the new transplants, I'm curious as to how your move went for you. My spouse is an LEO and has been in regular contact w/ Portland PD. I'm concerned about my own job prospects. I'm a paralegal, but am open to other work--in particular administrative. We have a grade schooler and a toddler, so childcare is an issue as well. We are looking at Saco, Biddeford, and SoPo, but are open to other areas. Any feedback? Anything you'd do over again?

thechappells · 12-04-2013, 09:52 AM

By "recent transplants"...anybody who has moved to the Portland area in the past 2.5-3 yrs. Any insight is definitely appreciated.

WhoFanMe · 12-04-2013, 12:09 PM

Hello Mr. and Mrs. Chappell and welcome to the forum. The Portland area is not as well represented as other areas in the state on this forum, but I'm sure you'll hear from fellow Who fan atrixwolf soon who moved to Cape Elizabeth just a few years back. There is plenty of childcare in those towns as well as attorneys offices and courts, it will probably come down how much of a commute you and you husband the LEO can stand.

thechappells · 12-05-2013, 05:44 PM

Thank you, Who! I'm just really curious about any success and bumps along the way of folks moving to and settling in the Portland area in the past few years.

elston · 12-05-2013, 06:50 PM

We moved to Gorham about 4 or 5 years ago. I grew up in Northern New Englnd......we loved our home and Maine.....but at our ages (65 and 72) we found the winter weather more than we could comfortably cope with. We got vry paranoid about driving on snow or ice and whether it might start to storm when we were at church or in town and make it hard to get home. Also my partners main avocation is tennis and the short season and then indoor tennis with its fees and court availability wasn't what he really wanted. (We moved to maine from s. California.....so after 3 years.....we sold our beautiful home and moved to Florida. (southern gulf coast Florida at that.......BTW I have family in the Charleston area of SC....but that wasn't warm enough for what we were looking for.

Mark S. · 12-06-2013, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thechappells

Hello! We are seriously considering a move to Portland. To the new transplants, I'm curious as to how your move went for you. My spouse is an LEO and has been in regular contact w/ Portland PD. I'm concerned about my own job prospects. I'm a paralegal, but am open to other work--in particular administrative. We have a grade schooler and a toddler, so childcare is an issue as well. We are looking at Saco, Biddeford, and SoPo, but are open to other areas. Any feedback? Anything you'd do over again?

For your job prospects, your best bets are probably going to be health care, education, and insurance companies. You might check L.L. Bean as well. JobsInMe.com is the source most local companies seem to use.

I have no direct experience myself with Saco, Biddeford, or South Portland, but none of them have very good reputations among locals. When we first moved to the area and were asking around about possible places to live, my wife was going to be working in South Portland at the time, and all of her co-workers warned her against living there. Our first landlord (a lifelong Mainer) had nothing but bad things to say about Biddeford and Saco. Again, I have no firsthand experience of either. Just repeating what I've often heard. If your husband has contacts with the local PD, they could probably give him a very good insider's view of those communities.

If you're looking for more family friendly areas, look north of the city --- Yarmouth, Freeport, Brunswick, Topsham, Bath. You'll still be within easy commuting distance of Portland, but in more family friendly communities.

elston · 12-06-2013, 10:55 AM

Two of my sons live in Saco with their families.....and extended family. I attended church in Saco and had friends from church who lived there. Everyone who lived in Saco really liked it. It is exactly the kind of community that I like.....friendly, interesting history reflected in architecture, not pretentious but definitely proud.

Bidderford was the mill town and it was devastated when the mills closed.....and it has had a hard time "coming back".....but it is finally. It tore down the trash incinerator that was a blight on the area.....but a lot of old wooden tenement apt buildings need to come down. ..an artsy community is finding lofts in the mills and store fronts.....if I were investing....I would invest in Biddeford...it is near the ocean, has rail transport to Boston and is the metro area that boarders much of the tourist traffic.

elston · 12-06-2013, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elston

Two of my sons live in Saco with their families.....and extended family. I attended church in Saco and had friends from church who lived there. Everyone who lived in Saco really liked it. It is exactly the kind of community that I like.....friendly, interesting history reflected in architecture, not pretentious but definitely proud.

Bidderford was the mill town and it was devastated when the mills closed.....and it has had a hard time "coming back".....but it is finally. It tore down the trash incinerator that was a blight on the area.....but a lot of old wooden tenement apt buildings need to come down. ..an artsy community is finding lofts in the mills and store fronts.....if I were investing....I would invest in Biddeford...it is near the ocean, has rail transport to Boston and is the metro area that boarders much of the tourist traffic.

I forgot to mention that both of my sons and dil's work in Portland as do the in-laws and my grand daughter goes to private school in Portland until she is old enough for the Academy...(another plus for Saco). The commute isn't at all difficult for them.

thechappells · 12-07-2013, 07:12 AM

Thank you very much, Elston.

atrixwolfe · 12-07-2013, 11:59 AM

I can make a quick responce. I moved to the area 3 years ago from Alabama. For me no real bumps in the road at all. I simply love it here and and very glad I made the move. I didn't have troubble with snow as, they are pretty good about plowing. I rented for a year and then bought a condo, I realized property upkeep might be more expensive than I'm used (not alot just little things) to so condo seemed a good way to go. I obtained a job before i moved...that was a little hard but with perisstance I did it. I left that company after two years and found another. Groceries seem to be a bit more. Heating maybe just a tad more than what I paid for heating & ac in the south. But all together not too bad. Oh one thing to consider is a long driveway means paying some one to plow it, unless your husband wants to get a truck with a plow himself.
When you move some place things are different, some more expensive, some not...for me I'm happy to accept those differences and very happy with my decision.
So I'm not sure what a LEO is Law Enforcement officer maybe? Sorry hate accronyms! :-) Not sure about the job prospects there. But as for paralegal....you've got some possibilities in downtown Portland. There are a number of law practices and even a few large law firms. Just do a google search on Portland Maine Law firms. There are a few headhunter and temp agencies I can point you to if you Direct message me. Check Jobs in Maine - search for jobs in Maine and also the linked in group "living and working in Portland".
Downtown portland is a nice place to work..I enjoy it. ignore the thread on parking...get your employer to cover your parking. There are a number of great towns to live in with a very short and easy drive into Portland. Hopefully you like snow and might even like to ski!
Good luck in your decision.