I've been contemplating a move to Maine for a long time. I hate Florida, I hate the absolute miserable heat we get most of the time.  I actually want 4 seasons. Mainly, I want to get away from certain family members. It's much harder for them to beg for my help, or money, when I'm 1,500 miles away.

That said, Maine is beautiful. The hunting is amazing I hear, and so is the fishing.

One big, glaring problem I have:  I've never, not once, been in real snow. We had Flurries here in 89 and 91 but that's it. Sure, I watched idiots slide through some ice and wreck their cars, but literally caused no issues otherwise.

How bad are these winter storms, and what kind of prep is required?  I'm hearing outages are fairly common during Winter. I'm assuming a decent sized generator to run most basic stuff, Fridge, something to cook with, and most importantly a way to heat the house, along with food, for what, at least 7 days? Are these storms pretty random, or happen during January/February mostly?

I know I'll need snow tires, just have to figure that part out lol. I have a 2017 Honda Civic, so that should be fun...

After a nice snowfall overnight, how long does it take to clear the driveway so you can make it to work on time? How important is it to clear the roof immediately? Do people sell their services to do this for me?


I'm a Nurse, I've been looking at homes in Windham. The place calls to me for some reason. Prices are a bit higher than when I last looked, though, but still a bunch of nice homes for sale. I'm assuming Portland would be the closest hospital to Windham.

I also have worked as an agency Nurse being outsourced to the local prisons to work their medical for triage, passing medications, etc. Is there something like that local?


That being said, I'm as RED as they come, I can't stand Liberals, and that's part of the reason I want the hell out of Florida.

So tell me about Maine, and Windham in particular.  Or somewhere else if you think I'd like it. As long as I have quality internet access, I am perfectly happy to move anywhere close enough for me to work, which means a Hospital preferably within 30 minutes.

Just drive a bit slower and leave a bit earlier and you should be ok. The plow crews do a good job to the main roads, and then you hit the less traveled road like mine and its not as cleared haha.  Also if you can get or already have a generator its be a good item to have.  The ice and snow gets heavy at times on the wires and trees.  Now on the other part of winter the temps can drop pretty far so hopefully you have some nice warm clothes and a remote start on your vehicle lol.

I cant tell ya about the windham area i dont go that way i tend to stay near gardiner and north (less libs and less city) other here can chime in about it.





This was just last winter on my road

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Windham is kind of a bedroom community of Portland. Rt. 302 goes right through it and it's kinda crowded, but if you live in a major metropolitan area in Florida you probably won't mind. That being said, there are two nice indoor ranges in the Windham area and Scarborough Fish & Game is a huge club about a half an hour away.

The closer to the coast you get, you will most likely get less snow. The further inland, typically more snow. It's not horrible, but it is a PITA. I have a front wheel drive minivan and it does just fine in the snow with snow tires. You will need a snow blower if you have a home. Get somthing decent ($2500). The plows do a good job for the most part. Keep in mind that your vehicles will not last nearly as long. The salt just eats them out.

There is a huge demand for nurses here. Not sure what the pay is like in comparison to your wages in FL, but it's a pretty good job for Maine.

B

That's kind of where I am now. I don't exactly like the crowded areas, but I also don't want to drive an hour+ to work every day.

Any suggestions on other areas?  I've also considered the Bangor area.

There is a prison in windham. That is the expensive blue part of maine. Alot redder by bangor, and cheap rural land not far. There is also a big hospital in augusta.

Lots of small rural hospitals too. Southern maine where windham is gets snow but generally does not have long periods of snow cover. Further north and west snow cover nov-april is not uncommon. Frost free is 4 months ish.

And it's been snowing all day. Not sticking though

The issue with small rural hospitals is they usually don't pay well.

I don't mind the cold, but never been in real snow so it'll take getting used to lol.  How to drive, power outtages, etc.

Lots to research, need to find a decent place first.  So far seems like Augusta and Bangor.

Hell, I've considered Madawaska lol.

I will say that the Portland area is really nice if you can deal with all the blue stateists are the crowded city and sprawl. The restaurants are really good, although with covid I'm not sure how that's working out. Have not been down there since the pandemic.

Augusta has MaineGeneral which is a pretty good sized hospital and the traffic in the capital region is not terrible like the Portland area. Also there is Togus, the Maine Veteran's Hospital. One of the largest ones around. The Capital region is full of .gov types so it's really blue, but there are areas that are more solid red. About 20min north of Augusta is Waterville, which is a kind of economically depressed area. They had lots of mills that have closed down. It looks like none of the houses have been updated since 1974. There is also a big hospital there, and a campus of MaineGeneral.

Augusta has two nice ranges. Capital City and the fish and game dept. has a public range.

B

what do you consider a reasonable house price and what are you looking for? suburb, farm , cabin in the woods?

I'd like to stay under 300k but that seems to be a bit hard for the area it seems.  For decent sized houses anyway.

Don't really care about where it is, I'd rather stay away from people but I also want/need decent internet.

ETA:

At least until I finish my CRNA

You are not going to have any problem getting a nice place with that kind of budget.

B

normally that will get you something nice, market is limited right now, a quick look around surprised how little in bangor area

Internet coverage

Maybe thatll help with the internet areas.  My xbox is pushing 400-500 mbps with other items also running (tv, phones, other xboxs)

Although I now live in Southern Maine (due to work) I come from the Bangor / Brewer area which I think might suit you better.  Centrally located so getting to the coast or mountains is easy.  Lots of great fishing and hunting both to the north and east.  The tourists pass through but do not clog up the area.  It is inland so quite a bit more snow but its usually colder snow which is much easier to deal with and causes fewer outages (heavy wet snow weighs lines and trees down and things break, cold snow doesn't stick to anything so just blows around and is light to move).  Bangor is the medical hub for the upper half of the state.  St. Josephs and EMMC are massive players, have many, many facilities with lots of options.

You can live in town in a nice house or have a 100 acre parcel only a half hour from town.  Some of everything is available.  Politics, outside of town, are conservative.  I guess that is typical most places though.

Driving in snow is something you can learn if you're willing to take it easy.  Snow tires help a lot.  Understanding that getting going is easy, stopping is going to be your problem is very important.  Having a 4x4 is great but again, stopping, in a controlled fashion has nothing to do with 4x4.  It ain't a magic bullet.  Darn nice though.

Maybe come up for a month or two in the winter.  The traveling nurse thing is easy to do and lucrative.  You'll get a feel for what its like.  Also, winters are not like they used to be. We have really cold snowy ones and really warm wet ones now.  Winter has changed a lot in the last 20 years.  I prefer the old days when it was more consistently cold and snowy, but such is life.

Oh, with winter being such a big thing, you won't be happy unless you embrace it.  Skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, ice fishing, etc are great fun.  Can't do those in Florida.

Yeah, I was looking, was rather surprised to be honest.




Awesome site, thanks!




Good to know  about Bangor!  

I live in the Poland/Casco area near Windham and go into Windham regularly for my shopping, Nothing about Windham in particular is special but most of the amenities you would need are there.  Personally, I would much rather be up near Bridgton or just about anywhere else more inland which is a much nicer area IMO to be buying a house. Windham is just too busy, too many people.

Route 302 is very busy in the summer with tourists so you want to keep that in mind. I avoid in whenever possible in the summertime unless it is early morning.

The snow sucks. Winter is kind of nice in some ways- all the massholes go home. How long you'll spend digging out to go to work depends on how much snow and your driveway. I have definitely gotten up at 3:30am to go out and snowblow for 2 hours before going to work. Or I could be lazy and just get a run at the snow bank and drive off. I would not live here and not have a 4wd vehicle. Your best bet is 2 vehicles. A 4wd beater for winter and something nicer you can drive in the summer. The salt and winter will destroy your vehicle.

I guaruntee you can learn to drive in the snow and deal with the cold and winter, no problem. We all help each other out.

That said, I assure you, you are not ready for "Madawaska winter"

I would suggest looking between Brunswick, Augusta, and Bangor.

Welcome aboard.

there is also a large hospital in lewiston, but you would want to live away from it.

We can switch!  
I'm moving to Florida next month!
(I've had it with the shitty weather. And people as well. I'm near Portland, it's San Fran of the east coast.)

Anyway, sorry I'm of no real help to your OP, but get a decent vehicle with nice tires,  you should be good.


300k will get you quite a bit (around here [Portland area]) especially Augusta >north

This!  There are two, St. Marys and CMMC.  I grew up in Lewiston.  Happy to be in FL now.

im up here in Northern maine so I figured id weigh in with my slant...  southern main(hour south of bangor and more southern) is basically a commute suburb for Boston. Portland is as left as Portland OR. northern maine is how things should be. Internet SUCKS some places up here, I can only get DSL1 because my town wont let the internet company buy use of telephone poles for some reason, im comtemplating running for town council as a result.
land and hosues are CHEAP, like 30k can get you a habitable house in town, 130k can get you new construction, acres, with an awesome view. jobs though well id suggest securing one before you move up here, 35k is a solid bread winner for a household yearly income, and if you are making 50k young women's heads turn, id figure nurses pull around 60k-80 here. income taxes put you in the top bracket but that is like 50k, so yeah expect to get hit there, and sales tax. as well as some places have high property taxes. I moved here from AK 3 years ago( so no income and no sales, only a little property taxes so it was eye opening. ).

Snow is fairly deep and drifty where I live, we had 8 foot drifts behind my house 2 winters ago, it was BRUTAL but it was also a record winter, there were places that had drifts higher than a semi truck. I clean my 190 foot driveway with a 18 hp, 30 inch 2 stage airens walk behind snow blower(bought new, they are supposed to be 20 year machines I belive it).  

A lot of people here will dicker(haggle) on EVERYTHING, marked prices are a starting point, I got a furniture set for 15% off after I found this out.

your civic would be fine if oyu bought quality snow tires(studded if you live coastal , they get bad ice storms some times studs work much better than studless for that).  If you are worried about winter driving sell civic, buy modern manual transmission Subaru, buy snow tires, drive like an idiot(basically you get every mechanical aid you can, on a light platrofm that has awesome traction).

I would love to go back home to Presque Isle! The only problem is my Panamanian wife . I am still thinking of moving back to Bangor when we retire, nice small city and easier winters than the county.

Yeah is a bit cold for them deep south folks.   My buddy is from Jamaica and after years of being here hes still not used to the winters haha

2 hospitals. I'd think about living north a bit in the more rural areas. Lewiston/Auburn is also called Snow-gadishu for a reason. It is usually considered the nastiest part of the state for crime and other reasons.