Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Portland is crazy tiny. Like 60k people or something. Half the size of new haven, ct.

I know! When I first got to Yale, I couldn’t believe how small New Haven was. And Portland is definitely half the size!

But really, this is a good thread for me to read now - while I've been having fantasies of moving up north.

Of course I know cold weather and provincialism because I went to school in Boston. Well not in Boston but near Boston.

You went to Harvard. Just say it.

Haha - that's the joke. I didn't, though. Just a nod to the New Haven comment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Portland is crazy tiny. Like 60k people or something. Half the size of new haven, ct.

I know! When I first got to Yale, I couldn’t believe how small New Haven was. And Portland is definitely half the size!

But really, this is a good thread for me to read now - while I've been having fantasies of moving up north.

Of course I know cold weather and provincialism because I went to school in Boston. Well not in Boston but near Boston.

You went to Harvard. Just say it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Portland is crazy tiny. Like 60k people or something. Half the size of new haven, ct.

I know! When I first got to Yale, I couldn’t believe how small New Haven was. And Portland is definitely half the size!

But really, this is a good thread for me to read now - while I've been having fantasies of moving up north.

Of course I know cold weather and provincialism because I went to school in Boston. Well not in Boston but near Boston.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Portland is crazy tiny. Like 60k people or something. Half the size of new haven, ct.

I know! When I first got to Yale, I couldn’t believe how small New Haven was. And Portland is definitely half the size!

What does your going to Yale have to do with this? Always have to let everyone know where you went to school?

Maybe the person "first got to [the] Yale [campus]" while a student at Southern Connecticut State University...

Anonymous wrote:After living in DC almost my whole life, I’m thinking of moving to Maine. I spend August in the Southern part of Maine, and love it there, but I’m a city girl and am wondering what Portland is like. Any suggestions on places to live, things to do? What’s good, and what isn’t?

Native New Englander here who spent a number of years in Maine during all the seasons.

Unless you're planning to radically change your current lifestyle as a "city girl", I don't think you'll be happy in Portland over the long-term. Portland is a tiny city that -- aside from a decent collection of restaurants (for a city its size), some historical architecture, and a scenic coastal location -- has little to offer. This becomes even more apparent after the summer tourist season ends. I think you'd become bored very quickly.

Of course, Boston is the nearest big city. You can easily get there for a day trip, but it's just far enough south to be inconvenient.

Frankly, Maine itself is a mixed bag at best. Once you get away from the few major touristy areas along the coast, you find a state that has been economically struggling for decades and challenged in trying to reinvent itself for the 21st century.

Like an earlier poster said, go spend some significant time there, especially during the winter.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Portland is crazy tiny. Like 60k people or something. Half the size of new haven, ct.

I know! When I first got to Yale, I couldn’t believe how small New Haven was. And Portland is definitely half the size!

What does your going to Yale have to do with this? Always have to let everyone know where you went to school?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After living in DC almost my whole life, I’m thinking of moving to Maine. I spend August in the Southern part of Maine, and love it there, but I’m a city girl and am wondering what Portland is like. Any suggestions on places to live, things to do? What’s good, and what isn’t?

Before you make this decision, spend Jan Feb there.

— native Mainiac.

You're not a native, If you were, you'd know it's "Mainer."

Hahaha true.
- a native Mainer

Well now we are very much off topic as OP would be from away in any case, but my family has lived in Maine (rural/Washington County and "urban"/greater Portland) since the 1800s and we use both Mainer and Mainiac, as appropriate. So while you might compare the driving skills of a Mainer to a Masshole, only a Mainiac would enjoy outdoor activities when it's 10 below.

Fishermen? Blueberry farmers? Or just lovers of Down East? And yes of course a little chilly weather never stopped a hearty Mainer from doing anything !

Portland vs Portsmouth. Portsmouth's housing costs are even higher than Portland's from what I hear from friends and Portsmouth is even smaller. Portmsouth had a really amazing restaurant scene in the 1980s, it was like Providence is now. It's still a town that's beautiful to me. I love the waterfront and Prescott Park, but it doesn't have the charm for me that it had back in the day. In comparison, Portland used to be so depressing and now there is so much to do there. Portsmouth is closer to Boston, if you want to be city adjacent. I don't find the winters too bad, at least those cities know how to deal with winter weather so everyone just goes about their business or stays home if it gets really bad.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After living in DC almost my whole life, I’m thinking of moving to Maine. I spend August in the Southern part of Maine, and love it there, but I’m a city girl and am wondering what Portland is like. Any suggestions on places to live, things to do? What’s good, and what isn’t?

Before you make this decision, spend Jan Feb there.

— native Mainiac.

You're not a native, If you were, you'd know it's "Mainer."

Hahaha true.
- a native Mainer

Well now we are very much off topic as OP would be from away in any case, but my family has lived in Maine (rural/Washington County and "urban"/greater Portland) since the 1800s and we use both Mainer and Mainiac, as appropriate. So while you might compare the driving skills of a Mainer to a Masshole, only a Mainiac would enjoy outdoor activities when it's 10 below.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After living in DC almost my whole life, I’m thinking of moving to Maine. I spend August in the Southern part of Maine, and love it there, but I’m a city girl and am wondering what Portland is like. Any suggestions on places to live, things to do? What’s good, and what isn’t?

Before you make this decision, spend Jan Feb there.

— native Mainiac.

You're not a native, If you were, you'd know it's "Mainer."

Hahaha true.
- a native Mainer