The top ten list of anything can make those on it cheer and shout.
The other runner up locations that did not make the short list ask what do they know about Maine? About the secret of every small nook and cranny in Maine. Because Maine is a low population, a high eye candy state that logs in 4th lowest for crime, 46th lowest for FSSR (foreclosure, short sale, repossession) type real estate sales.
How you know you are lucky to live in a small Maine town?
It is more than the attraction of no traffic, little crime, lower cost of living.
Or the fresh air, clean water. What makes a small Maine town great is never forgotten. And each trip to a population center reminds a country mouse of all the reasons why they made their rural home where they did.
Less people paves the way for a better way of life. Less or no zoning, fewer regulations needed in the herding the population when it is small in number. Common sense runs the day in small Maine towns not flush with cash but rich in surroundings and creativity.
In my real estate job, daily I hear word of what the buyers from out of state are lacking.
Something is missing, they are unhappy. The long list of what attracts them to Maine is well known. But the individual reasons they seek out a property listing in Maine is a varied list of highly personal mixed in with the stock list everyone can agree on when polled. For why this patch of dirt in the upper right hand corner of the country called Maine for carving out a life, retirement, vacation property option that is always a great investment.
Why Maine? How does it happen?
It often starts out as a simple vacation trip that blossoms into regular longer visits back to Maine. Maine does offer a two nation vacation. But as living where they do spend most of their time gets harder, Maine becomes more of a logical choice.
So much of it revolves around the basic needs that everyone requires.
And if they go without them too long, artificial means are rolled in to try to self medicate.
The retail therapy, other vices take their toll because they are not real or lasting. They temporarily treat the symptom but don’t cure the patient of the ill. Reward yourself with a trip to Maine or at least sneak a peek at the community videos for local events in Maine.
Maine is not without it’s challenges though.
The independent feeling of being more in control of your destiny and preserving family values in Maine has to buck the trend of too small won’t last long. The best thing local, state and federal government can do is reduce regulation, promote more self sufficiency and inspire kids at a early age to pitch in and contribute. To their families, communities, country so self esteem boosts for everyone.
The best places to live in Maine? It depends on you and to me the small hamlets, little towns and plantations shine the brightest but get little or no press.
The many lists you see online or in newspapers, magazines are along the more affluent coastal towns. Where the average Joe local is driven inland. Unless the family hangs onto the inherited property, it is often hard to step out and buy a waterfront property along the Maine coast. The same places win the blue ribbon for pick me, pick me and traveling further into Maine is not where the popular tourist traps operate.
The problem with the top ten list of best places to live in Maine too is who is cranking out the list?
If a local is listing the reasons he or she likes Maine most, it is not carbon copied by the author who has not spent much time here before. The new to the area needs more research, a little more age under their belt in life and in Maine as to what is important. That they like about where they live now but seek Maine for what is not enough in supply or just plain lacking altogether. So much of the way a community rolls, the local traditions and customs is what is considered of most value in a small Maine locality.
If raising a family and whole values matter most, then small town living in Maine gets high marks.
So does a retirement community in Maine when the Golden Years settle in to stretch those fixed income retirement checks to the max. The space and wide open vista of nature, the farm fields, seashore and deep woods. They all combine with the fewer but friendlier people. One fine mixture of what makes the day memorable and worthwhile in Maine.
But if the person is after night life, recreation that is indoors not outdoors, the hunt and pecking and rating Maine takes on a new wrinkle. It does not represent the majority of why people live, work and play here. Telling the online reader or listener, viewer which is the top ten this or that to visit or avoid In Maine becomes their personal reasons tied to their stage in life.
We live in Maine because of the community spirit that is found more on working an event than paying to attend it and just leave.
Lots of prep time goes into the planning with a list of volunteers with strong backs, warm hearts and a dedication to helping others. The clean up after the crowd leaves is where relationships between locals stengthen. I think when you have kids your life outlook goes from black and white to color. You see other segments of the population when not just knee deep in the four year college bubble or under the tutelage of a household routine as a kid. Life becomes more real as you leave the nest and take the controls of your own destiny.
So the best places to live in Maine, I don’t think you can limit it to ten and all of selection depends on the many item shopping lists folks scribble down when searching out any topic.
All the small towns, handful of cities in Maine are super places to invest your time, money, creative resources. It is the people that make the area shine with hard work and determination to weather any storm in life.
What fuels the top ten list is a need to quickly sum up a state or to help monetize a platform.
Or more local money, a larger population closer to say Boston can support something that would not work in a small Maine town of 1000 or less. When no money to be made or a financial gain is involved, honesty happens. Keeping it real is never a bad idea.
A clear head discussions and keeping it simple which is the Maine way of approaching whatever issue with logical reasoning. We are taught to hang onto what is important, to invest time in what matters most. And those treasures are not store bought or artificial. No one out to impress, no one being snarky in a small Maine town where we all need each other and know it. We make frugal a way of life which is different than being cheap.
The best places, top towns or cities to live in Maine? It is up to you to make the list and matchmake with what you what with what is offered that is never quite the same as you travel around Maine.