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The good, the bad, and the ugly?
DH is being considered for a promotion within his company that would have us re-locating to Maine. The office is in Auburn. We currently live in Cincinnati, OH. I have lived in Cincinnati all of my life, and DH grew up in Northern Ohio. I have never been to Maine, so I have lots of questions about the area. Overall, I hear that it is beautiful and cold. 
I was just wondering if anyone would be willing to give me their opinion on what it's like to live in Maine, either as a transfer or a native. A little about us: We have been married almost 5 years, have a daughter who is almost 4 and a son who is 1.5, I am a SAHM and DH is an engineer. We like the outdoors, but neither of us is an avid skiier, hiker, boater, etc...
Some of my specific questions/concerns are:
-How cold does it get? Are you pretty much housebound for all of the winter months? (esp with young children)
- Are there many activities to do with young children? We are currently less than 20 minutes from a zoo, children's museum, train museum, ymca, gym classes, etc... I'm a little worried about there not being as much to do to keep us busy, esp since I am a SAHM.
-What areas around Auburn would you recommend to live? We will eventually be interested in school districts, but DD still has 1.5 years until she starts kindergarten, so that is not the top priority. We are interested in close proximity to his office, close proximity to shopping centers (Target!!) and restaurants, safety, reasonable housing prices, etc... We are considering renting a house until we are more familiar with the area and know where we would like to settle more permanently.
If you have made it this far, thank you!
Re: The good, the bad, and the ugly?
Hey! I'm not originally from here (DH is.), so I might have different thoughts on things than someone who is.
It gets cold and snowy. I wouldn't say that you'd be housebound, but you would need to bundle up the kiddos and yourself to go out. Depending on where you end up living, the snow can be a pain or not at all. If you live somewhere more densely populated, things get plowed more quickly, but even if you end up living somewhere more suburban or rural, things get cleared eventually and you move on. It does take some getting used to.
I can't really speak to things that there are to do with kids, but my impression is that you'll need to travel further than you're used to to find more exotic things to do (There's a childrens museum in Portland, for instance. And we have no zoo.). You'll find that that's true of other things as well, depending on where you live. In particular, if you want to live in Auburn or nearby, it'll take you about a half hour to get to a Target. There's a Walmart, grocery stores, some restaurants, etc. in and around Auburn, and they've been slowly building up the area. There's just no Target yet.
I think the housing prices here are freakishly high for what you get, but I grew up in Pittsburgh, which has a freakishly lost cost of living. Don't let that deter you though...just don't be surprised if things are more expensive than you're used to. And you'll pay more to live in a town that has a good reputation attached to its schools. But that doesn't mean that the other schools aren't good, kwim?
I think that this whole thing was really kind of a downer, and I didn't mean for it to be. I guess the biggest thing is that you it definitely takes some getting used to if you're moving from somewhere else to here, particularly if you're coming from somewhere like Cincinnati. Even our big city, which is Portland, is tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiny compared to Cincinnati. But if you rent for awhile, you can decide where you ultimately want to end up. I definitely wasn't completely sold on Maine when we moved here, and I order more stuff online now and drive farther to Target or a mall than I would if I lived elsewhere, but you get used to it.
Maine is a wonderful place to live and raise children, I am native born and raised here. Lewiston/Auburn is the second largest city in the state (remember our entire state population is just over a million so it's pretty tiny) The school system in Auburn is better than in Lewiston (according to test scores and the view of the community) There are certain elementary schools Fairview and Park Ave that have people moving to their neighborhoods just so kids can go to those two schools.
Winters are long, cold and snowy- sometimes it gets really cold but as long as you bundle up you'll be fine. There are many things to do in our state but you have to go looking for opportunities. And we have four distinct seasons which I love
Plus where else can you have ocean, mountains and lakes within an hour of one another.
I think renting a home and giving yourself a chance to explore towns and neighborhoods is a good idea. It all depends what you are looking for rural communities are about 15-20 minutes away from the "city" so you can really have a nice combination of both.
Target is located in Portland, Augusta, Topsham, Biddeford and Bangor. The Topsham/Brunswick area is lovely and not a very long commute for your DH in Auburn same with Augusta or Portland. A decent commute in my mind is under 40 minutes however
We also have WONDERFUL food here in Maine. :c)
Let us know if you have any other questions. We have a wonderful group of Maine Nesties here we tend to do GTG's and all kinds of other fun stuff.
I'm a transplant from Connecticut, but my dad's family is from Cleveland/Painesville area. I have to say-- Cleveland gets about as cold and blustery as Maine does, so if you can handle a Cleveland winter, you'll be fine in Maine.
I live in Lewiston-- the twin city to Auburn. At first, I have to tell you, I was bummed. I had wanted to move to Portland, but my husband's step-father had a great apartment open in his house in Auburn, so we couldn't say no to that. I'm actually really happy where we are now. At one point, we were looking at Durham or Yarmouth (between Auburn and Portland) but ended up with a great deal on a house in a fantastic neighbourhood in Lewiston. And I couldn't be happier. It's close to my work (at the hospital, 3 mins down the road) and I love that the city of Lewiston is really working hard to bring in small businesses and the Arts. There's also a lot of winter activities geared towards kids-- ice skating, sports, pottery and cooking activities, etc. We have the Gray Animal Farm 20-30 mins away, Pineland Farm (with activities in the summer and the winter for families), and there are plenty of other great places in Portland, Brunswick/Topsham, and Scarborough/Old Orchard Beach.
Driving took a little getting used to-- in CT, everything was close. But then I realized that with traffic, driving a few miles around my city in CT took as long as driving the highway to a city 45 minutes away. And the same is true here in Maine-- my sister lives in South Portland, about 3 or 4 miles (tops) to the mall, and it typically takes her 20-30 minutes to get there because of traffic and stoplights. It takes me 35 minutes from Lewiston. And I don't have to deal with traffic-- just a straight shot on the highway.
I hope that helps-- I agree with most of the other pps here, too.
-How cold does it get? Are you pretty much housebound for all of the winter months? (esp with young children)
It's Maine, not the arctic tundra! I'm sure it's colder than Cincinnatti but it's not enough to make us housebound. You buy your kids coats, snowpants, boots, hats, and mittens and send them out in the snow. FWIW, I lived in Toledo until I was 10 and I remember plenty of time playing outside in the snow as a kid.
- Are there many activities to do with young children? We are currently less than 20 minutes from a zoo, children's museum, train museum, ymca, gym classes, etc... I'm a little worried about there not being as much to do to keep us busy, esp since I am a SAHM.
There's not as much here as what you're used to. There is no Gymboree play & music (there is the clothing store in the mall in S. Portland), no Little Gym, no mother's day out programs (at least none I've ever found), no major zoos or aquariums. The Maine Mall in South Portland doesn't have a play area.
There is a narrow gauge railroad in Portland and a trolley museum in Kennebunkport. I'm pretty sure there's a Y in L/A (Lewiston/Auburn). There is a children's museum in Portland.
-What areas around Auburn would you recommend to live? Can't help you with this; I live a lot farther south from where you're looking to move.
ITA and would add Brunswick to that list. I grew up in Durham and live in Brunswick
I'd recommend Topsham/Brunswick also. We live in Brunswick and are very happy here. It's a great town with a lot of great independent restaurants and shops, but also all the big box stores around for convenience. Living close to a Target was important for us also!
I work full time, but we find there's plenty to do for little ones here and around us. It's about a half hour to Portland, half hour to Lewiston/Auburn, and we have a nice play room, library, mom's groups right in Brunswick. The schools are pretty good, and the town has a nice community feel. Boothbay is also about a half an hour a way that has great botanical gardens, little Maine 'aquarium', etc. Winter is definitely do-able. Just bundle up, and the kids love the snow. It can get pretty cold, but it's not like that for the season.
I am not originally from Maine. I moved here from Upstate NY. I have to say I think it gets colder there than it does in Maine. I wouldn't think the climate wouldn't be that much different here than you have it in Cincinatti...especially since you're looking at the Lewiston area and not the mountains of Maine. You can definitely get out in the winter! We go snowboarding, cross country skiing, snow shoeing, etc. I know tons of people that take their kids to do all that stuff. We've even gone to the beach in the winter just to walk around. Also I want to note that right now it's 56 degrees out and it's the end of November....so we do have unseasonably warm weather at times too!
Maine's a pretty nice state and great place to live. I currently live near Bangor which I don't particularly like. DH and I plan on moving to Augusta area or Southern Maine again in the next few years...there is so much more going on in those areas. I do love being close to the ocean and Acadia National Park. There are so many great little places to explore in Maine (lighthouses, trails, beaches, parks, etc). The coastal towns are definitely great for finding great food, gift shops, entertainment, etc. The inland area is more rural but there are still great things to do (you just have to look for them like someone else mentioned). I don't know too much about Lewiston area, but from what I've seen/heard it seems to be a growing area with some nice restaurants and other thngs to do. Plus you're close to Portland which is an awesome little city!
Maine is an amazing state. I've lived here for 31.5 years. I still find new places to visit all the time.
I grew up in the country, Litchfield, and live in a small town, Randolph. I'm about 10 minutes from Augusta. If I could have chosen any place to live in Maine I probably would have chosen the Brunswick area. Very nice.
I'm not sure if this still holds true but for many years Maine was ranked the number one place to raise your children. I had an internship with the state and I had to put a gold seal stating that ranking on every piece of mail we sent out.
And yes, Maine has awesome food.
I'm a transplant from the middle of no where Northern NY (as in DH says drive to the middle of nowhere and then drive a few more hours and that's where I grew up). To me, Maine has TONS to do compared to where I'm from. I'm in the Southern chunk of Maine though, so it's a bit different, but still there's so much to do with the coast so close in Maine.
Speaking about the winters, I go outside everyday, regardless of the weather. I have great outdoor equipment (lots of goretex), so it doesn't phase me in the least. My baby was born in September last year and he went outside daily all last winter (including x country skiing and snow shoeing many times). He's got little smart wool socks and I bundle him up and he's fine. I may be in the minority, but I don't mind the winters at all.