Portland, ME - The Existing Environment

Dr. StrangeHat said:
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Efflorescence - Wikipedia

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Great. Thanks. But it's not the entire picture for sidewalks. Rock salt (residue) and sand used over the winter largely remains into the summer. It also kills the abutting grass. It looks sloppy, unsightly. And Maine's college campuses allow this on its walkways. I don't see this in Boston. Face it. When it comes to cleaning sidewalks and streets, Most Mainers or Portlanders don't really care. They don't even see it, as many do with wearing over used LL Bean clothing. I think the city should have a bigger budget for improved cleaning of its sidewalks and roads because it makes an impression on visitors. Cleaning and planting new trees and flowers has an impact. What? No money to do this? Be creative.
 
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TC_zoid said:
Great. Thanks. But it's not the entire picture for sidewalks. Rock salt (residue) and sand used over the winter largely remains into the summer. It also kills the abutting grass. It looks sloppy, unsightly. And Maine's college campuses allow this on its walkways. I don't see this in Boston. Face it. When it comes to cleaning sidewalks and streets, Most Mainers or Portlanders don't really care. They don't even see it, as many do with wearing over used LL Bean clothing. I think the city should have a bigger budget for improved cleaning of its sidewalks and roads because it makes an impression on visitors. Cleaning and planting new trees and flowers has an impact. What? No money to do this? Be creative.
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Totally agree. Maine in general doesn't seem to care about maintenance of public spaces, landscaping, etc....and winter clean-up is usually left to spring and summer rainstorms.
 
Has anyone noticed when we have a snow storm? the city of portland dumps alot of salt on sidewalks and never regulates it. There would be piles of salt just sitting on the sidewalk which eats away anything . no one seems to be concerned what it does to trees, sidewalks, etc. it all comes down to lawsuits if someone falls
 
TC_zoid said:
I have two problems here. One, why do so many red bricks in Portland have white unsightly residue (road salt stains, I guess) on them? I get it for the sidewalks, but on the sides of buildings? Has anyone ever heard of power washing here? And second, I hate that white fireproofing spray coating on the inside of building ceilings. It feels and looks unfinished. Paint it black like every Starbucks in the entire nation does. It looks much better. I never see things like this in Boston.

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It is caused by lime leaching from the mortar. Higher than usual amounts of lime are needed in mortar that is laid in winter and this is the result. It usually continues for a number of years.
 
Does anyone have any thoughts on all of the Restaurant closures in town?

With the cost of food being high, perhaps people are eating out less. And that also translates into rising costs for the restaurants for supplies. I'd think restaurants were hesitant to raise prices.

The Pandemic has made a lot of people more comfortable staying at home, not wanting to bother with traffic, parking, etc. The Cruise Ships don't really help much as far as restaurant business (and I have no idea about retail).
 
I've thought of the state of restaurant space at the Mall as a leading indicator for the economy for years. Right now, the former Chili's, On the Border, Macaroni Grill and even Pizza Plus are all vacant. They all may have external issues affecting their rentability. Chili's is in a hole next to the Days Inn, which itself is emphasizing immigrant housing and that group is probably less likely to frequent American-style restaurants. I was told years ago by a contractor who worked on the construction of Macaroni Grill that that project was a shitshow; I don't know the details but the building may need more than cosmetic work. On the Border is on land owned by Sears so who the hell even knows anymore (and it's been rotting for years).

I think some of the closures downtown are a result of misreading the market; that gastropub that went in where Rivalries was sounds like they thought they could pull in a lot more well-heeled foodies than actually live here full time, and if tourists come here to eat they're going to gravitate to the heavy hitters and not hit an out-of-the-way place with a cavernous space and expensive chandeliers. All eating out is inherently a luxury good, but there's a big difference between small plates at $15 apiece and Mark's hot dog stand (RIP).
 
It's not just Portland, Boston is also feeling the restaurant downfall. Portland does and will have the best restaurants in the country compared to the big cities. They come and go. Fore Street, Street and Co, and Lukes are very popular. I know the competition is very fierce, but you need to have a good base of customers, good reputation for quality of food, good to its servers and help because if you don't, word gets out!!! and well established among the foodie world. I remember back in the 80's and 90's, Portland had little choice and only the big hitters were around. Carburs, F Parker Reidy's, Village Cafe, Espos, Dimillos, The Gallery, Gobbi's, Sportsman Grill, Rubys Choice, Hu Shang's, TGI Fridays Fore Street, York Steak House (Maine Mall). All of these closed except Dimillos. Times have changed. Tastes have changed, demographics have changed. People have changed. Do you see a 25+ year old go to the Village Cafe? no, only with their family. They want an experience, expensive drinks, not comfort, The chains out by the mall also feed families which Portland restaurants lack. Can you imagine bringing a family with kids to fore street? maybe if I was a millionaire...LOL Rivalries failed due to overpriced food and horrible service, so they move to Falmouth with overpriced food. On the Border was forced to close due to Sears, Chilis closed due to its national office(Bankruptcy), same goes for Macaroni Grill. Olive Garden does very well because it serves a certain demographic aka unlimited salad and breadsticks,,,,
 
I feel like chains have been having a rough time for awhile due to changing preferences - add to that the high cost of food and labor, so location closures. The local places, the Slab PPH article mentioned that fewer people are buying alcohol - I think I've seen that reported nationally too - so if margins are already slim and then you reduce a whole class of product that returns good margin, the financials may not work. Of course, that's added to the rising cost of everything and the hesitation to increase cost to the customer. It did not escape me that this latest round of closures were largely from restaurants that were well established (or so it appeared).
 
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I'm not sure Esposito's was a "heavy hitter"; it was a neighborhood place back when I was going to St. Pat's. It might have come up a bit when the kids took over and it became Espo's Trattoria, but comparatively speaking that didn't last long.
 
PWMFlyer said:
Rivalries failed due to overpriced food and horrible service, so they move to Falmouth with overpriced food.
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We love Rivalries in Falmouth. It's one of our favorite places to eat. We're there all the time during hockey season, since it's right by the rinks. I will say that when both Rivalries were open at the same time, the one in Falmouth was far superior to the one in Portland, both in the quality of the food prep and the service. Like night-and-day. It was hard to imagine they were the same restaurant.
 
Recently, from locals or in the news, we have seen stories about recent closures or struggling business in and around Portland. There was that week or two a few weeks ago where we saw Slab, Local 188, Ananias, and another one or two close. People were in an uproar because all they’ve been seeing is the negative news.

I did a quick dive to find some positives. While 3-5 places closed in the last month or so, 11+ new spots opened in the past month!!

Dry Dock (Commercial st)
Oddfellahs
Roastys (Congress)
Two Fat Cats (West End)
Sissle and Daughters
Jerome’s Sports Bar
Noble Pizzeria + BBQ
Cargo Pizza
Next Tea (Arts District)
Lay Day Roasters
Maine Flavor (West End)

Certainly sad seeing places go for one reason or another, but certainly a strong local economy. We wouldn’t see this many new spots popping up if it weren’t.

I guess my point here, besides just to bring some good news to you all, is to send a message to focus on the positives despite all the negative around us! Life’s too short.
 
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