What would make someone move to Maine?

P

Patrick

Guest
I was thinking, in terms of development and economic vibrancy, there is only so far Southern Maine can go with a population of 600,000. But then it struck me, Massachusetts, with 10 times that number, lies 11 miles from the southern tip of maine. What, if anything, would make more people from massachusetts choose to relocate? I figured the people on this board would have good input. I think the only way to help Maine move forward, and to alleviate some of the extreme congestion in parts of massachusetts, is to have maine,, nh, and RI all work together to absorb some of the new growth, RI and NH seem to already be doing this. Maine is taking longer to catch on. I passed half a dozen massachusetts plates on my way to work this morning, though, so they must like the summers here.....if nothing else.
 
I think the 11 miles of NH between Mass and Maine is psychologically a lot longer in the minds of most people that live in Mass. Maine doesn't abut Mass, so it must be "far away". Also, Maine has never been viewed as a place to which people fleeing "Taxachusetts" go to live (like NH). If property in Maine was a lot less expensive than Mass (or NH or RI), and if the employment base in Maine was more extensive, then you might see an uptick in the number of people willing to relocate. I also think people in greater Boston are really fed up with the long highway commutes in this area, and therefore I suspect very few people want to add to their commutes by moving to Maine. Now if frequent (i.e. regular commuter schedule) train service was available between Portland and Boston, I think that would make a big difference.
 
I'd go to grad school in Portland if it had an accredited urban planning masters program. And I'd probably consider moving there for a job too.
 
We have a Community Planning Masters degree.

http://muskie.usm.maine.edu/academics/acad_cpd.jsp

you could help get some height in our uniform skyline...

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Wow, never would have thought that...I just assumed most legitimate schools were.
 
Let me rephrase...what sort of policy initiatives or changes could maine make as a state so that (particularly in the southern part) people from massachusetts become more interested in year round living?

NH seems to have landed a lot of growth with the tax free thing...what can maine do? for 2 hours south of portland there are no towns over 30,000, except for perhaps when you hit the areas right outside of Boston...what can we do to change this? The people aren't going to come from Maine (low poulation growth) so Im thinking we should attract them from massachusetts, which could be a benefit for both states, as it would alleviate pressure in some parts of mass, and lead to more vibrancy in Maine.
 
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