I been thinking about moving to Maine in the next year or two. I want to be close to snowmobile and atv trails and be close enough to town so I can still make a good living. I've heard good things about Presque Ise area but wanted to here about other areas. Does the Presque Isle area get alot of snow or do I need to be in another area?

Presque Isle gets a good amount of snow but job situation may not be what you need as there is not an over abundance of employment in northern ME. Unfortunately overall the best places for riding aren't where the jobs are.

What area is close to good snow that has a good job base? I don't mind driving to work but I would like to be able to ride out of my house.

What type of work do/can you do as that will impact where you can make a decent living.

Do your research before you come to Maine. I moved here from Massachusetts and spent over two years working out the logistics. I am not sure what you do for work, or what your housing situation is in your state but there are obvious considerations. It is not easy to find employment as it is, doing it from so far away will take some work but is certainly doable with effort. Try www.jobsinme.com for your initial search.

Also keep in mind that living in Maine is not as cheap as some people may think, it is the third highest taxed state in the country, and has very high property taxes....

That said, I live near Portland, certainly not prime ride from the house sledding area, but certainly drivable to where it is. You can also look at the August area, and if are willing to commute, an hour north and west would certainly get you some great sledding within reason. The trail system in Maine traverses the whole state, I would suggest taking a trip to Maine during non sled season and get a feel for it. Good Luck, pm me anytime or email me at noreastcynic@yahoo.com and I will help as I can.

I dont regret my decision, Maine is a great place to live... :beerchug:

I've riden standish casco and bridgeton all within an hour of Portland but it's not consistent so your going to be driving at a minimum early and late season. theres actually real good riding from Casco to Fryberg up to Bethel on good winters and thats about 30 minutes outside of Portland. As said in another post what kind of job are you looking for, Portland will have the broadest job opportunities but there are other opportunities depending on the type of job closer to more consistent riding.

in a good year casco, bridgton, oxford and the surrounding area's are great for sledding and are close to portland/auburn.

i can get to portland in 30 min from casco/naples

Thanks for all the help!
I'm a Service Advisor for a Ford Mercury dealer now,I've been doing it for six years(3 hear and 3 at a Jeep Crysler dealer) and would like to keep doing it,the pay is good but it is very stressful.

I don't mind if I have to travel to ride sometimes but I would like to able to atleast ride my 4wheeler from home.

I would like to keep my drive to work under an hour.

that happens to be one of the jobs you might be OK with to open up the geography. Biggest dealers are in POrtland, LA, Augusta and Bangor but there are decent size ones a bit further out

Augusta Bangor area would be a good bet

not far from the county or far from western Maine

As others have said Augusta or Bangor would be your best bet for bigger dealers. You could live somewhere in between and have a reasonable drive in either direction. I work at a dealership and we have a second shift for service till midnight. Be a good shift for a service advisor who likes to sled and ATV. :div20:

HFS getting pictures of the deer sleeping in your yard again?

WTF my local GMC dealer doesn't even do a good job servicing cars during the day, it's why I have a tahoe and an Avalanche instead of another Denali and a Escalade EXT right now.

I hope to move to the newport area. Wont be for a few more years though. When it has snow there are decent trails (railbeds and goat paths.) Also its a reasonable drive to bangor and augusta. Unfortunately I do masonry so im not sure how good my chances for finding work up there will be. Your in a much better career I would think.

Have to be very, very quiet to get pictures of them sleeping on the lawn like that. :div20:




Need to have service at night for the working man and fleets. Used to have a 3rd shift a few years ago til 4am, but couldn't get good people to work it.

Moving Chevrolets and Cadillacs over here today. :linemup:

what do you have for d-maxes in the used version? year or two old?

Can always count on Dmann to help derail a thread.... :frech32: :smilielol:

he :beer: :beer: :beer: too much is why

Check out The Farmington area. Its close to everything. Rangeley is an hour away for the annual Sno-deo. Plenty of access to the ITS system and there are a number of 4 wheeler clubs with miles of trails! There is a Ford dealership, Chrysler and GM. Snowmobile to work cause the trails are right there also. Farmington is also a college town. Great Commerce so you know there is availability of jobs.

Here is a pic just 15 miles north of farmington on tumbledown mountain. Beautiful country.

do my best

never drink too much :beerchug:

You guys have great,thanks for all the info.

I say Parsonfield / Newfield / Kezar Falls/ Porter / Brownfield / Sebago / Dennmark / Area. Close to NH so you can buy without being taxed to death, rural as Maine gets, beautiful hilly country, hundreds of rivers and ponds and lakes, plenty of trails should it snow, and not too far from the northwoods or Portland / Westbrook... But I live on the border of Maine near these towns so I am biased.

I would recommend looking for a gig in Bangor and finding a place place 45 minutes or so North off Interstate 95 or up in the Milo area. You can ride to many places from there (KI, Millinocket, Greenville, Kokadjo or you can trailer North on 95 and take Route 11 North towards the Ashland area for County riding. If you can sell property in Pa. you should be able to pick up a place in areas North and Northwest of Bangor for next to nothing.

Would recomend Naples, for good trails with good access to work, and its not too bad a drive to go way up north.

yes- bangor is a decent sized city for maine with many employment opportunities. you could buy a pretty nice house in millinocket for probably $50,000 or less, and be in some real nice God's country-- problem is that there's no work- you'd have to commute to bangor if you didn't mind an hour ride each way.

I'm not from maine so this may not mean much but I did a job in Portage a few years ago and I'd love to live in that area,getting the wife to live that fr out would take some doing as well as the difficulty finding good work.

Why not come all the way up north to the county. The snowmobile trails are atv trails in the summer. And, if you are not afraid to work, you can live pretty good up here.

^^ All he said plus Hunting,Fishing,Sking and every other outdoor activity you can think of. I moved here over 20yrs ago from CT. and NEVER REGRETTED IT!!!!!!! The southern Franklin County area(Farminton is county seat) gives you the feel of country with the benifits of small city. ALL outdoor sports are in a abundance. People are friendly and for work you drive 30-45min and you can be in Augusta,Lew/Aub, Skowhegan or Waterville all of which are there county seats(where the main offices of all municipalities are) I would'nt want to live in any of them-PERSONALLY- but they are where the work is. MAINE THE WAY LIFE SHOULD BE

Well I don't know how much more I can add to this thread since there's been a lot of good advice. I'll admit right from the get-go that I'm biased, but I really like where I live in Central Maine. I often tell people that Unity, Maine is pretty much in the middle of nowhere and everywhere.

I say this since I live in farming country. There are lots of opportunities to hop on the sled or ATV after work and go for a ride right from my home. However, when we have a poor snow year like last year I can also easily trailer my sled 1 1/2 hours to 2 1/2 hours and be in some prime snowmobiling areas (i.e. Jackman, Millinocket or the County). In addition, taxes are quite low where I am.

There is a downside/upside. There is little to no work locally unless you enjoy working minimum wage jobs. As a result you have to travel 20-60 minutes to find work in the "cities." The good news is that Unity is nearly smack dab in the center of Waterville, Belfast, Newport and Bangor so there are some options. This has been useful for my wife as she has been able to pick and choose where she works as a nurse.

As for the other cities and towns mentioned . . . honestly, most all of them that were mentioned are decent places for working and living.

And since you asked . . . yes, Presque Isle usually gets a fair amount of snow and is a decent sized "city" for Maine. Last year was a bad year for PI, but snow could be found in abundance a few minutes drive north.





In the ten years I've been working here in Bangor I've seen a lot of growth with a number of businesses coming in and a lot of new homes being built. I would say that Bangor is growing at a slow and steady rate.

As mentioned, homes to the North tend to be quite a bit cheaper. I know several guys that I work with who have bought homes or rented apartments in the Lincoln, Greenfield and Millinocket areas . . . there's a commute, but they feel that the lower taxes and payments are worth it.

There are a lot of car dealers in NORTHERN MAINE. Presque Isle, Caribou, Fort Kent, Madawaska, Van Buren, Houlton, ETC. If you want to really live the MAINE LIFESTYLE move NORTH of Bangor. Land is cheaper and more available. Houses are a lot cheaper. 100K and under vs. 250K + in the Portland/ Southern Maine areas.

Make some calls to the dealers in the N.Maine area and see what is available. Hell, Millinocket/ Lincoln area have 4-5 dealers between them.

When I bought my place in Naples two years ago, I was facing the same dilema, except I already had a job in So. Portland that paid well. I looked around for something affordable within an hour from work and found my paradise in Naples, the lakes region. I have 3 bodies of water for good power boating within 10 minutes of my house. I'm in the foothills with good sled riding from Naples to the northwest torward Bethel. And I'm not far from some good whitewater kayaking in the White mountains of NH. I lived in the city my hole life and will never ever return. It's simply too peaceful and beautiful out here.