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Life in Portland, Maine

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suzanne fillmore's review of Portland Maine
Are you thinking of moving or relocating to Portland, Maine? Would you like to know what the quality of life is like living in Portland?
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Portland Maine is a popular town for most tourists. It has lobster shacks, seafood resturants. It's beautiful for the ocean, when you go to the ocean you can see all sorts of boats out on the water. Mostly fishing boats but it's still a beautiful site in the summer time. I love going to Portland and going shopping down at the Old Port in the summer time even if it's just to window shop. The winters are horrible in Portland. They have parking bans when a snowstorm is about to come in and depending where you live you have to park on the street. Some apartment buildings don't have parking spots, so when there's a parking ban you have to get your car off the side of the road and find a place to put it, if not then your car gets towed because the city is trying to keep the streets and roads clear of snow.Portland Maine does have a big crime rate for drugs, shooting and robberies. You hear it all the time on the news how Portland is effected by crime and someone being victimized. Sometimes if you are in the wrong neighborhood at night people will try to rob you for your money, or if there is a big drug bust people get hurt. There are more deaths I believe because of the crime rate, mostly over drugs in Portland than any other place. Another reason why I'm glad that I don't live there anymore.The bad part of Portland is High st there are a lot of buildings that need repairing, people out on the street late at night. Drugs busts. It's a really scary place at night time. Another part of Portland which is Sagamore Village. That place usually has black people and somilians that live there. The houses use to be run down in Sagamore but going down there now off and on they are different and have put in new buildings. Where I use to live in Portland before I saw everything all the time. When I go down there now it's amazing how things seem to be changing more and more. Some for the better.I would most likely think that old people wouldn't fit in well with Portland. Old people like to have peace and quiet and not have to worry about someone coming into their home or having bullets shot through their walls. So if I would have to put someone it would be the elderly and young kids. Young kids who live in Portland around 7 years of age are little punks. They will swear at you even if you don't say anything as your passing by them. So Children as well shouldn't be brought up in the town of Portland.
Downtown AreaRestaurantsSchoolsSingle life
Down Town is busy with cars and people. The Old Port has little shops lined up one right next to the other. So it's almost like a little mall kind of. The thing about downtown Portland is that there are a lot of homeless people and drunks. Either laying on the sidewalk or in the park.Dimillo's is a great restaurant to go to. It's a seafood Restaurant that's right on the water. It's an actual boat that you dine off of. You can look out towards the ocean it's beautiful and for a couple its romantic.I have never gone to Portland Schools myself. Though WestBrook schooling was pretty good for public. There weren't too many fights. We had a police officer roaming the halls in high school to make sure everything was alright and no one was skipping classes. That's about it.Portland there is a lot of singles I am sure. They have singles sites that people can go on and look into.
NoiseCompared to other placesBest hospitalTourist attractions
Portland has the jet port. I guess it would depend if you live close by the jet port if it would be too noisy for you. I never lived that close to the Jet Port so it never bothered me. Sometimes on a summer's night I would sit on a hill and watch the planes land and take off. It's nice sometimes to watch them.Neighboring towns would be WestBrook and South Portland. As a child I grew up in Westbrook, went to Westbrook schools and I lived in a quiet neighborhood. I had a great child hood living in Westbrook. The people and neighbors were friendly we played a lot of sports on my street with the neighborhood kids. South Portland is better for shopping not so much as the cost of living though. South Portland is a town where you don't have to really worry about a big crime rate.Local Hospitals are Mercy Hospital and Maine Medical Center. I have always gone to Mercy. They do a good job taking care of their patients, I have given birth to my children at Mercy Hospital and I was born at Mercy. My dad had a stroke a few years back and needed to be in the hospital for a few months. He went to Mercy and I couldn't ask for better care for him.The Old Port to go shopping and the night time life, if that's what you're looking for there are all sorts of bars in walking distance of each other. So bar hopping on your twenty-first birthday. I would recommend going to the Old Port in Portland Maine!
General comments   
To me when I lived in Portland it didn't seem all that bad. When I moved out and look back to how things had been opposed to they are now I'm like wow, I can't believe I once lived there. I can't believe I brought my children there even for just a short time. To visit there are still some good places to sight see in Portland. I can't take the beauty of the ocean away from the Town of Portland. If you really like the ocean it's the place to actually go and watch the waves crash into each other and actually take a minute and breathe in the salty air. I miss that the most out of it all.   
Heather Carlow's review of Portland Maine
Are you thinking of moving or relocating to Portland, Maine? Would you like to know what the quality of life is like living in Portland?
WeatherSafetyNeighborhoodsPeople
Portland is breezy most times in the summer if you live up by the ocean. Munjoy hill is pretty close to the ocean. The winters can be rough if you don't have a parking spot for your car and you have to park on the side of the road. The town has a parking ban if there's a big snowstorm so that they can keep the roads clear and clean the best they can. If you don't have a parking lot to park your car then you have to find a place to park it. It states also that if you leave your car on the road during a parking ban in the winter time your car can get towed.Crimes in Portland can consist of someone fighting on the street, drug related, shootings or stabbings. All the time Portland is on the news for something related to those crimes. I would have to say that I wouldn't want to stick around Portland. I've lived there only because I've had to. I would like to see the crime rate go down more though. I think it might have the potential to bring the crime down if we had more people willing to do neighborhood watches.Worst part of town would be Cumberland Ave. There are a lot of crimes down in that area and another bad part of Portland would be High st. Those are two that you want to watch out for. The best ones I think are Munjoy Hill and Pine St. they seem to be quieter neighborhoods. You have white, black, Somilians, Chinese are located there. The homes or apartment buildings are higher in some areas. Depends on how good the location is and what the buildings look like. Some apartments look good from the outside and not so good on the inside. Others look shabby on the outside and better on the inside. I think that the bigger, nicer apartment buildings are more expensive because of how well they are built and how well they are presented.I don't think that the old folks would be happy there only because there is a lot of noise all the time. I think that in some parts of Portland they would want to make sure that they had a companion or a family member to live with them. Or a place with an alarm system on it. I don't think that Portland would be good for little kids either. I mean I would want my kids to grow up in a better area than Portland only because there is so much going on all the time there.
Downtown AreaRestaurantsSchoolsSingle life
Down town area for shopping. You have many shops to choose from. They are small shops, but its a lot of little things that you can buy. Even an art gallery. I really liked shopping at the old port when I had the money. Each Friday I would have my sister take me down there so I could go shopping.Dimillo's is the best place I think. Only because I really like seafood. If you are a seafood lover and you like the ocean it's a fantastic place to go. Its an actual boat that you go into and eat. It's docked but it's still on the water and its a beautiful sight while you are waiting for you food or while you're enjoying your meal.Public schools are alright, I went there for a short period of time. The education is good. The teachers there made me feel like they really wanted to give us the education we needed. The teachers are patient and willing to help you no matter how many times you have asked for help on one question.There are plenty of places to meet singles. You have Starbucks coffee shop at the old Port. There are bars in the old port if you like to go out at night and have a good time. I am sure that someone single would succeed in finding someone who is interested in them.
NoiseCompared to other placesBest hospitalTourist attractions
There are planes in Portland. The Portland Jet Port. It depends on how close you live to the Jet port on if you can hear anything. Sometimes it's soothing to sit and watch the planes come in and out of town.Westbrook and South Portland. Westbrook would be cheaper to live in because you have landlords who consider everything. What kind of income you have, why you have so much or so little and the economy is really slow going right now. South Portland is more expensive for their places because it's a clean city and its presentable to people who want to live there in the communityMercy Hospital is nice. They have a nice nurse's staff and the doctor's are right there if you have any questions you need answered. I think that if I had to choose between Mercy and Maine Medical I would choose Mercy because they have done good for my family members that have gone there. I haven't heard any complaints about the services they have had by Mercy Hospital.I like going to the ocean and watching the boats and the ocean creatures. It's something to do that's really relaxing. Take the kids to the park and teach them about teh sea creatures.
General comments   
Portland isn't the worst place to live but its not the best either. I believe that what you make for income plays a factor in that as well. I mean if you can't afford a really nice town then you need to have a great income. For lower income people there is help out there in finding a place. Portland is the quickest town that I believe would help you with assistance quicker than any town really to get into a place. I feel that Portland is an okay place as long as you get a nice neighborhood. When looking for a place in general you need to put into consideration what the neighborhood looks like too before renting.   
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