And considered Blue Hill. Looking into things, we were amazed how seasonal the coast of Maine is, even parts of southern Maine. Many places proved to go pretty dim in winter. That's fine, but we were looking for a more year round location.

We looked hard for places that while seasonal, the year round community was active, "enough" and drove the local economy in the off season. One primary reason(outside of the obvious coastal beauty) to move to this area(in 1999) was the rising realestate values. Coming from a rural Vermont area where values had stagnated for a long time, and as a design builder, I was speculating(glad I'm not selling anything now).

Then with 2 kids entering their secondary school years, this area has amazing public schools. The down side of this are pretty high realestate rates(compounded by the rising values). In some instances, we pay twice per student what other localities do. Now that the kids are out, I don't complain. I think there's a huge benefit to the community as a whole directly in having these great facilities to use(we support good schools, keep buying public lands, even own and support a local ski area) and indirectly. This community support(which costs $) is part of the local culture here. I believe that's what drives the year round economy in our coastal area.

But then the other taxes of which you speak(income and all the etc's in Maine), they weren't all that different than where we're from. I'm afraid that will never change(Maine a high tax state), big business will never flock to Maine, we're too far off the beaten path.

But I agree 100%, Maine is a tough place to make a living for most I've met that relocate here. Simply, you're going to make less $, no matter what you do.

But if you don't bring skills that have a market here, and you're not retiring, you're doomed. We see a large turn around in this area of folks for that reason alone I think. One solution is to concentrate on teaching skills and fields to our kids, that are lucrative in Maine.

Where did you move to and how is it working out? Do you still sail in Maine?