My husband is OBSESSED with moving to Portland, Maine. I've decided to indulge him and go check it out. We're thinking of going in January for his birthday/MLK day. I realize it will be insanely cold, but we'll be prepared (we live in NYC now, not nearly as cold, but we get a respectable winter) and I'd rather check it out when the weather is at it's WORST. Was originally planning to spent a long weekend there (Expedia has an amazing package with the Eastland Park Hotel), but we could extend it to a week. We're planning to spent the time checking out local restaurants & bars, museums, shops, that sort of thing. I think we'll have plenty to do in a weekend, but I wonder if a week might be too long. Thoughts? Recommendations?

Many thanks and happy holidays!

Meg

I highly commend you on your plan to visit Portland, ME in January. One of the very dreariest months. I lived in Portland for five years and hated it. After leaving, I'd visit (in the nice weather) and wonder why. Then, one year, we spent a few days over New Year's (at the Eastlander - love that place, especially the rooftop cocktail lounge with the views - and if you're lucky there's music) in Portland. Totally gloomy and dismal (weather and scenery wise).

If you want to discourage a move, definitely stay for at least a week.

There's hardly as much to do in Portland (anytime, not just in January) as in NYC. It's just so much smaller.

On the plus side, the scenery is magnificent during the (few) nicer months (though that is when the entire coast is also overrun with visitors and tourists and you're competing with them for tables and also paying tourist prices for gas, etc.). And, summer heat/humidity are nearly never unbearable. Also nice is the proximity to the White Mountains, Green Mountains, Boston, Montreal, Nova Scotia, and so forth.

You must also seriously consider the job market. Some costs of living (housing, utilities, taxes) are lower, but food, clothing, etc. cost about the same. Salaries and benefits (how low they are by comparison) will likely shock you.

While there is outstanding dining, and live music of every variety all about in some terrific bars, and there are plenty of nice shops, you'll run through them all quite quickly.

DJK read my mind:

"If you want to discourage a move, definitely stay for at least a week."

I don't know the Eastland Park Hotel, but if you have a great deal with Expedia, you might want to book it for the weekend, and then just play the rest of the week by ear. If you're driving, you'll have the car to explore surrounding areas, and you may choose to spend a couple nights in Cape Elizabeth or Scarborough (Black Point), or even Kennebunkport/Ogunquit.

Good Luck!

You could also move down the coast and check out the Portsmouth area. There can be some very mild days in January, you might get lucky (or unlucky?). We discovered the Flag Hill Winery in Lee NH last weekend. Then we drove along the coast and headed to Portsmouth on our favorite route 1B which goes thru Newcastle. As we drove toward Fox Run Mall, I spotted an oriental grocery and made my husband turn around in holiday traffic. (Lemongrass only $1/bunch!) If you lived in Portland you wouldn't be that far from Boston either. I've read that the train service is good. Downside, airfares out of Portland are usually higher. I've run into people from Maine who fly out of Manchester NH to get better fares.

There was an interesting thread I participated in on this subject a few months ago. I went to college in Maine, and trust me, I'll never spend another winter like that again.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...inaohoku&fid=1

Go for the week. Too bad you can't go in February when the weather is REALLY bad.

I live in the Portland area, Maine has a tough long winter-I don't know if I would go as far to say "dreary".If you like outdoor activities (all seasons)
its a great place to live.A visit for 3 or 4 days would give you time to see quite a few things in the area, then come back in the summer.

Good Luck
Mike

My daughter lived in Portland for a year, and absolutely loved it! It is a small city, but there's lots to do. There are some great restaurants-Hugo's and Fore St. come to mind. We visited in both winter and summer. Winter is long but certainly tolerable. The Maine coast is wonderful. We stayed at the Eastland Park-very nice.

I don't know why anyone would be obsessed with living in Portland, But I would take it over NYC any day. There are some nice areas(Buxton) just about 10 mins. from Portland that are nice and real estate is not priced out of this world. Winters are awfully long and then come the black flies.

Thank you all for your honest and thoughtful answers. Can't really explain my husband's obsession, he just adores Maine and Portland is a pretty cool city, especially for Maine (read this month's Down East mag for a lot of Portland info). I don't expect any city to compare to NYC. NYC is one of the greatest cities in the world, but as anyone who has lived there can tell you, it's insanely expensive, crowded, pressured, etc. I have a few other cities in mind for a relocation, I'd just like to see how Portland compares to them. I think we'll go for the long weekend, save a longer trip for the summer. Thanks again for your advice (and thanks for that link, kama, very interesting), I welcome any more.

Meg

I don't want to start a big fight about whether or not Portland is a nice place to live; I lived there for almost 4 years and djbooks hit the nail on the head--salaries, especially for women, are very low and you can find expenses shockingly high (remember you will heat a house for many months that in the other parts of the East Coast); I remember food prices being more expensive--I think it is because everything is trucked in. We finally moved back to D.C. so we could afford to buy a house. It may be that these issues aren't relevant to you, but look closely at the economics.

The summer is great, but very crowded.

January is a good time to go to see what it might be really like.

Good luck,

Mary