Can anyone tell me anything about moving to Portland, Maine?

I am planning a move to Portland, Maine in the coming months. I would like to know any details you can give me about the area. is it expensive? where are the non-scummy places to live? where are the crime-ridden areas?

east end and west end are where you want to be if you want to live in the city of portland---you'll avoid the scummy areas by sticking to these parts.. brief description, east end: stay north of washington ave( choose the area between washington and the eastern promenade) if you're south of washington ave you are in a scummy area, east end is closest to the ocean(casco bay, back bay, eastern prom,), very nice area.....west end is the most desirable part: victorians, cobblestone streets,etc... just about aby street is good there....both ends are walking distance to downtown(area known as the old port)...both ends are very safe-i see girls walking the bike path at 10:00pm by themselves with no worries, that would never happen in my hometown--in fact portland was voted recently as one of the top places for women to live though i am not sure how they rate cities based on that stat...rent is cheap compared to other places--you can get nice places for around 700-750, studios range about 600-650, and the rent goes skyward from there depending on what you want, if you have pets that could cause a problem, be aware that some rental properties are absolute dumps--this is a landlords market so they get away with stuff here they wouldn't in other places but with patience you'll find a nice place--start looking on craigslist and look for the areas i mentioned(east end, west end) there are other spots but if you want to be close to it all these areas are where to go...you'll meet cool people in these areas too--lot of people who live here are from somewhere else including myself

lobster yum!

Hmm, I can't give you the specific answers you need, but took two trips there in December. Lots of snow both times, but was told that usually there's not much snow until January.
Very interesting city with lots to do.
Here are some answers that may be useful to you:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/maine/131...

Portland is a great place to live. It can be quite expensive depending on the area you are thinking about. It is mostly pretty safe though. I mean, there are areas that can be more appealing than others, just make sure you check out the place first. You will be able to tell if you are in a sketchy area!

Lots of snow this year. I hope you are ready for that! It makes parking and travel very tricky all winter, so make sure your apartment has OFFSTREET parking! If there is a parking ban (which there is everytime it snows) you have to find a place to park your car (garage)

There is a ton of fun stuff to do around town. Lots of shoppingand not far from the Maine mall. There is also a lot of Skiing only a couple hours away if you like to do that in the winter. Plus you are right on the ocean, so that makes summertime a blast too.

i live in saco maine and thats close to portland

stay away from THE GREATER PORTLAND AREA (like downtown) and you should be fine.. portland is a great place to be.. i love it!!


good luck