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( 13 Ratings )

Living in Bangor, ME

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Bangor, Maine is a great city! User Rating 5 rating By Jay01 ( Oct 16, 2017) I moved to Bangor with my family and it has been the greatest decision of my entire life. My wife and kids love it here. We have a great downtown, lots of nice restaurants, friendly faces, plenty of entertainment options including big name concerts and a beautiful waterfront park ...Read More . Home prices are very low, lots of good jobs, no traffic jams, recreational marijuana is legal, auto insurance is the lowest in the entire nation and the scenery is absolute nirvana. Bangor, Maine is a great city! Read Less
Smaller town with not much to do, cold winters, isolated User Rating 3 rating By danieltrue16 ( Feb 11, 2017) I have been in Bangor for about 2 years now, and am planning on leaving within the next year. I've got a list of pros and cons for you:Pros:1. Small town feel. The city has roughly 30,000 residents and the "metro" area is around 100,000. There really aren't traffic jams and you c ...Read More an get where you need to go quickly. 2. Summers here are spectacular. I came from Arizona and I love summers here. Temps rarely reach 90 and are comfortable most of the time. It does get humid but it's definitely tolerable. I love all the grass, water, and trees everywhere. 3. Crime really isn't that bad here. People in Bangor (Maine in general) tend to think crime here is an issue. I have been in what is considered the "worst" neighborhoods in Bangor. There really aren't any. You have a few spots where drugs are more prevalent, there are more shady folks hanging around, but all in all, it's fairly safe. Our murder rate is SUPER low, although drug use does seem to be a problem. I've walked the streets at 2AM before and have never felt unsafe. 4. For the most part, the people are friendly. I really haven't had many issues with folks here. Bangor and the areas surrounding tend to be more conservative, so if you are wanting to come to a liberal Maine, think again. You better stay near Portland for that. Opinions are strong and can come off as rude and arrogant. People around here though, do have a sense of pride and are willing to be friendly if you are.CONS:1. COST of living is high and housing is hard to come by. Finding apartments was challenging to say the least. A lot of them are expensive (3 bedrooms) and aren't that nice. I have a 2 bedroom that runs $1100 plus utilities. I had a 3 bedroom for the same price, but it wasn't as nice. I have seen many apartments running upwards of 1700 per month, which is just crazy considering the pay around here is not great at all. Buying a home usually is cheaper, since housing isn't as pricey as other spots. 2. ECONOMY: There aren't many jobs here, so be forewarned. They don't pay well either, which can make it difficult with the higher cost of living. A lot of jobs tend to pay on the lower end of the scale. A ton of my friends have left Maine for work elsewhere, since degrees don't get you much above minimum wage around here. This seems to be typical of isolated and smaller communities around the U.S. though.3. Winter can be LONG!! Some winters are nice, and some aren't. The past few winters have been pretty decent. Lower snow totals, not as cold, and tolerable. Then, you get winters that start in October and don't want to go away until April. We're talking below zero, the WIND is always blowing here, a lot of snow, ice, and darkness. It comes with the territory obviously, just know that winter here seems to take up a lot of the year. Read Less
Small city with BIG DRUG issues User Rating 2 rating By JasonGOBUCS ( Nov 14, 2010) I was born and rasied in Bangor, Maine. Bangor has great school system capped by Bangor High School. The Rams have an awesome football program and very good acedmics.
The nightlife is a joke, there is nothing to do at all if you are aged 14-20. All though this year they did hav
...Read More e an outdoor concert series. They even had some big names come in. Godsmack, Charlie Daniels, and a couple country stars... Other than that we have "Hollywood Slots" where you can gamble all your money away. Humm lets see for 10 days a year the Bangor State Fair rolls around.... JOKE....

The city and its youth have been destroyed by Prescription drugs... Namley OxyContin, Percocet, and back in the day Herion. Back in the late 90's and early 2000's it was rampant, you could get drugs on any day and alot of Herion and Cocaine were being smuggled from Mass, and Canada. I must say the MDEA and Bangor PD have done a good job cleaning up the streets or atleast making the drug addicts go underground much more. The price of an OXy 80 has gone from 40 $ in 1999 to 150 $ today. So as a result our Prison is MAXED out with drug addicts and we have 3 yes 3 methadone clinics with 500 plus people at each clinic. The problem has not gone away, the dealers and addicts are just hiding. Wich works for me.

We do have the national and now the American Folk festival once a year. You are 40 mins from Bar Harbor. An hour from Mt. Kathadian and 2 hours or more from Sugarloaf USA. Our best Ski resort. The Childrens Museum is downtown a few doors up from the head shop. Just what I love to do is bring my 2 sons to the museum and walk past the Marijuana pipe shop and all the people hanging out there. Lets see for shopping you have the Bangor Mall. Once again not to much to see there. Ohh the Senior league world series has been played here for the last 10 years or so. Thanks to Stephen and Tabathia King and the wonderful Baseball Staduim they built us. Thank you the Kings...
Your also only 15 mins from the campus of the University of Maine. Home of the Black Bears and the famous 42-1-2 National Champs for Mens Hockey.

Other than that my wife and I have lived in many other States and Cities due to my Job and I do love Bangor Maine, as I call it home. Our civic leaders and state leaders seem to lead the city and state of Maine down the wrong path time and time again. Rent is OUTRAGIOUS and TAXES are amoung the highest even thugh our neihbors New Hampshire are among the lowest taxed state in the nation. If you are from here and dont know any better then you love it. Once you leave for a wile and come back, you will find yourself saying what am I doing back here again and again and again....

Go Rams GO Black Bears and Go Maine Drug Enforcment keep locking up all the people selling drugs to support their habit and fail to get them the help they really need. 18 mounths or so, should be enough to teach them.... RIGHT ???? Read Less
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Small city with BIG DRUG issues User Rating 2 rating By JasonGOBUCS ( Nov 14, 2010) I was born and rasied in Bangor, Maine. Bangor has great school system capped by Bangor High School. The Rams have an awesome football program and very good acedmics.
The nightlife is a joke, there is nothing to do at all if you are aged 14-20. All though this year they did hav
...Read More e an outdoor concert series. They even had some big names come in. Godsmack, Charlie Daniels, and a couple country stars... Other than that we have "Hollywood Slots" where you can gamble all your money away. Humm lets see for 10 days a year the Bangor State Fair rolls around.... JOKE....

The city and its youth have been destroyed by Prescription drugs... Namley OxyContin, Percocet, and back in the day Herion. Back in the late 90's and early 2000's it was rampant, you could get drugs on any day and alot of Herion and Cocaine were being smuggled from Mass, and Canada. I must say the MDEA and Bangor PD have done a good job cleaning up the streets or atleast making the drug addicts go underground much more. The price of an OXy 80 has gone from 40 $ in 1999 to 150 $ today. So as a result our Prison is MAXED out with drug addicts and we have 3 yes 3 methadone clinics with 500 plus people at each clinic. The problem has not gone away, the dealers and addicts are just hiding. Wich works for me.

We do have the national and now the American Folk festival once a year. You are 40 mins from Bar Harbor. An hour from Mt. Kathadian and 2 hours or more from Sugarloaf USA. Our best Ski resort. The Childrens Museum is downtown a few doors up from the head shop. Just what I love to do is bring my 2 sons to the museum and walk past the Marijuana pipe shop and all the people hanging out there. Lets see for shopping you have the Bangor Mall. Once again not to much to see there. Ohh the Senior league world series has been played here for the last 10 years or so. Thanks to Stephen and Tabathia King and the wonderful Baseball Staduim they built us. Thank you the Kings...
Your also only 15 mins from the campus of the University of Maine. Home of the Black Bears and the famous 42-1-2 National Champs for Mens Hockey.

Other than that my wife and I have lived in many other States and Cities due to my Job and I do love Bangor Maine, as I call it home. Our civic leaders and state leaders seem to lead the city and state of Maine down the wrong path time and time again. Rent is OUTRAGIOUS and TAXES are amoung the highest even thugh our neihbors New Hampshire are among the lowest taxed state in the nation. If you are from here and dont know any better then you love it. Once you leave for a wile and come back, you will find yourself saying what am I doing back here again and again and again....

Go Rams GO Black Bears and Go Maine Drug Enforcment keep locking up all the people selling drugs to support their habit and fail to get them the help they really need. 18 mounths or so, should be enough to teach them.... RIGHT ???? Read Less

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      C- Amenities

      Are there many local amenities in Bangor? Yes, there are some amenities close to this location.

      Parks

      Coe Park
      Davenport Park
      Norumbega Park
      Hamlin Mall
      Second Street Park
      Great Fire of 1911 Historic District
      Whitney Park Historic District
      Hayford Park

      Entertainment

      Isaac Farrar Mansion Museum
      Bangor YMCA
      Penobscot Theatre
      Maine Discovery Museum
      Bangor Waterfront
      Godfrey House Museum
      Hollywood Casino
      Hose 5 Fire Museum

      Food & Drink

      Main Tavern
      McDonald's
      Jimmie's Ice Cream and Grill
      McDonald's
      Dairy Queen
      Dunkin' Donuts
      Burger King
      Wendy's

      C- Commute

      Is public transit available in Bangor? Of all people who commute, 1.0% take public transportation in Bangor.
      Drive to Work
      71%

      5% lower than the US average

      Take Public Transit
      1%

      4% lower than the US average

      Walk to Work
      6%

      3% higher than the US average

      A Health & Safety

      Is Bangor a healthy and safe place to live? Yes, there are many hospitals, police and fire stations.

      Hospitals

      Dorothea Dix Phychiatric Center
      Downeast Surgery Center
      Ross Manor
      Acadia Hospital
      Eastern Maine Medical Center
      Saint Joseph Hospital

      Pharmacies

      Rite Aid
      Miller Drug
      Hannaford
      Bangor Drug
      CVS Pharmacy
      Walgreens
      Walgreens

      Doctors

      Stillwater Health Care Center
      St. Joseph Healthcare Park
      Jessica C. Porter, FNP
      EMHS Medical Building