Suburbia’s charms beckon to urban workers

GLENBURN – When Suzanne Tyler and Dennis Casey moved to Maine from Maryland six years ago, they could have settled in any town within commuting distance of Orono. Why they chose this rapidly growing community bordering Bangor’s north side tells a lot about the social forces that caused many people to move to rural suburbs in the 1990s, while service-center towns like Bangor declined in population.

Tyler was taking the high-profile position of athletic director at the University of Maine after eight years living and working in suburban Washington, D.C. Casey was planning to stay home with the couple’s two children, then 2 and 4.

“I love the water and Dennis likes trees,” says Tyler of their home that overlooks Pushaw Lake. “When we began looking at houses, we started driving away from Orono. I looked on the map and saw the lake. We drove down every road toward the lake looking for for-sale signs. Then we saw this house.”

Their stone house was built in 1823, one year after the town was incorporated. Built by a sea captain, it sits above Lucky Landing. Their ample lot slopes downhill toward Pushaw Lake. The view is spectacular.

While much of their family time is spent at university athletic events, their recreational activities are centered on the lake. They spend summers on their pontoon boat, swimming and fishing. When the lake freezes over in winter, they ice skate and practice hockey moves with their son and daughter.

“The focus of this town is on its children,” said Casey, who now works as the bursar at the university.

And there are a lot of kids in town for a state that has actually lost youth population since 1990. People under the age of 18 made up 27 percent of Glenburn’s population in the 2000 Census, higher than the state average of 23.6 percent. There are 141 more kids in town today than there were in 1990.

Peter Chase, who served as town manager from 1986 to 2000, can explain why the town is so attractive to families with young children in three words – location, location, location.

“It’s a piece of real estate lodged in a niche wedged between Bangor and Orono,” says Chase, who now serves in the Legislature. “It’s not too far from Brewer and Old Town and that’s where all the employment opportunities are, so commutes are short. We’ve been able to keep the tax rate down to between $14 and $15 [per $1,000 assessed valuation] while Bangor’s at $24 or $25.”

Those are the assets Tyler touts when she recruits new staff to the UM athletic department. Since she took the job six years ago, five members of her staff also have moved to Glenburn. Like Casey and yler, many like the more rural lifestyle and lake access.

The 24 percent increase in housing starts over the previous decade brought more school-age children to town and focused the community on improving the school, according to Cindy Esty-Kendall, a former school board member.

A library addition was completed in 1991 and, more recently, $1 million was spent on renovations to address air quality issues. The proposed school budget of $5.1 million includes money for a modular classroom to house an expanded music program. In addition, the school will use three portable classrooms to keep down class size.

Like many small towns in eastern Maine that neither belong to school districts nor have high schools, Glenburn offers choices for its high school students. Eighth-graders can select from five area high schools.

Next fall Glenburn will pay tuition for 101 students to attend Bangor High School, 78 to attend John Bapst Memorial High School, 34 to attend Orono High School, 25 to attend Hermon High School and six to attend Brewer High School.

With Glenburn’s overall growth of 27.5 percent during the 1990s came a demand for more municipal services, according to the former town manager. During the ’90s, taxpayers funded construction of a new town hall, fire station and storage shed for sand and salt. Chase adds that many of the town’s dirt and gravel roads were paved in the last decade.

“Pretty much what people want when they move out here,” observed Chase, “are a good school, good roads to get back and forth, and to be left alone.”

Tyler jokes that her husband, born and raised in California, has gone “native” and adopted some stereotypical Maine attitudes about people “from away.”

“We were only here two weeks,” she says, “when he started wearing the orange hunter’s cap with the ear flaps and the flannel shirt.”

Casey counters that no matter why people move to a town like Glenburn, whether it’s for a larger lot or lower taxes, what they find is a strong sense of community.

“A month before we moved here from Maryland, I walked outside to find a bullet hole in my window,” he says. “Here, we’ve found a sense of intimacy. People take care of each other and watch out for each other. … My children will always remember where they grew up. Not all kids remember that.”