In a state where even the governor chooses a 40-minute commute rather than live in a house across the street from his office, it’s not surprising that more Mainers are driving to work alone, and it’s taking them longer to get there than it did a decade ago. Read More
University of Maine valedictorian Jim Leonard is a late bloomer. “I never thought seriously about college. I wasn’t ready and on some level I knew I wasn’t,” said Leonard, 40, who graduated from Rockland High School in 1980 and enrolled at UM 19 years later. Read More
While Maine’s prosperous southern coast boomed in the past decade, households in the rural north and east watched their incomes sputter and their populations dwindle. “The gap is widening,” said Galen Rose, an economic analyst with the State Planning Office, of newly released income figures… Read More
PORTLAND – Eliott Cherry remembers being surprised and pleased to find he could check off a category on his census form that recognized his relationship with his significant other. “We wanted to make sure we were counted – not as roommates, but partners,” Cherry, a… Read More
The 2000 Census confirmed what many have feared: The lifeblood of northern Maine is draining toward the coast and south. In the last decade, thousands of northern Mainers have migrated south seeking jobs and a better way of life. The three grown children of Linda… Read More
We already knew the general trends when we set out to cover the 2000 Census. Maine people are getting older. Younger Mainers are going elsewhere to find jobs, as they have for decades. But some of the numbers we uncovered when the first Census results… Read More
Last August the Cyrus family turned its back on the Bangor area and moved to southern New Hampshire. The family of four opted for more cultural activities, higher-paying jobs and bigger schools. Despite trade-offs, the Boston area beckoned with advantages, outstripping any lingering doubts that… Read More
Results from the 2000 Census confirm that Maine’s school-age population is shrinking, both as a percentage of the state’s population and in raw numbers. The drop is especially acute in Aroostook, Washington and Piscataquis counties, while in Cumberland and York counties the numbers actually rose, reflecting the differences… Read More
ALEXANDER – As enrollment plummets and costs spiral, residents of this community west of Calais are debating whether to close their little elementary school. Similar discussions are expected all over rural Maine as the state loses more and more of its youth population. In towns… Read More
Deciding to become a single parent eight years ago, Robert Vomes found plenty of naysayers. “People were surprised at first – there were a lot of people who were saying I couldn’t do it,” the unassuming Carmel man said recently. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define… Read More
BANGOR – When the U.S. Census Bureau took its 1990 count, Mark LeGassey had just been laid off after 17 years as a quality inspector at Great Northern Paper’s Millinocket mill in northern Penobscot County. Born and raised in neighboring East Millinocket, LeGassey was well… Read More
BANGOR – Just one mile northwest of here, Tammy Campbell plays with her 21/2-year-old daughter, Alexis, in their family’s spacious new home on Jillian Way in Glenburn. Five months ago, Tammy and her husband, Bobby Campbell, lived with their two young children in a smaller… Read More
Every year when Black History Month rolls around, Shontay Delalue cringes. As one of a small number of black students and staff at the University of Maine, she knows she’ll have to put together a presentation and participate in panel discussions. Such is the life… Read More
Pictures of lush tropical gardens are taped to the walls of the modest trailer that Trinidad shares with her husband and 7-month-old son in Milbridge. The soft-spoken 20-year-old said the pictures remind her of Honduras and the home she left almost a year ago. googletag.cmd.push(function… Read More
AUGUSTA – The population growth in southern Maine means the state’s sprawling 2nd Congressional District, already the largest east of the Mississippi River, will grow even bigger when its boundary with the state’s only other district is redrawn. Where the line is drawn could spark… Read More
AUGUSTA – 2000 Census data bolster what political analysts have expected. Political power in Maine will shift dramatically to the south when legislative districts are redrawn in two years. And the major parties already are gearing up for the political battle of the decade. “No… Read More
HOULTON – When the B-52 bombers and KC-135 tankers left Loring Air Force Base in 1994, they took a sizable hunk of Aroostook County’s population with them. In 1990, the population of Limestone, with Loring included, made it the second-largest town in Aroostook. The loss… Read More
ELLSWORTH – Blue Hill is turning gray. “We’ve become kind of a retirement community,” says Selectman Gordon Emerson, who suspects that the latest census numbers for his town would have been higher if the 2000 count had been made after June 1 instead of in… Read More
If you stood on a street corner in Rockland or Camden on a summer day last year you would never guess that population growth is flat in Knox County’s two largest communities. But the gridlocked traffic and the elbow-to-elbow people on the sidewalks are a… Read More
David and Louisa Surprenant and their five children are the first new blood in the aging lakeside community of Chesuncook Village since anyone can remember. The handful of homes scattered along Chesuncook Lake have always been passed down from generation to generation. Now, they’re increasingly… Read More
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… Read More
CANAAN – The town of Canaan, nestled between Pittsfield and Skowhegan on U.S. Route 2, doesn’t appear – on the surface – to offer much to its residents. There is no police department, no garbage pickup. Students commute – some of them more than 20… Read More
BELFAST – Nowhere is the fruit of Waldo County’s expanding population more evident than in the growing number of businesses thriving in the environs of its historic county seat. Yet, in a decade in which the county as a whole increased its population by 10… Read More
DOVER-FOXCROFT – It was not what Gov. Angus King had in mind when he coined his inaugural phrase, “Maine is on the move,” but Piscataquis County’s younger residents in fact are moving – to southern Maine, out of state, anywhere – for well-paying jobs. The… Read More
Last August the Cyrus family turned its back on the Bangor area and moved to southern New Hampshire. The family of four opted for more cultural activities, higher-paying jobs and bigger schools. Despite trade-offs, the Boston area beckoned with advantages, outstripping any lingering doubts the… Read More
Deciding to become a single parent eight years ago, Robert Vomes found plenty of naysayers. “People were surprised at first – there were a lot of people who were saying I couldn’t do it,” the unassuming Carmel man said this week. googletag.cmd.push(function () { //… Read More
Although the population of many Maine counties declined over the past decade, the number of people living in some of the state’s most rural areas increased dramatically, according to a review of 2000 Census figures in the Unorganized Territories by the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission. Read More
If you stood on a street corner in Rockland or Camden on a summer day last year you would never guess that population growth is flat in Knox County’s two largest communities. But the gridlocked traffic in the streets and the elbow-to-elbow people on the… Read More
WALDOBORO – Lincoln County may be the third-smallest county in Maine, but it is growing faster than all but one. For Steve Cole, project manager for Coastal Enterprises Inc. of Wiscasset, it’s right in the middle of things. “It’s a very convenient place to live,”… Read More
MACHIAS – Washington County lost 1,367 people between 1990 and 2000. But those who are missing did not move away. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i… Read More
ELLSWORTH – Blue Hill may be turning gray. “We’ve become kind of a retirement community,” says Selectman Gordon Emerson, who suspects the latest census numbers for his town would have been higher if the 2000 count had been after June 1 instead of early spring. Read More
DOVER-FOXCROFT – It was not what Gov. Angus King had in mind when he coined his inaugural phrase, “Maine is on the move,” but Piscataquis County’s younger residents in fact are moving – to southern Maine, out of state, anywhere – for well-paying jobs. The… Read More
BANGOR – When the U.S. Census Bureau took its 1990 count, Mark LeGassey had just been laid off after 17 years as a quality inspector at Great Northern Paper’s Millinocket mill. Born and raised in neighboring East Millinocket, LeGassey was well aware that in a… Read More
BELFAST – Nowhere is the fruit of Waldo County’s expanding population more evident than in the growing number of businesses thriving in the environs of its historic county seat. Yet, in a decade in which the county as a whole increased its population by 10… Read More
HOULTON – When the B-52 bombers and KC-135 tankers left Loring Air Force Base in 1994, they took a sizable hunk of Aroostook County’s population with them. In 1990, the population of Limestone, with Loring included, made it the second-largest town in The County. The… Read More
NASHVILLE PLANTATION – There is not much in Nashville other than the Irving sawmill. Nevertheless, with a population increase of 28 percent since 1990, the little town has the honor of having the largest percentage of population growth in Aroostook County in the last decade. Read More
CANAAN – The town of Canaan, nestled between Pittsfield and Skowhegan on U.S. Route 2, doesn’t appear – on the surface – to offer much to its residents. There is no police department, no garbage pickup. Students commute – some of them, more than 20… Read More
Every year when Black History Month rolls around, Shontay Delalue cringes. As one of a small number of black students and staff at the University of Maine, she knows she’ll have to put together a presentation and participate in panel discussions. Such is the life… Read More
Results from the 2000 Census confirm that the portion of Maine’s population younger than 18 is shrinking, both as a percentage of the state’s population and in raw numbers. The drop in numbers of youths is especially acute in Aroostook, Washington and Piscataquis counties, while in Cumberland and… Read More
BANGOR – Just one mile northwest of here, Tammy Campbell plays with her 21/2-year-old daughter, Alexis, in their family’s spacious new home on Jillian Way in Glenburn. Five months ago, Tammy and her husband, Bobby Campbell, lived with their two young children in a smaller… Read More
The 2000 Census confirms what many have feared: the lifeblood of northern Maine is draining toward the coast and south. In the last decade, thousands of northern Mainers have migrated south seeking jobs and a better way of life. The three grown children of Linda… Read More