Should you move to Augusta? A Reddit thread investigates

Reading Reddit’s r/Maine is a great way to learn about the state from it’s most honest residents.

Late on Sunday night, Reddit user whirdly74, from Portland, Oregon, opened a thread titled “Augusta locals please advise” asking for guidance on a proposed move to our capital.

“Im thinking of moving to Augusta and want to know if people who live there love it or not. I currently live in Portland OR and am looking to relocate to a smaller city, Augusta looks nice from what I can see in the pictures. The housing cost is fantastic compared to the crazy cost of living here. I understand that I will be giving up much of the city culture and night life but thats to be expected. What do you love and hate about living in Augusta? Thank your for your time and consideration.”

Users on r/Maine didn’t mince words:

“Do not move to Augusta, dude. Go on down to Portland, that’s more like your vibe.” – u/Frirish11

“I’d just like to add the Mainers nicknamed it “Disgusta” for a reason…Portland is definitely what you want. Freeport is awesome too, small but great downtown and only a 20 minute drive from Portland.” – u/Sleepysam86

“There’s a reason the housing prices are so low in Augusta. If you live in the city proper, you get the worst parts of city (more like large town) life, and in a surrounding town you’re living rural. You don’t want to live in Augusta.” – u/illevirjd

“I’d suggest looking into Hallowell. It’s right next to Augusta, but in my opinion is considerably nicer. It’s got that classic New England small town feel without all the strip malls that are in Augusta. Plus there are a few decent restaurants there.” – u/thehonorablechairman

It wasn’t all negative for Augusta:

“You have discovered the real estate mason-dixon line in Maine. Augusta is the southern-most “city” with cheap housing. All the other places people are recommending have much higher housing costs. I don’t live in Augusta, but near enough to know that it’s ok – some places better than others. Centrally located to the best that Maine has to offer.” – u/cmx_250

“I’m currently living in Augusta, having moved here from Topsham just over two years ago. Part of my reasoning for that was to reduce my commute and live in a place with fairly low rent. What you can expect to find are a lot of older apartments or houses converted into apartment buildings. There aren’t a lot of amenities that come with these apartments, but the rent is pretty low. That said, you should be careful, because bed bugs have been an issue in some neighborhoods. I personally don’t mind living here, it’s about an hour from Portland, half hour from Brunswick and a half hour from Waterville if you want to go out on the town, but other than that, there’s enough here to do.” – u/Vachenzo

“I think a lot of people like to talk down about the city yet have never been there themselves or maybe traveled through a couple of times. No its not the glamorous hipster capital of New England like Portland, but its not terrible either…If you are interested in coming here, visit Augusta and a few surrounding communities such as Hallowell and Gardiner. If you are looking for a little slower lifestyle in small city/large town inland Maine, there will be something for you here.” – u/Fenn2010

After the comments funneled in, whirdly74 came back to clarify their question and who they wanted to answer it:

“I understand that Portland Maine is the better choice in most ways BUT I am not looking for a city of that size…There was a reason I asked for Augusta locals not people from Maine. I have looked at the city from street view of google maps and the town looks charming…I really am looking to slow down my life and get out in nature and tap into a small community.”

But, the commenters weren’t having that either.

“Are you sure you were looking at Augusta, MAINE?” – u/Guygan

“I can respect wanting to slow down and tap into a more small town community. However, I don’t know if you’ll find that in Augusta.” – u/bfudge

“Consider Biddeford also. Smaller city, a little rougher, on the ocean, closer to other things etc…” – u/Mikerm3

What do you think? Would you advise out-of-state people to move to Augusta?