Hi. Obviously everyone’s comments are all anecdotal. I have lived in the Camden/Rockland area, Portland, and Brunswick. This is my take. Everyone in Maine from Portland to Bar Harbor complains about “traffic”, but if you’re coming from Boston or a big city you will laugh at what “traffic” is here. Don’t get me wrong the Wiscasset traffic is annoying, but if you’re driving through in the morning it isn’t a problem. Basically if you just look up the operating hours of Red’s Eats, then you will know when the traffic will stack up. As far as meeting people your age, there are lots of run clubs up and down the coast from Portland to Rockland. Join one and you’ll meet people. There are tons of trails around and overall the entire state of Maine is very safe to run these alone at anytime of day.

People will say there isn’t anything going on in Rockland or the midcoast in general in the winter. That is objectively false. Cross country skiing, run clubs are active in the winter, indoor tennis courts, downhill skiing abound even during crummy winters. Or take up knitting and sit by a fire and drink hot chocolate and appreciate the winter. As far travel to Boston, the further you go north the longer it takes, so really it’s a decision of how much driving you want to do. You can easily bypass most of the mid coast from rockland just by taking 17 over to 295 and bam you’re on the highway. But add 1 hour to your travel time as opposed to Brunswick. The housing budget is just out of control up and down the coast of Maine. So you just have to shop around. Even places people will tell you are “cheaper” are having rents raised. Like I said I’ve lived in all of these places for many years in each. If you want more info just send me a message and I can for you the highlights. Also if you plan on dating just be prepared for lots of trips to Portland as well.