Maine
If you move to Maine’s boom-and-bust Cold War town, you get a welcome packet
The Loring Air Pressure Base led the inhabitants of the Aroostook County city of Limestone to quintuple between 1950 and 1960. After it closed in 1994, it noticed an excellent greater bust.
The bottom made the city of round 1,500 folks a half-hour north of Presque Isle a linchpin of American Chilly Struggle technique. It’s now one of many most cost-effective locations to stay in New England and seeking to entice newcomers with guarantees of welcome packets and new-resident orientations.
As properties throughout Maine see skyrocketing costs and quick stock, they’ve remained each low cost and considerable in Limestone. A 3-bedroom residence with two bogs on 11 acres not too long ago offered for simply $150,000. That might pay for lower than one-third of the median residence in Portland, in response to Zillow information.
Many come to the realm searching for a slower tempo in addition to winter recreation, Limestone Selectman Chris Durepo stated, including that he hoped the rock-bottom costs might be a possibility for the city throughout a housing disaster.
“The best residence available on the market proper now’s $200,000,” stated Durepo, who additionally rebuilds homes along with his common contracting firm. “In order that places in perspective what the housing market is right here.”
There have been 11 properties offered in Limestone from January to April 2021, in response to information collected by Stephanie Beaulieu of Fields Realty in Fort Fairfield. The promoting worth hovered round $59,000, a quantity Beaulieu stated had gone down this yr.
Residents shifting into Maine from out of state can arouse suspicion or disdain from longtime residents. However the city welcomes newcomers, Durepo stated. The Limestone Chamber of Commerce creates welcome packets for them and has scheduled a meet-and-greet for brand spanking new residents subsequent month as a part of an lively occasions schedule.
The decommissioned base nonetheless dominates the city. The army put it there and in close by Caswell as a result of the area was simply in regards to the closest place on the U.S. mainland to Europe, which was one thing of strategic significance through the Chilly Struggle. The city bought a go to from President Richard Nixon on his manner again from the Soviet Union in 1974, in one among his final public appearances earlier than resigning that yr as a result of Watergate scandal.
As soon as a small agricultural settlement, the inhabitants peaked at 13,000 in 1960 after the bottom opened and fell to about 10,000 round 1990. With the tip of the Chilly Struggle, the Air Pressure decommissioned the bottom in 1994, turning it into an industrial and aviation park.
Limestone had the best charge of inhabitants loss from 2010 to 2020 of any neighborhood in Maine with 1,000 folks or extra, in response to U.S. Census Bureau information, declining from 2,300 folks to simply 1,500. Inhabitants loss because the base closed is extra stark at 8,400 since 1990.
Shedding Loring was “devastating” for Limestone and Aroostook County, Durepo stated. Quite a few residents had jobs linked to the bottom or relied on enterprise from the hundreds of individuals stationed there.
Determining a solution to convey vital new improvement to Loring, which has since been reworked into the Loring Commerce Centre, has been harder, Durepo famous, although he remained optimistic in regards to the city’s future.
The middle serves companies that use 1 million sq. ft of lease area and make use of 750 folks, directors famous in a 2021 report. It was the positioning of a historic business rocket launch from Brunswick-based bluShift Aerospace final yr, however the firm is now searching for coastal areas for future launches.
Whereas many individuals have left Limestone, there are new ones coming in. Round 4 % of Limestone residents had moved from a unique state inside the previous yr, in response to 2020 U.S. Census Bureau information from the American Neighborhood Survey. One other 5 % had moved in from exterior of Aroostook, one of many highest charges for any neighborhood in Maine.
Durepo acknowledged setbacks lately however stated the city not too long ago had a number of new developments, together with photo voltaic initiatives that added thousands and thousands to its tax base in addition to native farmers constructing new irrigation programs and potato homes.
It has additionally obtained nationwide recognition for being residence to the Maine College of Science and Arithmetic, a boarding faculty thought-about among the finest magnet colleges within the nation.
“I stay, breathe, eat, sleep Limestone,” Durepo stated. “We like being right here, we like elevating our household. It’s a secure place.”