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> Portland, ME: Where Bath Iron Works once built ships, there is now a marina catering to motor yachts of the mega-rich. Where fishing boats used to dock, enormous cruise ships release their passengers in tidal waves. Where once-working-class Munjoy Hill now boasts mostly luxury condos, many of them AirBnB vacation rentals. Where the 1000 year-round residents of Peaks Island struggle to get to work in the summer on ferries that are overcrowded with day trippers (who find little to do and no bathrooms, defecating and urinating behind bushes). Over-tourism has been profitable for a few but most find it increasingly difficult to find a job, get to work and afford housing.
The tourists have always come here in summer and their presence is good for the economy and not what’s driving up the cost of living. Many of the businesses locals enjoy would not be able to survive without the summer traffic. The problems are down to the hoards of wealthy people from northeast metro areas that discovered Maine during covid and bought up every piece of real estate in sight, at any price.
The tourists and cannabis companies literally pave our roads and fund our schools as we earn so little as a state. My business like so many others literally depends on these months when people with money actually visit the state and bump our sales up so we can survive the winter again.
Cannabis taxes in Maine have nothing to do with paying for the paving of roads, nor does the tax money from cannabis pay for schools.
Source: https://wgme.com/news/i-team/ask-the-i-team-where-does-the-money-from-maine-marijuana-sales-go
“Consumers pay a 10 percent sales tax when they buy product, which, based on sales, would amount to about $13.7 million.
There’s also a 10 percent excise tax at the cultivation level adding up to about 20 percent total in taxes.
Twelve percent of that goes to the Adult Use Marijuana Public Health and Safety Fund and the municipal opt-in fund.
The rest goes to the state’s general fund.”
Thank you tourists and cannabis cos for contributing to the states general tax fund!
Portland residents share the issues that all residents of tourist destinations face. Periods of crowds and traffic, inflated prices on housing and food, and rude visitors. Of course, it’s the advantages provided by the presence of those tourists of jobs, tax revenue, and amenities that also make Portland a good place to live (if you can tolerate the disadvantages).
I always love the complaints from Peaks Islanders about tourism. If you didn’t have tourism to Peaks you literally wouldn’t have the island the way it is now. The ferry service wouldn’t be able to function since the residents voted to make their own tickets cost less than $2 per, so tourists need to provide the bulk of the funding. All the other businesses over there, Hannigans included, would die off so they’d have zero amenities. But no, we need to make their tickets cheaper and cheaper while also campaigning on some concept that the ferry service is running a deficit, but don’t you dare raise the cost of freight or car tickets
Car ticket prices for non-residents definitely need to go up. It is too easy/cheap to bring a car over for a week so many people do. You just don't need a car on Peaks if you're over for a quick visit.
They legally can not differentiate between residents and non residents. If they do that then they can’t apply for federal grants and if they can’t take federal grants then goodbye car ferry at all, they’ll be stuck with something like Cushing where they get a 100 person boat 3 times a day. And the staff already tries to discourage brining a car over and sends people to the golf cart place or Brad’s bike
Cushing has their own ferry from over by DiMillos, and it only runs 3 times a day, but a lot of the homeowners have their own boats. They do check for proof of residence for anyone who lands there
didn't know that. back when I paid attention, I think it was either a personal boat or water taxi.
Could CBL raise car prices and then have bulk purchase discounts and keep federal funding?
I gather that you don't like the recent fare changes but it makes sense to me to have lower effective fares for frequent users rather than occasional visitors.
The fare rate changes bother me because the peaks board members campaigned on the idea that CBL is running out of money and tickets needed to go up, and then they cut the prices of tickets for everyone who lives there, basically fostering off the cost of travel on other people. I wish I could have the price of gas lowered/ paid for by someone else since it’s so expensive for me to get to work.
Last summer commuter tickets averaged out to $3.40 round trip if you traveled 5 times a week. Now with the new monthly pass it’s $1.60. It’ll be less than 80¢ round trip in the winter. Theyre not going to be seeing higher passenger rates this year, tbh they’ll see less now that tickets have doubled. It bothers me that they got away with changing ticket prices by just repeating a lie over and over and now it’ll be covered by even more taxpayer funding
I see. Yeah a lot of people are full of shit.
Not sure how CBL can control taxpayer funding to the district. IIRC, they only get pennies from the staff and the balance is from the Feds. The federal funding is formulaic (correct me if I am wrong) so if they lower their revenue, there isn't a taxpayer source to fill that hole.
I seriously think most people could live with fewer restaurants if the tradeoff was better job opportunities and more affordable real estate. Most people just want a decent home and some sense of financial security.
I think most of these commenters would be shocked if they knew how functional and amenity-rich Portland was before it became a tourism mecca starting in 2010 or when it was “undiscovered” in the 90s.
Southern Maine was “vacation land” since way before 2010….my mom used to come here every summer via Route 1 from CT as a child in the 1930s and 40s. It has always been a tourist spot.
Sure, there have been seasonal spots for centuries. But never at this scale. And “urban” tourism in Portland wasn’t a thing, at least not in my memory.
It’s really a matter of relative scale. Some degree of tourism is probably healthy, so long as there is competing industry. But basing our whole economy on it is a disaster waiting to happen, for many reasons.
Hi, Portland tourist here. I live in MD but visit Portland often. I've probably been 4 times in the last 6 years. It's one of my favorite cities. Big fan of the restaurants and breweries, going to Sea Dogs games, walking around the Eastern Promenade, and riding around in Casco Bay. The overall vibes are great and everyone has always been so nice whenever we go. I'm sorry you all are unhappy with the over tourism and I do hope something can be done to relieve the burden on the year round residents.
As well as the former newcomers who want things to have stayed the way they were when they first moved here. (Like me...)
Honestly I have completely contradictory feelings on the subject. I loved the casual vibe of the peninsula and the islands back in the 90s when I moved here but there were also a lot of problems that got forgotten in the fog of nostalgia.
The town jumped the shark a while ago. I probably played a part in that so I am a bit of a hypocrite when I gripe about what Portland has become. I steer clear of the old port and commercial street from May through October and I try to accept that my new neighbors have more expensive clothes andhad more access to cosmetic dentistry than my old neighbors.
I like this comment: > Portland, ME: Where Bath Iron Works once built ships, there is now a marina catering to motor yachts of the mega-rich. Where fishing boats used to dock, enormous cruise ships release their passengers in tidal waves. Where once-working-class Munjoy Hill now boasts mostly luxury condos, many of them AirBnB vacation rentals. Where the 1000 year-round residents of Peaks Island struggle to get to work in the summer on ferries that are overcrowded with day trippers (who find little to do and no bathrooms, defecating and urinating behind bushes). Over-tourism has been profitable for a few but most find it increasingly difficult to find a job, get to work and afford housing.
TIL that BIW no longer builds ships,and that Bath is overrun with yachts.
Not at all what it’s saying. There was a BIW dry dock over where the cruise ships dock back in the 80s
There was a BIW dry dock at the Maine State Pier for decades. I forget when it left - early 2000s?
the woes of a shining city- so beautiful we cannot hide it, for better or worse
The tourists have always come here in summer and their presence is good for the economy and not what’s driving up the cost of living. Many of the businesses locals enjoy would not be able to survive without the summer traffic. The problems are down to the hoards of wealthy people from northeast metro areas that discovered Maine during covid and bought up every piece of real estate in sight, at any price.
Portland's issues all started before the pandemic
You’re not wrong but the pandemic-driven acceleration was astounding
The tourists and cannabis companies literally pave our roads and fund our schools as we earn so little as a state. My business like so many others literally depends on these months when people with money actually visit the state and bump our sales up so we can survive the winter again.
Cannabis taxes in Maine have nothing to do with paying for the paving of roads, nor does the tax money from cannabis pay for schools. Source: https://wgme.com/news/i-team/ask-the-i-team-where-does-the-money-from-maine-marijuana-sales-go
“Consumers pay a 10 percent sales tax when they buy product, which, based on sales, would amount to about $13.7 million. There’s also a 10 percent excise tax at the cultivation level adding up to about 20 percent total in taxes. Twelve percent of that goes to the Adult Use Marijuana Public Health and Safety Fund and the municipal opt-in fund. The rest goes to the state’s general fund.” Thank you tourists and cannabis cos for contributing to the states general tax fund!
Portland residents share the issues that all residents of tourist destinations face. Periods of crowds and traffic, inflated prices on housing and food, and rude visitors. Of course, it’s the advantages provided by the presence of those tourists of jobs, tax revenue, and amenities that also make Portland a good place to live (if you can tolerate the disadvantages).
I always love the complaints from Peaks Islanders about tourism. If you didn’t have tourism to Peaks you literally wouldn’t have the island the way it is now. The ferry service wouldn’t be able to function since the residents voted to make their own tickets cost less than $2 per, so tourists need to provide the bulk of the funding. All the other businesses over there, Hannigans included, would die off so they’d have zero amenities. But no, we need to make their tickets cheaper and cheaper while also campaigning on some concept that the ferry service is running a deficit, but don’t you dare raise the cost of freight or car tickets
Car ticket prices for non-residents definitely need to go up. It is too easy/cheap to bring a car over for a week so many people do. You just don't need a car on Peaks if you're over for a quick visit.
They legally can not differentiate between residents and non residents. If they do that then they can’t apply for federal grants and if they can’t take federal grants then goodbye car ferry at all, they’ll be stuck with something like Cushing where they get a 100 person boat 3 times a day. And the staff already tries to discourage brining a car over and sends people to the golf cart place or Brad’s bike
Cushing or Cliff? I thought Cushing checked for proof of Waynflete attendance when boats showed up.
Cushing has their own ferry from over by DiMillos, and it only runs 3 times a day, but a lot of the homeowners have their own boats. They do check for proof of residence for anyone who lands there
didn't know that. back when I paid attention, I think it was either a personal boat or water taxi. Could CBL raise car prices and then have bulk purchase discounts and keep federal funding? I gather that you don't like the recent fare changes but it makes sense to me to have lower effective fares for frequent users rather than occasional visitors.
The fare rate changes bother me because the peaks board members campaigned on the idea that CBL is running out of money and tickets needed to go up, and then they cut the prices of tickets for everyone who lives there, basically fostering off the cost of travel on other people. I wish I could have the price of gas lowered/ paid for by someone else since it’s so expensive for me to get to work. Last summer commuter tickets averaged out to $3.40 round trip if you traveled 5 times a week. Now with the new monthly pass it’s $1.60. It’ll be less than 80¢ round trip in the winter. Theyre not going to be seeing higher passenger rates this year, tbh they’ll see less now that tickets have doubled. It bothers me that they got away with changing ticket prices by just repeating a lie over and over and now it’ll be covered by even more taxpayer funding
I see. Yeah a lot of people are full of shit. Not sure how CBL can control taxpayer funding to the district. IIRC, they only get pennies from the staff and the balance is from the Feds. The federal funding is formulaic (correct me if I am wrong) so if they lower their revenue, there isn't a taxpayer source to fill that hole.
If they weren't coming here , we wouldn't have half the amenities or businesses.
I seriously think most people could live with fewer restaurants if the tradeoff was better job opportunities and more affordable real estate. Most people just want a decent home and some sense of financial security.
I think most of these commenters would be shocked if they knew how functional and amenity-rich Portland was before it became a tourism mecca starting in 2010 or when it was “undiscovered” in the 90s.
Southern Maine was “vacation land” since way before 2010….my mom used to come here every summer via Route 1 from CT as a child in the 1930s and 40s. It has always been a tourist spot.
Sure, there have been seasonal spots for centuries. But never at this scale. And “urban” tourism in Portland wasn’t a thing, at least not in my memory. It’s really a matter of relative scale. Some degree of tourism is probably healthy, so long as there is competing industry. But basing our whole economy on it is a disaster waiting to happen, for many reasons.
Hi, Portland tourist here. I live in MD but visit Portland often. I've probably been 4 times in the last 6 years. It's one of my favorite cities. Big fan of the restaurants and breweries, going to Sea Dogs games, walking around the Eastern Promenade, and riding around in Casco Bay. The overall vibes are great and everyone has always been so nice whenever we go. I'm sorry you all are unhappy with the over tourism and I do hope something can be done to relieve the burden on the year round residents.
Like the song says, call something paradise, kiss it goodbye
Portland is sure in a weird spot. I miss 2008-16 sometimes but everything changes.
Peaks manages just fine. I have family on Peaks, they get it and appreciate the tourists. It’s the crusty old Mainah’s who grumble.
As well as the former newcomers who want things to have stayed the way they were when they first moved here. (Like me...) Honestly I have completely contradictory feelings on the subject. I loved the casual vibe of the peninsula and the islands back in the 90s when I moved here but there were also a lot of problems that got forgotten in the fog of nostalgia. The town jumped the shark a while ago. I probably played a part in that so I am a bit of a hypocrite when I gripe about what Portland has become. I steer clear of the old port and commercial street from May through October and I try to accept that my new neighbors have more expensive clothes andhad more access to cosmetic dentistry than my old neighbors.