Portland has a bigger drug problem than OOB. Everything is bigger in cities.

IMO anywhere else in the greater Portland area is better than OOB and Portland in regards to open/noticeable drug use/abuse (and homelessness). Not to say it doesn't exist- in South Portland (separate town from Portland) I notice the unhoused daily, but not nearly to the same extent as the other two places mentioned.

15 minute... You must mean walk? I don't think you could mean drive and be that far away from the beach, and still in OOB. Not a large town at all area-wise.

It's safe, except in tourist season where you may occasionally deal with trashy drunks.

Clover grew insanely fast and thick for me. Best of luck

"Acceptable" perhaps... but claiming one of the most controversial pizza toppings belongs on pizza is quite a stretch- even if you like pineapple.

Not sure this is the subreddit you're looking for though?

I assume you're posting from your cell phone. Nobody in your phone can spot you..?

My first thought lmao. Loved that video back in the day

To summarize:

-Gendron wanted it in 2019, but in 2020 Lewiston awarded an option agreement to LH/Avesta for it to become senior housing instead
-Lewiston Housing and Avesta wanted to turn the location into a ~$12mil 44-unit senior housing development, but the project hit delays related to the pandemic
-LH brought a plan to triple (!?) the 44-unit building, but Lewiston City Council didn't like the lack of green space... (note: it's unclear when this occurred)
-Lewiston City Council chose not to renew the option agreement for LH/Avesta as a result of LH's uncertainty (with the project, financing, and ability to secure the complicated tax credits, etc? all of those? unclear)
-Gendron came by after this decision and reiterated his want to develop mixed-use, now seemingly in addition to a 44-unit senior housing building, but wanted city of Lewiston to take care of certain costs with demolishing
-During the public hearing portion of city council meeting, most of the public implied desire for the original senior housing without commercial buildings. Various reasons were given.
-Gendron took offense to this and said "ok, nevermind"

So it seems the site will likely go out to bids again, and either end back up to LH/Avesta to develop, or a potentially a new developer will purchase it who Gendron probably didn't want to get into a bidding war with.

It's unfortunate that the property wasn't developed in a timely manner the way it was initially intended a couple years ago, but can anyone respectfully explain to me what the point of contention is currently?

Agreed with all points, but fyi the article specifically notes this isn't an affordable housing apartment complex. If it were, it may have more support.

No.

I'm not sure what's worse, Mississippi being in the top ten or the white letters explaining what the map is overlapping the black font that already explains what the map is.

2/10 map

This is one anecdotal situation. I certainly wouldn't characterize Mainers as not supporting their mentally ill friends based on this.

I thought your reading comprehension seriously needed work, but if you refuse to read anything from people trying to help you understand the things you very obviously don't, I guess that's a separate issue.

I'm not sure where you're getting that I'm a LePage fanboy either? I'm most certainly not, and quite glad he didn't become governor... but that has ~absolutely~ nothing to do with this topic and probably ties back into your abysmally low reading comprehension skills. Similar to how you can't point out where the other user blamed brown people for the housing crisis- You can't, because he didn't.

The user said that single mothers and migrants will move into affordable housing. This is a fact that is true in Maine; these two groups indeed do make up a portion of the tenants that move into affordable housing. If the user said veterans and elderly people, perhaps you wouldn't be accusing them of "blaming brown people" as you put it. Competent people can recognize he wasn't blaming anyone, in addition he tried to clarify this and explain several times that he was simply pointing out that affordable housing is immediately snapped up upon creation. You decided to be a douche to him, like you are to me.

I can explain it to you but I can't comprehend it for you. Clearly the words people say have no basis in your reality, so you do you buddy, I'm done.

You say "he's literally blaming Maine's housing shortages on migrants". He didn't say that... at all, anywhere.

Pointing out that immigrants and single mothers can move into affordable housing is not blaming the housing shortage on migrants. You're making insane conclusions based on an incompetent interpretation of one sentence, focusing on the migrant portion of his comment more than single mothers likely because of your own personal bias.

I'm not sure why you're interpreting what he said the way you are. He's not wrong in saying migrants move into affordable housing. They do. As he pointed out, so do single mothers. As I pointed out, so do vets, elderly, etc.

You're the one that's somehow interpreting these facts as migrants being the cause of Maine's housing shortage. That's not what he's saying. That's not what I'm saying. Your interpretation of our words are woefully incorrect; you are wrong.

He's tried to respectfully explain this several times to no avail. I'm trying to clarify his words for you too, but instead of referring to anything he actually said or have intelligent debate, you're just being rude.

he clearly said "and I am not saying they shouldn't be" after pointing out the fact that yes, a lot of affordable housing does indeed go to immigrants and single mothers.. it also goes to firemen, waiters, veterans, disabled, and elderly/retired people.

That user said absolutely nothing derogatory about immigrants despite a few closed-minded commenters like yourself trying to make it seem that way.

I wholeheartedly agree short-term rentals can be an issue, but it's a very nuanced subject. This is the first time I've ever heard anyone say more affordable housing isn't the answer, though. Affordable housing is one of very few topics that politicians on both sides of the aisle generally agree is a good thing, and historically has proven to help house families in need.

Those "affordable housing condos" I assume you mean apartments, but I'm still perplexed by this statement. Affordable housing complexes are required to have a certain set-aside of units remain affordable (opposed to market rate), typically for 15 or 30 years, and often at the end of that period they're "redeveloped" and spun into the same thing again, or sold to non-profits to operate in perpetuity.

Can you tell me the names of any affordable housing projects that have been/are being converted into short term rentals? It's just something I've never witnessed or heard of.

Yeah, it really depends on the context it's used and affordable for who. It can also sometimes be determined based on income, local housing prices, government policies, etc. which can vary from place to place.

I completely agree that the government statistics on income in general are horribly inaccurate and dated. MaineHousing uses market rate, size, utility cost, and other things in addition to median income to determine their rental rates, but their formula could probably be improved or updated.

I think you're misunderstanding what MaineHousing does. The Section 8 wait list being years long is regrettable, but isn't their fault.. their entire purpose is to assist developers creating more affordable housing units (typically not single-family homes). MaineHousing doesn't build the housing themselves. The reason we haven't had much development is because there isn't enough money in it for developers, which is why Maine actually recently passed its own affordable housing credit to piggy back off of the Federal to spur more developments.

The affordable housing through tax credit program for developers is absolutely available to people who are low income- but when you mention very low income, it depends on the project. The minimum set aside requirements for units based on income is typically some blended rate. These developments are not made to shelter the homeless, just workers who earn less than median income. Whether that's someone earning 50% of the median income or 60% depends on the project and its unit split- it varies.

The Affordable Homeownership Program is brand new, of course it hasn't begun to crack the threshold.
Their rentals however have absolutely made a significant dent, and helped Maine house families that wouldn't otherwise find any. These are based on tenant income (therefore, quite affordable).

But the rentals they offer are affordable. What a tenant pays is literally based on a percentage of their income..

Why? They recently started switching over to adapting this terminology over "low-income housing" because of the stigma.

What term should they use instead?

Affordable housing developments are the answer, or at least a large part of it IMHO. Maine actually passed a state credit recently to help sprun further development of these projects. They're typically beautiful new buildings or rehabbed old historical ones that are located centrally and required to be affordable for 15-30 years+. They often house dozens of families in a small footprint.

Unfortunately, often nobody wants them in their neighborhoods.

Depends on your definition of "overrun", but will climate migrants come to Maine in larger numbers? Yes, absolutely. Humans will migrate away from islands/the equator worldwide as areas become uninhabitable.

First time I've heard someone so nonchalantly profess their desire to bomb a children's hospital. I hope her mental illness doesn't lead to violence and hope she isn't actually allowed inside the building anymore.

Why the holes in data? What year is this from? What's cropped out at the bottom? This is almost r/awfuleverything material