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Comment by SmellTheGlove | Hacker News Reader

Completely agree.

It doesn't even need to be a lifestyle business, nor in flyover country. I live on the Maine coast working for a large company. We even have a big office here! I'm mid 30's, wife, kid, and we have a nice balance. Yeah sometimes I work a bit more than I'd like, but 40 hours per week is normal, and for the times I work more than that, it's more than offset by my 20 minute traffic-doesnt-exist commute. I feel very fortunate to live somewhere that other people visit on vacation, but getting here isn't really that challenging.

Portland (the original!) has a small but growing startup scene if that's your thing. It also has some of the best food and beer in the country, which is a distraction I admit.

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I just visited Portland for the first time and found it to be a surprisingly vibrant city. Despite being less than half the population of my home town, it has a lot going on. I suspect that changes quite a bit during the winter months.

Hot Suppa was an especially delicious place to eat.

The winter can be a bit much if you're not used to it for sure, but the upside is that tourists leave and restaurants no longer need reservations :)

Plus, not far from some excellent (downhill and cross-country) skiing, snowshoeing, ice fishing.

It'll surprise you like that. I moved up here 5 or so years ago because I liked visiting so much. There's a lot going on specifically on the Portland peninsula if you're into food and beer (making or consuming), or generally interested in just making things. The greater portland area has the outdoors and beaches, which are excellent for year round activities.

The winter is harsh, which is probably the only reason for our low population density. It's really not that bad once you get used to it, though, because the roads are pretty well cleared and maintained, you find things like skiiing/skating to do, and employers generally have common sense about when to tell folks to stay home.

I grew up in a much larger mid-Atlantic suburb that didn't have nearly the character or variety of things to do that we have around Portland. My wife's biggest complaint is the lack of shopping, particularly "nice" stores, but Boston isn't that far.

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