Fallen leaves pile up between two cottages in Bayside

Working Waterfront

It’s time to share our little secret

Ask Mainers about their favorite season, and most would probably say it’s autumn. One of the reasons for that choice, some might say, is that most of the tourists have gone home and so traveling along Route 1 is easier, as is stepping out for a meal or a beer.… SEE MORE

A lobster boat cruises through Portland Harbor with the Nova Star

Working Waterfront

Tweaking a model waterfront

Imagine stumbling onto an undeveloped shoreline. Protected by islands, this mile-long waterfront has deep water at one end and a gravel beach at the other. If that shoreline were to be developed for various maritime uses, how would you organize it? Portland’s waterfront developed the way most have, with ever-changing… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

New England climate could become predictably problematic

You won’t hear too many Mainers complain about this summer’s weather. It’s been hot, sunny and dry. Gardeners have had to work to keep their flowers and vegetables watered, but for those not in the agricultural business, it’s been ideal—a time to be outside to savor what we love about… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Understanding Portland, understanding Maine

There are no cities in Maine. With a population of about 66,000, Portland doesn’t qualify, at least by national standards. If Portland were in Massachusetts, it would be the 15th largest community, bigger than Haverill but smaller than Framingham. And city or not, Portland is often dismissed these days as… SEE MORE

A view of Belfast's tug boats from the harbor walkway.

Working Waterfront

Stand-off on Belfast’s waterfront illustrates new dynamics

The Island Institute launched this newspaper over 20 years ago in part to highlight the importance of Maine’s working waterfronts. Those properties, from which marine harvesting and other water-dependent businesses operate, were suddenly threatened by commercial and residential development. The most visible example of that threat came when condominiums were… SEE MORE

A view of Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park from Great Cranberry Island.

Working Waterfront

Hosting a national park is a complicated affair

The battle lines were drawn decades ago, but there were fresh hostilities in the Millinocket area when Jonathan Jarvis, director National Park Service, visited in mid-May. Jarvis was invited by Sen. Angus King to hear public comments about a proposed North Woods National Park adjacent to Baxter State Park. A… SEE MORE

Friends pose for a photo on a visit to Peaks Island.

Working Waterfront

Policy principle: keep dollars in state

You don’t have to be an economist to understand a simple way to make Maine more prosperous: work to have more dollars coming into the state than leaving. But unfortunately, many state policy initiatives are not measured using this scale. We have enjoyed one visible example of this principle over… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

State must invest in a digital future

Journalists are taught to give readers a human face to the public issues they write about in their news stories. Sometimes, the reporter has to work at finding a “real person” who benefits from the tax cut or the sewer line extension. Other times, that person practically steps onto the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Keeping our towns year-round means watching and learning

Several years ago, the newly hired town manager in Camden told her select board she could not meet a provision of the town charter. The charter required the manager to live—reasonably enough—in the town she served. But the woman, who was earning in the range of $80,000 at the time,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

What if we’ve been doing ‘growth’ all wrong?

It's always been a double-edged sword. As prosperity works its way up Maine's coast—often in sprints and then strolls—the commercial and residential building that comes with it threatens to taint what attracted that investment in the first place. We've all witnessed the rise of strip malls and big-box stores on… SEE MORE