A decade ago I went to the University of Southern Maine, which is across the street from the University of Maine School of Law building. (The "real" University of Maine is in Orono, about two hours north of Portland.) It was a cheap education, I'll give it that. I never went in the law school building. I thought most of the facilities were disappointing, though I guess they didn't hamper my education any. Academics were hit or miss. If felt like every department had a few professors that didn't really want to be there or didn't deserve to be there, but I suppose that's probably not unique to this school. (I have no clue about the quality of the law school faculty.) In my major's department I quickly discovered who the good professors were and gravitated towards their classes when possible.
USM also has a second campus about a half hour away in the small down of Gorham, which is connected by a free shuttle bus that the university operates. This is where the only available "on-campus" housing is located. Since most of the courses I needed/wanted to take were only offered in Portland, I spent many hours on that shuttle for four years of my life.
I really like the Portland peninsula. I work there and even visit on most weekend days just to explore. When you look at it on the map, that's the part carved out by I-295 to the north and the Fore River to the south. Most parts are easy to walk in, though now with snow on the ground many areas present challenges that require sturdy footwear to conquer. Adding to the difficulty are the many brick sidewalks which are very slippery when wet. Driving in the city is easy, you'll quickly figure out the couple of streets to avoid, and downtown has a multitude of parking garages to choose from. There are a few not-so-good areas of town, but I have never felt afraid while walking about the city. The area does have a bus system but I have never utilized it. We also have regular bus and train service to Boston. I enjoy the spaciousness of the train, but it typically takes a good 30-45 minutes longer than the bus ride.
We have multiple concert venues, our own symphony orchestra, minor league baseball team, minor league hockey team, an art museum, tons of art galleries, many many unique restaurants. Most of the restaurants are far too fancy for me, but there are a few "normal" places. The Old Port has quite a bar scene as well. This neighborhood is mostly old brick buildings and almost feels a bit like a time machine when you're walking around. It's also filled with lots of unique shops which primarily feed off of tourists. In the late summer and fall cruise ships often berth nearby to drop off a few thousand people in a day. There are definitely more options for finding entertainment in the city in the summer, but it doesn't close down completely during the winter, either.
Outside of the peninsula, most of the city is suburbish residential areas filled with single family homes.
I like living here. It's pretty laid back if I want it to be or it can be exciting enough if I want it to be. Winter sucks for sure, but April through November are usually quite livable. The past few years most of December and March have been decent as well. One problem I have is that the State of Maine is so far east that we really should be in the Atlantic time zone, so for a couple of months out of the year the sun sets earlier than I'd prefer (e.g. today sunset was at 4:18).
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