Round numbers have always been a big deal at Yelp. Back in the day, we would all celebrate each…read moreother's 100th and then 200th reviews. That's not as important as it used to be, but this is my 1000th review and we tend to pick them carefully. I suppose that I'm the first to commemorate number 1000 by reviewing Biddeford, Maine but it's no accident. Biddeford is an amazing little city. First, an incredibly abbreviated history lesson. Skip this paragraph if you understand mill towns. Biddeford's mill town community was the workplace and home for generations of immigrants. They came to the mills looking for employment and they started at the bottom, being poorly paid and working under conditions that we would never tolerate today. The mills were busy for years but became obsolete due a new technology called electricity. The old mill buildings became run down and abandoned, the towns were stuck with massive unemployment, crime increased, and it was really bad. Biddeford was luckier than many other mill towns because it became a bedroom community for Portland's workers and because the mills were re-used to make Vellux blankets, but downtown was still depressed. I first saw Biddeford in the 80's and it wasn't pretty. Not only had it been depressed for quite a while, but a huge incinerator called MERC was built downtown and it stunk. And it stayed that way into the 21st century. Fast forward to now and Biddeford is changing fast. The abandoned mills were bought by people with a vision. MERC was finally closed. People have been attracted by the cheap rents in the mills and they're being refurbished at an astonishing rate. I haven't been able to confirm it, but about one-third of the million-plus square feet of mill space has apparently been renovated. There's a group of people who give tours of the old run down mill buildings and they say that in a year or two here won't be anything left to see because it will all have been rebuilt and occupied. There are art galleries, coffee shops, concerts in the local parks, all kinds of ethnic restaurants, and new businesses seem to be opening almost every day. In the last few months, the city has gotten curbside recycling and a new supermarket. This is good stuff for a city that many had written off and I'm glad to write about it for my milestone of review number 1000. I'm giving the city of Biddeford four stars because there's still work to be done and more than a few local politicians act like they prefer the good old days of urban blight. Some bigger businesses have been unable to move to Biddeford because there's not enough parking and there's a big debate about whether the city should build a parking lot. A bright future for Biddeford is within reach and I'm excited to have a ringside seat in my artist studio, located in one of Biddeford's nearly-full mill buildings. And no, I'm not running for office. I'm just excited about where things can go.

Back in the late '90's, an obviously-bored Biddeford cop illegally detained me for almost an hour…read moremerely because --- after stopping me merely because I had salvaged a discarded-and-smashed-and-obviously-much-weathered TV set and was carrying it to my aunt's car to take it home and strip it for parts --- I did not have any ID and my name didn't come up when he ran it. The cop really had an arrogant and artificially-suspicious attitude, claiming that he didn't believe me regarding who I said I was because "You're a young man, and young men automatically have a criminal record, so you must be lying to me about who you are." What planet of prejudiced MORONS was HE from --- is it actually a DISADVANTAGE in the eyes of the law if I've simply BEEN GOOD ALL MY LIFE?! He even went so far as to run the plate on my aunt's car to see if anything about IT came back as a problem. He should have been GLAD that I was cleaning up the environment, not make me feel scared and humiliated for doing so! They also seriously need to upgrade their street-markings --- on one side-street, they had a confusing double-headed arrow painted at the end of it where it intersected with the main drag, seemingly indicating that it was a one-way street where you were supposed to change to the left or right lanes respectively if you wanted to turn left or right; I nearly got head-onned by a huge SUV that barreled around the blind corner on the left-hand side! What we pay taxes for, and they can't even mark their streets properly or train their officers ethically!

I use the South Portland Community Center primarily for its pool. It's $3 for South Portland…read moreresidents, or you can buy a punchcard for 50 visits that lowers the cost-per-visit to $2.50. Not a bad deal! The people are friendly, the locker rooms are spacious and clean, and the pool is perfectly-heated. It's a great temperature for lap swimming or just playing around. In addition to the pool, there are basketball courts and an indoor track. The South Portland Community Center is a great local resource, and I'm very glad I've started taking advantage of it. If you live in the area, I suggest you do too! Just don't everybody come at once, because the pool can get pretty crowded during lap swim.

Great for open hours of youth basketball - organized chaos. And the pool is fun as well. And nice…read morethat it's open to non-SoPo residents.

We recently purchased a home here in the city of Saco, so I came down to City Hall (for the first…read moretime ever!) to file my bill of sale with the Assessor's Office. Everyone I encountered was incredibly helpful and small-town sweet. They seemed genuinely happy that I was joining the community! From the Assessor's Office they sent me to a different area of the building so I could check on the taxes to ensure the previous owners had kept up to date with their payments, which thankfully, they had! My time in City Hall was brief but enjoyable, makes moving from a large city to a small town make sense. I was super confused upon arrival, I didn't know what exactly it was that I was looking for, and had to wander around a bit before asking for assistance to get to where I needed to be. If there was a better way of helping citizens navigate their needs within the building, it would have made me feel more confident in my mission at hand.

It's a pretty little seaport and very touristy. And we don't mean that in a negative way; after…read moreall, we were tourists visiting last week. And we thoroughly enjoyed our day in the village. Lots of boutiques with lots of interesting items, some we felt overpriced, but others not so much. Some very appealing restaurants, lots of nautical-themed establishments (duh!) and easy walking. Parking, not always so easy, and it pays to be cautious crossing the very busy streets although every driver we saw seemed courteous to pedestrians. We wound up buying some nice summer clothing, shirts and hats, and got an excellent lunch recommendation from one of the store owners. We also found the public restroom clean and convenient. Our experience was a good one, and remember, that beautiful water is always just a stroll away. On the Fourth of July weekend we can imagine it may get just too crowded, but mid-June worked for our group.

I heard of this place many times over the years due to Presidents having a vacation home nearby. It…read morewas on the nightly news quite often. After finally visiting, I see why this is a favorite vacation spot of Presidents! Quaint, historical, beautiful, small seaport and fun are the best words to describe! Seriously and actually, a vacation spot of royalty and world leaders. Many things to see and do that my 1.5 hours didn't even come close to take very much in. The walk up and down made me want to come back! Lots of touristy shops and restaurants. Many are set up to provide quick service to those on a short timeline. A few tours are available. Everywhere you turn and look is something that would make an artistic photo! One item to note is the tide here can be significant and if you are from a non-tidal area, it is really cool. This town thrives on tourists and their spending! Help them out and have fun!!

Shevenell Park is a small park in downtown Biddeford that apparently came into existence when a…read morebuilding was taken down. For many years it was little more than an empty lot with broken glass and the usual garbage that accumulates when no one's watching, but a few years ago some grant money appeared and the lot was cleaned up. Trees were planted, benches were built, and some tables and chairs showed up. Now it's a spot where there are concerts every Wednesday in the park, people drop by to eat their lunch, and the police frequently walk through. There's nothing about the park that's going to put it on the cover of Architectural Digest, but it's one of a hundred little things that can turn a small downtown from a dreary and depressing wasteland into a place where people want to work and live. Not all of those 100 things have been done yet and there's always some guy within a few blocks asking people for spare change, but it's nice to see progress. If you're near Biddeford between 5:30 and 7:00 on a Wednesday night in the summer, check out the music and then walk to one of the nearby restaurants for dinner. Shevenell Park is okay, and that's worth three stars. Actually it's a little more than okay but Yelp won't let me give it 3.5 stars.

5 stars if you are unhoused and looking for a place to nap and listen to music while charging your…read moredevices!!!!!! If you're a person looking for a library, good luck to you.

During the height of Covid 19, McCarthur Library kept me sane. Thank you for mailing me a…read moreselection of books during business and societal closure. Now, several years later, I continue my admiration. You "all" are the best definition of what a public library should be.

I was falsely arrested by this department a few time for a crime i didn't commit, with warrants…read morethat werent signed by judges- making them null and void another term for illegal. my ada (disability rights) were then violated, when I failed to correct the clerks arrear due to my adhd. they also need new handcuffs as the officer had a hard time uncuffing me.

How in the world do you review a police station?…read more I was here for a - believe it or not, work event. The company I work for was presenting an officer with a Hometown Hero award. The station was easy to find (with signs directing us from the main road), parking was plentiful and the building looks nice! We were greeted by an officer upon our arrival and brought inside (this was a trip - I'd never been inside a police station (aside from a lobby) - I felt like a kid in elementary school, so excited. Ha! The station is clean, like sneakers-squeaking-on-laminate clean. I don't think I should include here too many details about the interior of the building, but I will say that everyone was very nice, helpful when answering questions, and wearing masks. We presented the award, had some photos taken by the local newspaper out front and then parted ways with the Saco Police Station. I'd like to hope that any cause for me to be there would go similarly as that one day did! ...weirest review I've ever written, that was.