I did my transect walk in the Munjoy Hill neighborhood, outlining with Eastern Promenade and wandering through several side streets within the area. My initial focus was going to be the presence of Maine lobster iconography, such as buoys, lobster traps, and other lobster motifs. Only a few minutes into my walk, however, I quickly changed my focus as I began to observe the omnipresence of Adirondack chairs. I adopted an Adirondack radar and identified numerous houses with them across Munjoy Hill. I also observed a few lobster buoys strung on fences and some other Maine motifs, such as seagull weather vanes.

Along Eastern Promenade, in particular, there were stretches where every single house had at least one Adirondack. On this street, all of the chairs faced towards the water and had unobstructed views, often from second or third stories. I am sure that I overlooked many chairs that were on higher levels or hidden from sight, and I did not walk through many of the smaller streets within Munjoy Hill.

With this data, I will compare real estate values to houses that have Adirondack chairs and try to determine if there is a correlation between higher property values, Maine iconography, and gentrified neighborhoods. I could already start to see a correlation through my time spent in the neighborhood and through looking at the area on Zillow. While Adirondack chairs and cultural gentrification do not go hand-in-hand with smart technology and improvements, hopefully my data will reveal clear boundaries between gentrified and non-gentrified areas. With these findings, I would like to explore the integration of low-income housing into these gentrified areas and a more seamless adoption of Maine culture in Munjoy Hill, one that is universal through the area and not only indicative of wealth and property turnover.

 

• Started on Eastern Promenade and Congress Street
• Many houses along Eastern Promenade had porches on multiple levels (many multi-family homes)
• 236 Promenade Place, a new development on Eastern Promenade, had Adirondacks in the side yard.

• 270 East Promenade had 5 Adirondacks on the front facing the water. There were three large chairs and two smaller ones for kids, and the order of the chairs was different from the order seen on the 2013 Google Street View, although the chairs remained in the same location.

• 288 East Promenade was a newer construction with a stone wall around the house. On the wall was an inscription that read “Friends forever we will be whether walking on the beach or sailing the sea.” Kids were playing in the driveway of this house. (This house does not appear on Google Earth or on Zillow, so either I marked the address wrong or it is very recent construction.)

• 294 Eastern Promenade had two red Adirondacks on the 2^nd floor porch.

• There was an older development of apartments at 304 Eastern Promenade called MacArthur Gardens. There were 7 two-story brick multi-family units.
• In front of this development was a cupcake truck at a bike race centered on the grassy park along the water. Most of the people I spoke to watching the race were not Portland residents. One family was from Yarmouth and another family was from Topsham.

• Willis Street had smaller, more run-down houses.
• 41 Montreal Street had a lobster trap in the side yard, but the house did not have other evidence that it was owned by a fishing family. Work was being done on the house.

• Montreal Street seemed to have many families as I observed several bikes and scooters and a kid’s chalkboard on the front porch of a house.

• 102 and 104 North Street had some never developments
• 115 North Street and upwards had several multi-family developments. All of the units were attached and each front porch had two doors, so there were probably two units per porch. Several porches had one side decorated for Halloween and the other side completely bare, suggesting that many of the units were families while others were not.

• Sheridan Street had several 4-story new developments sandwiching older 2 story houses.

• 135 Sheridan Street, a new higher-end development, had very little character and did not fit in well with the surrounding older houses with more charm.

• 99 Sheridan Street had lobster buoys on the side of the house.

• 62 Cumberland Avenue, a newer construction, had Adirondacks on the 1^st floor porch. The building also had solar panels on the roof.
• 70 Waterville Street had several lobster buoys on the side of the house.

• Most of the houses on Waterville Street were wooden, but at 64 and 66 Waterville, there were two similar brick houses that stood out from the rest.
• 62 St. Lawrence St. had Adirondacks in the backyard. The house was for sale. The images on Zilllow for one of the units includes pictures of the back patio and a specific shot of one of the Adirondacks.

• 72 St. Lawrence St. had a red Adirondack on the back porch.

• 44 and 46 St. Lawrence St. (two unit house) had a blue Adirondack on the side porch.

• Many of the houses along St. Lawrence Street had rooftop decks.
• 11 St. Lawrence Street was a very modern construction for sale. A unit is listed for just over one million on Zillow.
• 1 St. Lawrence Street had buoys on the side of the house.

• The south side of East Promenade had very fancy old mansions, many of which appeared to be single-family residences.

• 22 Eastern Promenade had a seagull weather vane on the back portion of the house.

• 28 Eastern Promenade had bright Adirondacks on the front porch and older white ones on the side.

• 12 O’Brion Street, a four-family unit, had an Adirondack on the back porch.
• 46 East Promenade had green Adirondacks on the front porch.
• 84 East Promenade (most likely a multi-family unit, based on Zillow sales) had 4 colorful Adirondacks on the side.

• 102 East Promenade (a seven-family unit) had 2 bright pink Adirondacks on the 2nd floor.
  

• 140 Eastern Promenade had a seagull weather vane.
• 160 Eastern Promenade had 2 colorful Adirondacks and a bright table in between the chairs. This house was not as fancy as its neighbors.

• 168 Eastern Promenade (3 floor multi-family unit) had 2 bright pink Adirondacks and a wicker table.

• 172 Eastern Promenade had sets of Adirondacks on both sides of the house. This house looked newer than its neighbors.
• 182 Eastern Promenade had an Adirondack a small statue of a lighthouse in its side yard.

• 188 Eastern Promenade had 2 Adirondacks in its side yard.

• 25 Congress St. had an Adirondack on its upper side porch.