Maine Economic and Demographics Program

Place and Prosperity

In its 2006 report “Charting Maine’s Future: An Action Plan for Promoting Sustainable Prosperity and Quality Places,” the Brookings Institution asserts that Maine’s quality places are scarce and valuable assets in today’s economy. At the request of the Governor’s Council on Maine’s Quality of Place, staff at the State Planning Office investigated the intellectual underpinnings of that claim. They also considered why and how Maine might consider “Quality of Place” as a new framework for economic development. This paper summarizes their findings and conclusions.
"Place and Prosperity" (PDF 180K) Released June 2007.
Governor’s Council on Maine’s Quality of Place website

LD 1 PROGRESS REPORT 2006

Each year the Maine State Planning Office reports on the progress made by the State, counties, municipalities, and schools toward the tax burden reduction goals established in 2005. In that year, a bill call “LD 1” set the goal of reducing Maine’s state and local tax burden ranking to the middle one-third of state by 2015. This year’s progress report, as well as background data and the latest tax burden report from Maine Revenue Services, are available on SPO's LD 1 website

2007 Report on Poverty

"Each year since 1998, the Maine State Planning Office has reported on the subject of poverty in Maine. The format of the publication has changed little in that time. This year, as we approach our tenth reporting year, we updated and refreshed the content and format of the report." The 2007 report (PDF 878kB) contains indicators updated through September 2006.Released February 2007.

Passenger Rail Service in Maine