I was born and raised in Southwest Harbor, graduated from MDIHS in 1989, and lived on MDI off and on until 1998. I moved away for my career and recently returned to the place I always called home in 2020. It has been astounding to see how much change has happened on the island during the past 20 or so years. In my memory, affordable housing has always been a challenge here, and people would often move out of their homes in the summer to rent them even when I was young.

The Islander’s recent article about our work and plans for a subdivision in Northeast Harbor of year-round homes created quite a stir. We were aware of the petition opposed to our plans. Clearly many others are in favor. To our surprise, and delight, a counter petition was created over New Year’s weekend that has already gathered over 160 signatures, and many supportive comments.

Northeast Harbor is the commercial and municipal center of the Town with the greatest concentration of storefront businesses. Having more people living here will support the existing businesses in the quiet season, and that may make the difference in keeping businesses open. It may also make the difference in attracting the businesses many people have told us they want.

Our family moved from San Francisco to Mount Desert Island in the early frenzy of the pandemic in 2020. For my husband, it was a return to his childhood home in Somesville. For my daughter and me, it was claiming a place we love as our new home. The move gave us a backyard and a National Park to explore, the rediscovery of the seasons and time to notice the smell of winter in the morning air. I am honing my wood splitting skills. I am learning about annuals and perennials —that both are important for soil health— and how there may really be no such thing as a weed. We enrolled our daughter at Mount Desert Elementary School, knowing she’d walk the same hallways as her dad and uncle.

Set back from the road on a side street in downtown Bar Harbor, my childhood home is small and unassuming – it was originally built in the 1890s for the daughter of the homeowners to the left as a smaller replica of their house. Since my mom bought it almost 100 years later, the house and the street it sits on have shaped the person I am today.