As bad as the coming base realignments may be in Northern Virginia, it could be worse.

The town of Brunswick, Maine, for instance, has lost more than 4,500 jobs since 2005, when the Pentagon announced it would move the naval air station there to Jacksonville, Fla.

"It's probably the most significant economic event in Maine in probably the last 50 years," Brunswick economic development director David Markovchick told The Washington Examiner. "If you look at the town of Brunswick, obviously a lot of purchasing power has been drained out."

The biggest impact was the $1.7 million annual payment from the Navy to make up for not paying property taxes. The money has been reduced to about $600,000, which meant the local schools lost their main source of funding.

"The demands on services are growing, the dollars are getting short," Markovchick said.

Markovchick said that the town has refocused to try to attract high-tech energy companies but expects it will take decades to replace the lost jobs.

"It's a long road," he said.

Despite that, Markovchick said the town is optimistic that it will rebound. Only one downtown store, for instance, sits vacant.

"My role is to be optimistic and we're seeing some good things happening," he said. "It's almost what happens in a cancer situation: First you go into a little bit of denial. Then you go into a little bit of depression. Then you reconcile yourself to it."