Thinking of relocating and need some input, ladies

winery

We're thinking of relocating and I need to compile data from each of our choices including things like how the schools are, if the private ones are expensive, if there are good stores close, how much are the homes, etc.

What information would you want to know about a place before you move there?  You don't have to list a bunch, just a few that I probably haven't thought of yet.

On a side note, I'm really excited!  I love where we live, but it's very expensive and too competitive and I think a move to someplace slower will do us some good.

kittycarr

Frederick is very slow....houses are for sale in my neighborhood.

How about coming over the third Saturday in August?  Is that good for you?

MargieMom

we are considering a move too - and for the same reason!  good to know we aren't alone.  Besides what you mentioned above, the most important thing we are looking at is specific neighborhoods, and what they have to offer.  we only have one LO and plan on only one, so it's super important to be in a neighborhood that has lots of other young families - as well as ammenities like a pool, walking trails, ponds/lakes, playgrounds, etc.  We've actually even found the "right" neighborhood, and are now on the search for JOBS!  GL!

Halo79RN

we did research on the education system (how much spent per child per year, student to teacher ratios, graduation rates.... even with that, it's gotten more confusing being here and hearing what people have to say about schools), crime rates and demographics (education level of who lives there,avg salary,  age... retirement town? young families? good combo?... that's more specific to neighborhoods, but also some towns are big time retirement flocks), weather.... we did look at avg rain/snow/temps... real estate... which we moved to an expensive area, so that didn't work out so well for us. lol. but we did look at it prior to moving.   I'm trying to think of what else we looked into???

ultimately, we didn't have much option. dh is a professor, not a good market right now for someone highly specialized looking for tenure track. we went with the best option .  we're please so far. 

winery

I think we can do that Kitty!

Margie, where are you thinking of moving?  Email me: winery2003@gmail.com

 

kittycarr

MargieMom:

we are considering a move too - and for the same reason!  good to know we aren't alone.  Besides what you mentioned above, the most important thing we are looking at is specific neighborhoods, and what they have to offer.  we only have one LO and plan on only one, so it's super important to be in a neighborhood that has lots of other young families - as well as ammenities like a pool, walking trails, ponds/lakes, playgrounds, etc.  We've actually even found the "right" neighborhood, and are now on the search for JOBS!  GL!

Move to my neighborhood too.  I have a pool and there are lots of area playgrounds so we can all hang out together.

DaiLyght

Use monster.com or careerbuilder.com to get an idea of what the job market is like

Also, use a cost of living comparison calculator to help get an idea of salary, housing, etc comparisons 

mamarazzi

I'd do a search on local home listing sites to compare home prices -- how much bang you can get for your buck.  And then compare taxes as well.  For instance, where I live, homes are very affordable, but taxes are rather high. 

Also, consider looking to see if there are separate school systems.  In my city, there are two public school systems within the city.  One ranks higher than the other.  Then, there are the suburbs' school systems, which rank higher than the main city's.  I'm not sure where you'll pull the data from and if it will just be an average of a city's school systems or what, but it might be something to think about.

I'd be interested in local activities, too.  Do they have a decent children's museum?  How's their zoo?  The park system?  Those are places we spend a lot of time at, so they'd be important factors for us.

Good luck with your decision! 

joseysbride

Aside from what you and others have already mentioned, I'd want to know about the local park system as well as the activities there are for youth.  Probably not the most important thing, but since you are a sahm, I think it would be somewhat important to have those things around you since you will most likely be looking for things to do.

Amanda&Chris

When we moved I found this website www.bestplaces.net to be the most helpful.  It gives numeric breakdowns of all different categories from religion to income to housing to schools to weather of all of the towns that it lists.  Obviously, I did a ton more research, but it was a good starting point to see what towns to research further and what to rule out completely.

For us, schools were a top priority, but we also wanted to find a town where we felt we would be happy and fit in.  For us, that meant not being in the lowest income bracket or the highest, not having the most expensive house or the cheapest, etc.

Also, once you narrow it down, look at local paper websites and school websites.  That helped me get an idea of the "mentality" of the town.  For example, one town that we looked at had just voted down a tax increase of less than 1% to raise money for the schools.  The town we ended up choosing voted to approve a larger tax hike to improve schools by an overwhelming majority.  To us, that signified that people here were willing to put effort into keeping the schools and town a great place, not just expecting to get the benefits without doing the work.

 Sorry this got long, but I put probably over 100 hours of research into our move and I think it paid off.  Let me know if you have any more questions.

taylor20204

Hey there,

Mind if I ask where you're thinking of?  And I'd love to hear where margie is thinking of too!  Where in CT, near Hartford.  I'd love to move farther north....it's getting so congested here.  Anyway, we're thinking of a move sometime in the next year or two as well and I was just curious where you guys were thinking of since our reasons seem similar.  Good luck with your search!

pincushions

Amanda&Chris:

When we moved I found this website www.bestplaces.net to be the most helpful.  It gives numeric breakdowns of all different categories from religion to income to housing to schools to weather of all of the towns that it lists.  Obviously, I did a ton more research, but it was a good starting point to see what towns to research further and what to rule out completely.

For us, schools were a top priority, but we also wanted to find a town where we felt we would be happy and fit in.  For us, that meant not being in the lowest income bracket or the highest, not having the most expensive house or the cheapest, etc.

Also, once you narrow it down, look at local paper websites and school websites.  That helped me get an idea of the "mentality" of the town.  For example, one town that we looked at had just voted down a tax increase of less than 1% to raise money for the schools.  The town we ended up choosing voted to approve a larger tax hike to improve schools by an overwhelming majority.  To us, that signified that people here were willing to put effort into keeping the schools and town a great place, not just expecting to get the benefits without doing the work.

 Sorry this got long, but I put probably over 100 hours of research into our move and I think it paid off.  Let me know if you have any more questions.

 

ditto this.