Things to check out when looking out an area to move to? (relocation, jobs)

[GiantRutgersfan]

Going to a different state to see if it is a suitable location to move too.

What kind of things would reccommend someone in my shoes look at (particularly things i might not think of)

Thanks

[Charles]

Schools
Availability of "Plan B" jobs (if you lose your job)
Housing prices
Traffic Patterns
Taxes
Local Amenities
Climate
Insurance considerations (flood zone, wildfire, etc)
Distance from fire station
Neighbors (lots of kids for your kids; comfortable with the demographics, etc)
Distance from doctors, groceries, shopping
Healthcare: location, quality, variety, choice
Zoning: Is a cement factory going to be built in that nice field across the street? Is a freeway going to be built next to your backyard? etc.
Utilities
House orientation: Ideal is south facing backyard, east and west facing sides of homes with the assumption the backyard has lots of windows and the east and west side don't have lots of windows. You get lots of free heat in winter and less heat in summer.
Availability of high speed internet; Is FIOS available for example.
Cell phone coverage
Sewer vs septic
Well vs city water
You can never have too much garage
Fireplace: wood vs gas only
Time zone: prefer one over another
Distance from convenient airports
Political culture
Religious culture

[GiantRutgersfan]

I mean while i am physically in the location.

[fallingwater]

I think Charles pretty much covered it. I can tell you what boo boo's I made in my relocation. I did not understand myself enough. I am a true city slicker. I did not realize this about myself until we moved to a low populated area. I went from a city that had over a million people to an area that has about 180k roughly. I just didnt think about it much. It seemed like a decent amount of people but what I learned is that there is not a lot to do. I live 90 minutes from any major metro area and I quickly learned that I like culture. Also it has a small town feel and I have put my foot in my mouth several times. We had a guy fix our lawnmower who ripped us off. My neighbor noticed we had it back and asked about it. So I told him all about how we had it repaired and the guy ripped us off and not to use him. Well it turns out the repair guy is the father of my other neighbor. So I kind of feel like when I get ripped off I have to grin and bear it because well with my luck it is so and so's best friend, husband, neighbor....well you get the idea. I like big cities where there is not so much connection.

Also look at the weather. I only moved several hundred miles from my hometown. So I didn't even think much about the weather. How could the weather be that different several hundred miles away? Well trust me, it can. I moved to the snow belt. Did I mention I hate snow?