Most Important Factors When Deciding Where To Live

[pinebud1111]

Originally Posted by SouthernProper

What is most important to you? What do you look for? Any make or break factors?

Essentials (Make or Break Factors) in no particular order


1. Employment Opportunity (low unemployment, strong job markets, etc.)

2. Good Food Environment (easy access to and/or high concentration of name-brand supermarkets, local supermarkets, locally-owned smaller grocery stores, or year-round access to farmers markets or farm produce)

3. (this one kinda goes with no. 2) a high concentration of good independent restaurants that have good varieties and mixes of cuisines, and maybe as a few good chain restaurants (Moe's or Chipotle, Einstein Brothers, Newk's, Whataburger, Panera Bread, P.F. Chang's, Zaxby's, Schlotzky's, Bojangle's, Bonefish Grill, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, Five Guys, etc.)

4. Vibrancy (plenty of things to do, like having movie theaters, festivals, good parks, occassional live music, golf courses, fitness centers, libraries, museums, arts and cultural centers, maybe somewhere to take continuing education classes, etc. Basically enough to keep you from being bored where you are.)

5. Good Infrastructure (good streets and roads, sidwalks and/or bike lanes, good internet access, reliable electrical sytems with low rate of outages, possibly (but not always required) good public transportation like streetcars, commuter trains, or a Subway/Metro system)

6. Decent Local Government (local taxes not unreasonably high, good web presence of government, ease of access to official documents, at least somewhat transparency in government, very minimal to no corruption, very good competency of government officials, people doing their duty and whatever else they're supposed to do in government, etc.)

7. Not Being a Total Dump (having people pick up trash, most people actually mowing their lawns, most houses not being totally run down shacks or dilapidated and/or burned out historic structures, not letting trees get overgrown, minimalization of unused, empty lots, having good sanitation, not having sewage ponds or landfills right next to the main roads or freeways or highways or next to homes or in the middle of the city)

8. Not Being Overrun with Crime (not neccessarily crime-free, but at least not like a murder capital, gangland, or having a drug epidemic, or being a major center for break-ins, and not having too many people trying to mug you or panhandle you.)

9. Good Greenery and Nature and Good Landscaping (well maintained trees lining streets on green strips in between curb and sidewalks in neighborhoods at least in the older neighborhoods; plenty of verdent, well maintained parks; possibly a creek or river with a park along it in one of the older neighborhoods; nature trails; maybe even ease of access to beautiful forested countryside.)

10. Good Mix and Balance of Political Views (generally a place where no political party got more than 65% of the 2016 presidential election and where at least 6% voted Third Party.) Also generally a place where people who hold different political views can get along as a whole and learn from each other.

11. Generally a place where people aren't cold and anti-social, where there's good opportunities to get involved and meet people, and where there is a good culture of people being friendly and neighborly and maybe being good samaritans, where people actually read the Bible and take seriously the call to "love your neighbor as yourself" and "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

12. Not being a really small town. No offense to small-town people, but I lived in a small town in North Central (hill country) Mississippi, and I just found myself really bored. I just can't imagine that I could stay entertained without being on the internet all the time if I was in a place with a population less than 12,000 within the city limits unless it had a ton of growth coming its way or could manage to attract a ton of out-of-towners year round. Even then, it would have limits.

13. NO HURRICANES! NO MASSIVE EARTHQUAKES! NO VOLCANO ERUPTIONS, NO CYCLONES, NO SANDSTORMS! NO FLASH FLOODING! GOOD DRAINAGE (Agree with SouthernProper about the weather part, mostly. I could deal with snow, ice and icestorms, hail, sleet, tornadoes, blizzards, thunderstorms (but not flooding), and all sorts of critters.)



Non-Essentials (in no particular order) that are a nice touch


1. Good, Quality Public Education (don't want to pay for private schools if I were to ever have children)

2. Decent Childcare Quality and availibility (again, just in case I were to ever have children)

3. Ease of access to national parks and nature areas (I mean less than 1 hour's drive)

4. Ease of access to countryside ( less than 1 hour's drive, not neccessarily being in the outer ring of urban areas though, mostly just being in smaller old cities or in an accessible inner core of a smaller metropolis)

5. Southern Hospitality and Manners (people saying hi to you in the streets, people doing little things like holding the door open for people, people saying please and thank you, neighbors baking a cake or having over for dinner new neighbors by long-timers)

6. Good soil and drainage for gardening

7. Good Climate (Warm but not hot summers (70s and 80s), Pleasant (mid 60s to mid 70s) springs and falls, Cool winters ( 60s, 50s and 40s, occaisonal freezes and snow), moderate precipitation 30-45 inches of rain a year evenly distributed through the months, moderate humidity at noon (at least as low as 50% at noon on the spring equinox)

8. Affordability (prices being at least as low as 85 cents to the dollar in terms of cost of living differences)

9. Diversity (plenty of racial and ethnic minorities, plenty of diversity of different professions, plenty of different political viewpoints and diversity in non-political interests)

10. Plenty of young adults (18-34) in the area, with percentages of 18-34 age groups being at least as high as 25%

11. Plenty of Good Landscape (near mountains or a beach or rocky coastline with harbors or near a major river, or at least rolling hills and a river or creek going through the town)

12. Good Water and Air Quality

13. Gentrification (no Camden, NJ or East Saint Louis, MO, and definitely at least as nice and high quality of a city to live as Atlanta)

14.Plenty of Small Businesses (high entrepreneurship rate, high self-employment rate, many independent businesses making up the majority of Non-farm employment in most service sector types of jobs.)

15. Plenty of Christians (at least 30% Evangelical Christian)

16. Walkability or Good Transit-Oriented Development (being a place where you can walk everywhere or walk then ride transit everywhere within the town, or at least having it for the old parts of the town)

17. Bikeability (bike lanes on all thoroughfares, bike paths through major parks, good streets and topography to ride a bike, being able to ride a bike without worrying about getting run-over by cars everywhere.)

[SunGrins]

I'm retired so job opportunities for me are not critical but I'd want a healthy economy. Same with schools -- no school age kids but I'd want my neighbors' kids to be successful and contribute to the community.


Climate is important. I like being outdoors and like a mild four-season climate. High desert climate seems to fit the bill...not too hot, low humidity, sunny, mild winter with a dusting of snow.


I like my hobbies: fly fishing and photography. I need access to fishable streams and outstanding scenery.


Social scene and culture are important. I like a cultural mix and diversity. Restaurants and brewpubs are good...I brew beer so I have an interest in brewing. I want a reasonably vibrant but uncrowded social scene.


Crime is everywhere but I would not want it to be overwhelming in my neighborhood or encroaching. If you carefully pick your friends and where you go you will not have to worry too much. Petty crime is often a crime of opportunity so don't offer opportunities.


Cost of living lower than the national average would be nice.


Housing preference is not living on top of my neighbors...literally or figuratively. I never want to cut grass again or even hear a lawn mower. Small acreage of 1-2 acres would be good.


Politics -- left of center or center. No right-wing extreme politics. No culture war crusaders or bible-thumpers.


I've always lived in locations where I could look out from my front or back porch and see wild or undeveloped space in the distance. I would be claustrophobic in a flat city or where suburbia stretches out uninterrupted for miles in every direction.

[mhays25]

1. I have to be able to walk most of the time and use transit the rest of the time.

4. Dense and urban. I like real cities. Buildings with parking podiums and Dallas doughnuts don't count.

5. Mild temperatures. Not too hot or cold. See the "walk" point.

6. Growing, with a big infill component.

7. Reasonably big.

8. Growing. Some of that is a love for growing cities. Also my field and interest is marketing for construction.

[Marie Joseph]

1. Cost of living
2. Climate-four distinct seasons, cooler summers, cloudy, and tons of snow in winter. Nowhere hot, dry, or frequently sunny.
3. Proximity to attractions/other cities-because you need things to do for leisure
4. Good school district
5. Decent economy either in the city or at least within a 75 mile radius
6. Scenery-prefer rolling hills/mountains, lots of greenery, lakes/rivers, etc.
7. Walkable city nearby to explore
8. City with independent/ "mom n pop" type of stores as well as the typical big box retailers
9. Moderate sized city (150K-250K)
10. Low crime rate

[dude1984]

-Job Market
-Affordability
-Outdoor recreation
-Climate
-Everything else

In that order.

[SouthernProper]

Originally Posted by Zambon

I would also rank climate as my #1 factor, but I completely disagree with you about what constitutes a good climate. I wouldn't move to Michigan for all the marbles because of the winters. All of your other criteria point to Florida, but alas, the weather is good here, so you wouldn't like it.

You talk about climate? I spent 36 years in Michigan. Give me a 3-day blizzard with -20 degree temps any day over a hurricane with 30+ ft storm surge (that's 20' higher than our elevation), knee deep mud in my house (if my house is still standing), poisonous snakes in my house (if I'm extra lucky), no power for weeks, no AC in 90 degree temps, no clean water for bathing, food shortages and MRE's, the possibility of contracting vibrio, cholera, hepatitis, and ecoli due to unsanitary conditions, the smell of death everywhere, and people out of their minds, having lost everything and whose lives have been reduced to sorting through rubble in the conditions of a third world country.

That happened in my town when Katrina flattened us. 12 years later, we're still rebuilding. We can't get a garden to grow, the storm ruined our soil. "Katrina cough" is a very real thing. People here are ill, drug addicted and suicidal ... they call it Katrina aftermath. When you get tired of hearing about Katrina they talk about Camille. And like good little brainwashed robots, we spend 6 months out of every year watching and bracing ourselves for another one. Because we tell ourselves this is paradise. Sorry if I disagree.

So you can have your "climate". I'll take the snow.

[Marie Joseph]

Originally Posted by SouthernProper

You talk about climate? I spent 36 years in Michigan. Give me a 3-day blizzard with -20 degree temps any day over a hurricane with 30+ ft storm surge (that's 20' higher than our elevation), knee deep mud in my house (if my house is still standing), poisonous snakes in my house (if I'm extra lucky), no power for weeks, no AC in 90 degree temps, no clean water for bathing, food shortages and MRE's, the possibility of contracting vibrio, cholera, hepatitis, and ecoli due to unsanitary conditions, the smell of death everywhere, and people out of their minds having lost everything and whose lives have been reduced to sorting through rubble in the conditions of a third world country.

That happened in my town when Katrina flattened us. 12 years later, we're still rebuilding. We can't get a garden to grow, the storm ruined our soil. "Katrina cough" is still a very real thing today. People here are ill, drug addicted and suicidal ... Katrina aftermath.

You can have your "climate". I'll take the snow.

I'm with you there. I grew up in Upstate NY and have lived in mostly northern locations during my life by choice. I'll take nor'easters that dump 5 feet of snow over one weekend, blizzards that cause windchills of -30F, and other nasty winter weather. To be honest though, I actually enjoy snow

I did live between New Orleans and Louisiana for a brief time in the early 1990's.

My friends down in the areas hit by Katrina have said pretty much the same things that you have stated. It's sad that it took so long for the response to the storm. One of the women we knew down there couldn't find her daughter after the storm and flooding and ended up finding her dead, floating down the street. Just horrible. The woman is still not right even after psychologist visits and moving out of Louisiana.

I feel bad for you and everybody else who went through Katrina and still lives with the aftermath.