Drastic Relocation

[illilli]

My dream neighborohood, I'm in DC right now and am looking forward to buying a house in such a neighborohood.

You need to come down to Calvert County with me Juan! The people in our neighborhood all wave to each other constantly. My neighbor even opens up his basement to everyone on our street to come and imbibe alcoholic beverages! People let their kids run around the streets and you can almost always see people taking walks or standing around talking to each other. Every direction you look, all you can see is forest beyond the houses. I don't even know how big the "city" is that I live in; it's got a town center I think, but I'm not really sure; maybe I drive by it each day on my way to take my daughter to daycare. It's a very old farm community. Of course, I am 40-60 minutes away from Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Annapolis, so I can get plenty of city any time I want or I can drive 60 minutes the other way and hear the deliverance banjo music. (Note to self: do not go on canoe trips in Western Maryland....)

[Locard]

I've moved around quite a bit in my lifetime, and not all of it was at the expense of the gov't.

I would recommend looking up places of interest to you, on the internet. Check out job opportunities, crime rates, and annual weather info. When you find your dream place, if you can afford a weekend trip there, go for it. Stay in a B&B and talk to the people that live/work their. You may not be able to visit, but I definitely would spend the time on the internet checking it out.

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

You should check out wild wonderful West Virginia. I love it here. I live in a county that only has 25,000 people. Yes, that is the entire county. Land values while on the rise, are still very affordable. People are nice and the area is beautiful. A couple larger cities are nearby and several large cities like Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington DC and Northern VA are driving distance away.