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How to Decide Where to Live and Choose What’s Best for You

Posted in How-to on June 15, 2021

Figuring out how to decide where to live might seem as easy as googling the most excellent places in the US, but that’s not entirely true. Choosing where to live includes more factors than just finding a nice area. Your choice will depend only on your preferences, but we’ll ease your search by naming all the essential elements that should impact your decision.

Unless you’ve already lived in a specific state and city, you’ll never be completely sure if it is the perfect match for your desires. The best thing you can do when choosing a place to live is to determine the important parameters that you’ll use for singling out all the top destinations. Be open-minded and honest with yourself before moving across the country, and you’ll surely make a good decision.

How to Decide Where to Live? Begin With Your Lifestyle

No one can answer the question of How do I decide what city to move to better than you because you know best what you find important for a nice and lovely life. For example, if you’re relocating with pets, you’ll want to be in a suburb or a town that has lovely big parks. In case you’re bringing your family with you, you’re probably searching for a safe neighborhood with good schools. An accurate where should I move quiz might lead you to a big and fun metropolis if you’re relocating to another state alone and you love having an active nightlife. All of this has a huge impact when deciding where to move. Since you know your situation best, we’re only here to point you in the right direction with some tips you might find useful.

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Your Reasons to Move Also Help When Figuring Out How to Decide Where to Live

Your dilemma on how to decide where to move probably has much to do with your reasons to move. If you’re creating a relocation binder and making a household inventory list because you’re fed up with certain things in your current city, then you surely don’t want to move to another similar spot. You could be moving cross country because of the high living expenses, or you’re preparing your home for sale and reading house hunting tips because you don’t want a condo anymore.

On the other hand, you could simply be relocating because you have a desire to feel the benefits of moving, and you’re eager for some positive change. If that’s the case, your hands are untied – you can go wherever you want. Even international shipping is an option.

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Don’t limit yourself - feel free to explore and enjoy

Affordability Is Probably the First Thing You Should Consider Before Long-Distance Moving

Whether we like it or not, many big beautiful cities that offer great things are expensive. It’s possible to find an area that you can afford, but the cost of living will still be high – that includes groceries, gas, utilities, and alike. Before you decide to move somewhere, compare the current monthly costs with the ones that you can expect in the cities you want to move to. One of the best websites to do that is Numbeo – there, you can see each and every cost in many different cities across the globe.

How Much Are You Willing to Pay? It’s Best to Set the Upper Limit With the Money You Have

But – be realistic when doing this and don’t cross the line. There are a lot of unforeseeable situations that can happen and ruin your plans. You can also fall victim to some moving scams, and your relocation budget will definitely feel that. Do a detailed calculation of what your expected costs are and stick to it. Also, when figuring out how to organize your move, pay special attention to your relocation costs. Make sure you know how much movers cost and start preparing for the whole thing early. After you’re done with all of this, you’ll choose your future home city much more easily because you’ll know what you can afford.

Family savings in a jar
Take out all of your savings and make a realistic estimate of how much you can spend

How to Choose Where to Live Is Also Impacted by the Decision on Whether You Want to Move to a House or Apartment

Your place of residence also impacts the choice of your future hometown or at least the part of it. If you’re making a new apartment checklist and looking at some small apartment ideas, then you’re probably looking for a place in some major city with many attractions and amenities. Living in a city is also good if you’re planning an office move. However, if you wish to have a big house with a yard, then a suburb or a small town might be the best choice. The following video is about the differences between living in an apartment and a house, so take a look; it might help.

Are You Looking for a New Job or Working Remotely?

If you’re working from home (and you probably are since you’re relocating during Coronavirus), all you need is a good WiFi connection. If that’s the case, you can skip this step and continue reading.

However, if you need a job, then this step might be essential since the job market has much to do with figuring out how to pick a place to live. As a matter of fact, changing jobs is one of the main reasons why people move. If you’re relocating and you don’t have a position lined up, take time to learn how to get a job before you move. Once you know how to get a job in a new city, you can focus on specific cities that have open positions that you’d like to work in. That will significantly narrow down your choices, making it much easier to answer the question of how to choose a place to live.

People looking at a computer at work
The employment process can take months, so make sure you find a job on time

A Good Climate Is Another Answer to How Do I Decide Where to Live

In case you’re relocating in winter and can’t wait to be somewhere warm (or vice versa), the climate has a significant impact on your choice for a new hometown. Even if you’re not that interested in living in an area with an endless summer or all four seasons, make sure you know what you can expect from the city you’ll be in. There might be some natural disasters that occur from time to time or something else that you should be aware of. Do good research on average temperatures for each month, the number of sunny and cloudy days, as well as the amount of snow and rainfall. That will give you an accurate picture of how a year looks like in that state and town and help you decide which clothes you should pack.

This part is especially important for those who have seasonal depression, allergies, migraines, or some other difficulties because of the weather and seasons. Also, be aware of the humidity levels, as they can notably impact the subjective feeling of the temperature outside.

The Climate Greatly Affects Daily Activities

If you love being outdoors and having an active lifestyle, you’ll want to look into some states and cities that have a pleasant climate year-round. Frequent rainfall and long cold winters won’t make that possible, so some states on the East Coast probably shouldn’t be your choice. In case you don’t care that much about spending time outside, then you won’t have to worry about this issue.

People riding bicycles
Places with mild temperatures are perfect for outdoor activities

Still Don’t Know How to Pick Where to Live? Current Residents in the City You’re Interested in Might Help

What’s a better way to find out something about a city than to ask a person that has already lived there for longer than a year? If you’ve narrowed down your choice of future destinations, check if you know somebody who already lives or has lived there. That will give you a great insight into what life is like in that area. In case you don’t know anyone personally, ask your friends and family. If that doesn’t help either, there’s always the internet. Go to Quora or Reddit and ask them a question like Where should I move to start over or what it’s like in some specific place. There’s surely someone that can answer your questions and ease your searching process. Once you have those insights, you can definitely expect a stress-free relocation.

If You Can, Try to Visit Your Top Five Destinations

If you have time and money to do such a thing, the perfect solution to pick your meant-to-be destination is to go and visit for a few weeks. We know that it’s probably impossible, but it is the best method of deciding where to live.

A woman searching the web
Use all the resources you have to pick the perfect place for your life in another state

Make Sure That You Have a Good Start in the New City by Hiring Professionals

Getting cross-country moving services is ideal for knowing that your beginning in a new destination will be impeccable. Professional long-distance movers will take care of every detail, making sure that there’s nothing to worry about.

You won’t have to waste time learning how to pack fragile items because you’ll have a packing service. As a part of their cross-country moving service, they will load and unload all of your belongings, so you don’t have to figure out how to pack a relocation truck. There’s a free storage unit for a whole month if you wish to leave your possessions and look for an apartment, and if you get car shipping, you can drive around and explore. Professional cross country movers will bring their high-quality box and packing supplies, so everything they pack will arrive safe and in one piece.

Simply put – you’ll have a perfect and smooth relocation. Use our tips to pick the ideal place and leave everything in the hands of experienced movers – we promise that you’ll begin your new life without a single worry on your mind.

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