subject: What To Look For In A New City [print this page] Moving to a new city can be one of life"s most exciting, but nerve-wracking adventures! With cities all over the country investing more and more in development and growth, there are a lot of options to consider for those on the move. One of the first things to do is determine and set a list of priorities. Since no two people are the same, there is no "one size fits all" solution to defining what one wants in a city.
By searching online you can access thousands of articles rating the most livable, happiest or best cities in the U.S. These reports evaluate a variety of factors. For example, "the Economist relies on five major categories to structure its ratings: "stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure." 1
Yet no matter how well intentioned or thorough, none of these lists can address subjective priorities. For instance, does The Economist take into account a sense of community? Does Reuters have a better method than CNN.com of identifying the most livable city? As Haya El Nasser of USA Today states in his 2004 survey, "Most livable? Depends on your definition."2
To make his point, Nasser refers to Marquette, a small rural town in Michigan"s Upper Peninsula. He writes that some would find the weather there "as pleasant as a root canal."2 This town averages 200 inches of snow a year. But that may be exactly what a winter sports aficionado wants. Avid skiers, for instance, love to hit the slopes during lunch breaks!
Regardless of where you choose to live, safety, like the weather, will always be an important consideration. With the growth of smartphones and continued innovation and development of apps, there are now security apps to help you feel safer wherever you are. One such app is Gabe The Guardian. According to Gabe The Guardian founder Michael Monahan, "Wherever you live, this app helps give you peace of mind. With its Emergency, Locate Me and Check In features it"s simple to send a photo and email of your GPS location as well as a text message informing your closest contacts of your location and situation." Gabe The Guardian also allows you to pre-program a list of contacts so you can stay in touch and keep friends and family up to date with your location whenever and wherever you feel the need.
An important point to remember is even though one"s priorities may be determined by a wide variety of factors, where one chooses to live shouldn't be decided solely by those factors. For example, not all senior citizens will enjoy Florida, and having roots, family and friends in Iowa doesn't necessarily mean someone should remain there. When deciding where to live, it's not in your best interest to only consider where one believes they should be, but one should also consider where they want to be.
So go ahead and enjoy living life where you want to be.
