Deciding to move to a new neighbourhood is a big decision and there are many reasons for doing so. Maybe work commitments have lead you to a new location or you have decided to move closer to relatives. Whatever the exact reasons there are certain things that you need to do before moving to a new neighbourhood. One of the most important things that needs to be taken care of is checking out what a new neighbourhood is actually like, before you commit to moving in.
But what exactly do you need to check? Read on if you are unsure of just what needs to be checked.
The Quality Of Local Schools
This applies mainly to people who are already parents or to those who are considering becoming parents in the future. When moving to a new neighbourhood you need to make sure that the local schools are of sufficient quality for you children. Education is so important and you want to make sure that your children will receive the best education they can.
Take some time to ring up local schools in the neighbourhoods that you are looking at to find out what they are actually like. You should be asking about things like reviews, whether there is extra help available and if there are opportunities to get involved in any extracurricular activities.
The Transport System
How good the transport system is in a new neighbourhood is definitely a question you always need to find out the answer for. How easy is it going to be for you to get to work? Are there regular buses for your children to get to school or college? Are the sort of questions that you need to be asking. You always need to make sure that you think of how easy a trip would be in all types of weather conditions. For example if it is cold during winter do you really want to walk 25 minutes to the nearest bus stop?
If you are not planning on using public transport and are going to drive to work instead, you should still take the time to see how bad traffic can get in a neighbourhood.
Crime Rates
Crime rates are not 100% accurate as there are some crimes that go unrecorded. However they do give a pretty good picture of a neighbourhood. You should be able to gather some pretty insightful statistics to what sort of crimes are committed in a neighbourhood. Sites such as Neighbourhood Scout or City Data are brilliant for this purpose. However you need to bear in mind that all areas have some level of crime that just cannot be avoided. You will be able to tell whether the crime rate is above the national average or not pretty easily.
What’s the actual place like?
It’s all well and good to ring up schools and check the crime statistics but nothing gives you a better impression of a neighbourhood than visiting it in person. You should drive and walk through a neighbourhood during the day and at night to get the best picture of what the place is actually like.
You should try to determine how near to places such as shops you are, as you don’t want to move to a new area to find out you are miles away from the rest of civilization.
Doing all these things will help you to get the best impression of what a neighbourhood is like. This can help you to decide whether you want to move to a certain area or not. The last thing you want to do is commit to living somewhere that you really dislike.
This artice was written by Endre Rex-Kiss, freelance writer and guest blogger in topics ranging from finance, real estate and social media. This time he represents FidelisAM, a US based company providing tenant screening services. Connect with him on Twitter @erexkiss.
