If you were checking out a place that you had never been to with the purpose of deciding whether to move there or not, what would you ask? What would you want to find out about? What would you want to see?
We are flying to Omaha early Thursday morning to see what it’s like and if we want to move there. None of us has every been there…none of us has ever been within 1000 miles of the place! So we’re going in pretty much blind.
I’m making a list (well after tomorrow when I finish NaNoWriMo) of things to look for and questions to ask. Of course, we won’t think of everything and we may not get another opportunity to visit before making the commitment to move. So that’s where you come in. In the comments, please tell me what you might want to know; what I should be looking for; what I should not be concerned about.
Happy Sunday.
Wasted Days And Wasted Nights 
If you’re renting when you move out there, maybe see what a standard lease is like. Oregon is great for tenant rights. We were shocked how much less landlords are regulated in other states.
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Good point. I think we’ll rent at least long enough to see if we like it well enough to stay!
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wow what an adventure. I’d look at rent prices, community and quality of life it would offer ie how far is work, shops, road network from where you want to live.
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Schools, traffic, and availability of things you use often. Oh, and weather! Safe travels! I hope you find the perfect place for you and yours. 🙂
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Since I work a lot with people who move from city to city, here’s a standard list of things I recommend they consider. 1) Availability of food they are used to. This can be a big deal when moving from the West Coast to the Midwest. We are accustomed to a huge variety of year-round fresh fruits and veggies. This doesn’t exist in the same way in non-coastal areas, and/or areas that don’t have temperate growing climates. 2) What is the weather like year-round, and how might that impact any current or anticipated health concerns that you have? A good example for that part of Nebraska is that it can get very humid, which might be a factor to consider for someone who has MS, for example, or who is allergic to mold. 3) What is the proximity to the type of recreation you like, or that you anticipate wanting to participate in? If you’re a quilter, is there a group for that nearby? If you like to hike in groups, is that available? Google and MeetUp can tell you a lot about the social organization/accessibility where you’re going. 4) What is the nearest hospital like? What will be your access to health care and doctors? If alternative medicine (massage, acupuncture, homeopathy) is important to you, are those resources available? 5) What is the cost of living, vs. what you’re used to…not just for housing, but for food, etc.? Especially moving from Oregon, we’re not used to a sales tax, but we do pay income tax. Understanding the income-impact differential is important. 6) If you need public transportation, what’s it like where you’re moving? If you drive, how does weather, etc. impact car longevity and maintenance? I remember driving through Nebraska and being amazed at how bad the freeways were…just brutal on the car, and the speed limit out there in a lot of places is 80 mph. It’s not a place where you’d want to take a nice car on the freeway. What are licensing fees, etc. like? (Oregon’s are among the lowest in the nation.) 7) What is access like to adjunct services such as dentistry, hair salons, clothing stores? My best friends who moved to Kanab, Utah found that the worst thing about living there was the lack of a good second-hand/thrift store. They actually come to Portland for that once a year. 8) If you’re not living together, figure out how weather will impact accessibility to each other. If you don’t drive, and public transportation isn’t good, and it’s twenty below with a foot of snow outside and you need to get to your grandchildren, how will you do it? 9) What is the technology infrastructure? In Omaha proper it should be fine, but if for example you end up in a suburb, make sure you’ll be able to get the phone and computer support you need. One weird example of this is that although I live in Portland proper, I’m on a street where DSL isn’t available. I’ve always had to have a cable modem, and it was twice as expensive as I’d expected for internet service. 10) Talk to people. Talk to as many of them as you can while you’re there. Get a sense of the prevailing culture, and whether/how you would be comfortable with it. Visit a school if it’s at all possible.
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Great list. I think I’ll have my daughter print out a couple of copies. Thank you!
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I think David just about covered it all and did a fine job of it! He thought of things I never gave a second thought to. The weather would be a good thing to know about. The Midwest is very fickle and can be unrelenting at times! Indiana is especially strange…beautiful and warm in the morning and a blizzard by the end of the day during this time of year. Fresh vegetables and fruits can be pretty pricey when not in season and we don’t have orange trees and other fruits you have on the west coast.
It sounds like a HUGE decision and a HUGE adventure! Good luck!
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so brave of you! good luck and let us know what you find out!
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David sees to have all the issues covered. You might want to check out the local library.
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How exciting, a change is as good as a holiday 🙂
New sights, new sounds, new smells…
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