How do I choose the right community for me? If I have kids? What are the best resouces?

    “Good” communities and “bad” communities are very much in the eye of the beholder.  Although some areas may be more prone to crime, none is completely free of it.  While there are outstanding teachers and gradations of school districts, neither category is guaranteed to be “best”.      “If the issue revolves around children, their ages must be taken into consideration: very young, open up the Megan’s Law  (read: “convicted sex offender”) website and learn if there are prospective predators close by.  Don’t rely on either a web based iteration of the district schools or on the real estate agent’s assessment of local education; go mano-a-mano with a school administrator in his or her office and ask your questions point blank.      “Need soccer or ballet?  You’d be surprised what will show up on both the Chamber of Commerce and individual City websites.      “Remember that all real estate is local; look at the newspaper’s monthly summary of city-by-city sales for your county and notice that cities with two or three Zip Codes often have one with price increases, another with price declines. There is no way to determine in advance what trends the real estate market will take with your investment, but there is a wealth of history about a community’s past growth from any good real estate practitioner.      “In the end, where you live must depend on so many factors that “advice” on how to chose a community must be very general: what can you afford? how far must you commute to work (fuel is part of your housing expense!)? are there facilities and services that the family needs or wants?      “Choosing where to buy is very much the responsibility of the buyer.  All other who assist, from the real estate agent to that confronted school administrator can only offer small parts to fit into the larger puzzle”