My first move with my kids happened last year almost to the day. Before we even picked up the moving truck, we quickly knew we had some research to do. We already found the area of town we wanted to move to, but as with every city – there are pockets of good and bad. Here are the few things we looked for when we were moving our family.
Schools
The first and probably the most important thing to look for when deciding to move to a new town or even just across town is what schools are in the area. Is there one within walking distance , whats the bus routes, or do you want to pickup and drop off? We did a few tours of a couple schools before our move to be sure we would be comfortable with our kids going to a new school. My wife and I decided to bring our kids to a school a few miles away because we liked the curriculum and culture of this school over ones closer by. This is not always possible when moving from out of state, but you can check out some school review sites for some help in deciding.
Kids
I feel like this is probably the hardest one to figure out – are there other kids in the neighborhood? We moved into a neighborhood that has a small playground right around the corner. This doesn’t mean there a bunch of playmates for your kids, but this is a good start. If a school is nearby within walking distance, this is also a good sign.
Community
One tool I used for this was Google Maps. Simply search parks, gym, pools, community center, etc with your new zip code. This allowed us to make sure we had everything within a short drive, or as in my case – walking distance. In Phoenix it’s imperative to be close to a pool, if you don’t have one in your backyard already!
The best thing to do is to prioritize what is important to your family and remember to let your kids in on the conversation too.
What kind of things do you look for in a family friendly neighborhood?
