Do some research. Internet is pretty good tool for this purpose.
A few years ago, I decided to move to the west side of the Mississippi, after a lifetime east of it. Spent a few weeks researching online. Under consideration was city size (not too big, not too small), weather, motorcycling opportunities (most important), jobs, continuing educational opportunities, outdoor experiences, crime rates, things to do, .... lot's of categories I looked at.
Settled on the Front Range and Colorado Springs.
http://www.moving.com/Find_a_Place/Compare2Cities/ http://www.stateofflorida.com/Portal/DesktopDefault.aspx http://www.moving.com/Find_a_Place/Cityprofile/ http://www.city-data.com/forum/florida/ http://www.homefair.com/find_a_place/cityprofile/index.asp?&cc=1 http://www.yellowpages.com/guide/consumerguides/article.jsp;jsessionid=KATMCDNAOUPFBQFI21FRF2Q?articleID=109466&guideID=110218 Once you've nailed it down to a local or three, look up their individual web sites. For me, Colorado Springs turned out to be a very wired community. For example, they post crime maps on a weekly basis. I printed off a few weeks worth of data, printed the maps on clear, overlapped them, and was able to get a good idea of types and numbers of crime throughout the entire area, in which to base my house hunting on.
Also, good computer maps (not the online stuff), which can pull up data such as places to eat, schools, hospitals, libraries, sites of interest, and so forth can help you get an idea of what a community is like from a distance.
Look at what industries are there. Big difference in burgs that rely on steel mills and chicken processing factories to survive as compared to general truck stops or migrant farm work, or college towns, or areas that support high tech industries.
Finally, I spent 3 weeks traveling by motorcycle out west looking at different areas that I had researched before deciding to move.
