When You Know Exactly Where You're Moving
If it's to be with your family, then of course you know the place.
If it's to be with friends you know well, who will support and help you get settled there, then – again – you know the place.

If it's your dream city, you've been there on visits before, and now you want to move there permanently, then you know the place.

In all of these cases, where you know where you're going (and you know who's going with you), you need no advice from me. Except about job-hunting, once you get there; in which case, read the 1999 What Color Is Your Parachute? (available at your local bookstore).

When You Don't Know Where To Move To
But there are those other times, when you need or want to move, but have no idea where to move to.
We're back to our first considerations.
What's most on your mind? Jobs, or a wonderful place?

\Let's look at these two scenarios, taking jobs first:

And Finding A Job Is The First Thing On Your Mind
If jobs are the first thing on your mind, in deciding to move, you have two ways to go.
One is to move where the unemployment rate is low for all jobs. In the U.S., your local Federal/State employment office can usually give you the current statistics about all 50 States. You look for the States with the lowest unemployment rate. Currently, the 10 with the lowest rate (where they're desperate for workers) are:

Nebraska (The lowest unemployment rate in the nation: only 2.39%), South Dakota (2.82%), North Dakota (3.14%), Iowa (3.28%), Utah (3.36%), Minnesota (3.45%), Wisconsin (3.67%), Colorado (3.84%), New Hampshire (3.89%), and Delaware (4.11%).

Get a detailed map of each State that interests you, and pick one or more metropolitan areas in those States, so you can call or write to their Chambers of Commerce (pick up your phone and ask Information for their phone numbers, in each city).

Ask those Chambers for all the information they have in writing about businesses which deal with your trade or specialty, and you ask that these lists be sent to you.
Send them a thank-you note the day the stuff arrives, please. You may need to contact them again later, perhaps when you're actually in the area, and it will help you a lot if they can say, 
"Oh yes, you're that nice person who sent us a thank-you note when we sent you our materials. First thank you note we've gotten in three years." Chances are, they will bend over backwards to help you.

If jobs are the first thing on your mind, in deciding to move, there is a second way to go. And that is, to find out what places in the country have a particular need for your kind of skills.
This is hard to do in the case of some jobs – like that of a writer, say, but easier to do if you are a craftsperson or practice a particular trade.

In the latter case, go to your local library, and ask the librarian to help you find a trade association directory, or directories.

Look up the association that deals with your occupation, and jot down the address, phone, fax number, and e-mail address of their national headquarters.

Fax, write or phone them and ask if they know where the demand is greatest, in that industry, nationwide. Jot down what they say.

If they say they don't know, ask who might know. Get said person(s)' address and phone numbers. Contact them.

If the answer ultimately turns out to be 'several places,' then you can fall back on the books listed at the end of this section – such as Richard Boyer's and David Savageau's Places Rated Almanac – to decide which of those is your first choice, which is your second, etc.
Once you move there, you may feel very stranded and lonely at first.

If going into a new geographical area is a totally new experience for you, and you have no friends there, just remember there are various ways of meeting people, making friends, and developing contact rather quickly.

The key is, find people who share some interest or enthusiasm of yours.

There are also athletic clubs, Y's, churches, charitable and community organizations, where you can present yourself and meet people, from the moment you walk in the doors.

You will soon develop many acquaintances, and some beginning friendships, and the place won't seem so lonely after all.

Also, visit or write your high school or college before you set out for this new town and find out what graduates live in the area that you are going to be visiting for the first time: they are your friends already, because you went to the same school.

Once you get there, you will want to talk to key individuals who can suggest other people you might talk to, as you try to find out what organizations interest you. You will want to define these key individuals in your distant city ahead of time and let them know you are coming. Your list may include all the people listed above, plus Chamber of Commerce executives, city manager, regional planning offices, appropriate county or state offices in your area of interest, the Mayor, and high-level management in particular companies that look interesting from what you've read or heard about them.

When you "hit town," you will want to remember the City Directory, the Yellow Pages of your phone book, etc. You may want to put a modest-sized advertisement in the paper once you are in your chosen geographical area saying you would like to meet with other people who are following the job-hunting techniques of What Color Is Your Parachute? That way you'll form, or join, a kind of 'job-hunters anonymous,' where you can mutually support one another in your hunt.

One successful job-hunter described how all of this research about place can lead as well to information about jobs:

"Suppose I arrived cold in some city, the one place in all the world I want to live – but with no idea of what that city might hold as a match and challenge for my 'personal-talent bank.' I have an economic survey to make, yes; but I also have an equally or more important personal survey to accomplish. So, I meet pastors, bankers, school principals, physicians, dentists, real estate operators, et al. I would be astonished if opportunities were not brought to my attention, together with numerous offers of personal introduction to key principals. All I would be doing is forging links (referrals) in a chain leading to some eventual jobs. The referral is the key.