Richard Boyer and David Savageau, Places Rated Almanac: Your Guide to Finding the Best Places to Live in North America. Prentice-Hall, Order Dept., 200 Old Tappan Road, Old Tappan, NJ 07675. 1-800-223-2348.

A marvelous book. Immensely helpful for anyone weighing where to move next. All 343 metropolitan areas are ranked and compared for living costs, job outlook, crime, health, transportation, education, the arts, recreation, and climate. Has numerous helpful diagrams, charts and maps, showing (for example) earthquake risk areas, hurricane and tornado risk areas (you did see the movie, Twister, didn't you?), the snowiest areas, the stormiest areas, the driest areas, and so on. Don't leave home without it.

David Savageau, Retirement Places Rated. 3rd ed. 1990. Prentice-Hall, Order Dept., 200 Old Tappan Road, Old Tappan, NJ 07675. 1-800-223-2348.
Although purportedly about retirement, it is useful information for anyone. Compares 151 top geographical areas in the U.S.

Norman D. Ford, 50 Healthiest Places to Live and Retire in U.S., Mills & Sanderson, 41 North Rd., Suite 201, Bedford MA 01730-1021.

Lee & Saralee Rosenburg, 50 Fabulous Places to Raise Your Family, Career Press, 1-800-CAREER-1.

Jill Andresky Fraser, The Best U.S. Cities for Working Women. Plume Books, New American Library, 1633 Broadway, New York, NY 10019. 1986.

There is a firm which uses a specialized questionnaire to help a person or family locate three places in the U.S. that fit their expressed personal desires about a place to live. It is run by Andrew Schiller, M.S., a professional geographer, who is thoroughly familiar with Parachute. The firm's name is Relocation Research, P.O. Box 53391, Knoxville, TN 37950. Write or call, for price: 800-278-9884.

If you are interested in the rural life, there are these resources:

William L. Seavey runs a business called Greener Pastures Institute, which publishes a newsletter (Sample back issue: $5). He also written a book which tells you the basic resources for moving to the country or a small town. Its name is Moving to Small Town America, 1996, Dearborn Financial Publishers, 800-829-7934. Bill's address is: Greener Pastures Institute, 6301 S. Squaw Valley Rd., Suite 1383, Pahrump, NV 89048-7949, 800 688 6352.

John F. Edwards, Starting Fresh: How to Plan for a Simpler, Happier, and More Fulfilling New Life in the Country. Prima Publishing, Sierra Gardens, Suite 130, Roseville, CA 95661. 1988.

Frank Levering and Wanda Urbanska, Simple Living. Viking Penguin, 375 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014. 1992.

The Caretaker Gazette, published by Gary C. Dunn, 1845 NW Deane St., Pullman, WA 99163-3509. 509-332-0806. $24 for a one year subscription (six issues), outside the U.S., $30. The only up-to-date source for property caretaking in the world. Landowners, who are searching for caretakers, advertise in this Gazette. People who want to be caretakers, in a particular place, advertise here. Caretaking is an inexpensive way for you to experience life in a specific geographic area, particularly rural ones. While the majority of the jobs listed are in the U.S., a number of international positions are also included. A map on the front page of each issue indicates where the employment opportunities are. The March/April 1997 issue, by way of example, had 74 job listings in 34 states and eight other countries.

Marilyn and Tom Ross, Country Bound! ^(tm) Trade Your Business Suit Blues For Blue Jean Dreams ^(tm). Communication Creativity, P.O.Box 909, Buena Vista, CO 81211. 1992.