How do you choose a neighborhood?

Well, among all the crazy and busy things that have been going on, the thing that is on my mind is how hard it is to chose a neighborhood without being familiar with the area. We have tried to rank things like: schools, cost, neighborhood characteristics,and distance from Richard's job. It is so hard to rank and then find a neighborhood that matches what we hope for.

Schools- we use the "great schools" website as a starting point which ranks how well schools perform on standardized tests. The ratings go up to 10. However, I know that thats not the only important thing. I want to at least have a 5 or above, and Whitney would really like to have a school that has field hockey- which there aren't that many in the area.

Cost- after moving to where we are now we have thought that we would have done better to choose a less highly rated school and live in a cheaper area so we didn't always feel like we had to penny pinch. Once again the areas with the best rated schools are more expensive to live in ( but also much closer to Richad's job)

Neighborhood Characteristics- This can be tricky- after living in suburbia for years- Richard and I would just like a little more space and privacy- plus many of the areas with more space, are actually less expensive to live in- But we also have 3 kids and the catch is that they would like things close around. Whitney is use to riding her bike all around.

Distance- We are looking at areas very close to Richard's work- but then areas 40 minutes away. We are already preparing for the change of Richard having to work a regular 9-5 job. Right now he often works from home and has a lot of flexibility in scheduling- so he is often home when the kids get home from school or what not. That's going to be a change- and do we want to add another 40 minutes to the day he's gone ( or 80 )- or do we pay more and live in suburbia, with the best schools??

It seems like if we focus on one of the above four topics, the others lose out and I'm having a hard time figuring out what is best. For our whole family. So, how do you choose a neighborhood? ( Much harder with 3 kids!)

And so it goes...