Relocating Tools Online

The Internet has really come full circle; before, you might have gotten online to learn about the weird and wonderful, but now you can use it to learn about your home town and other cities as well. Whether you want to know how high your city's crime rate is, how to get to a movie theater, or how high the cost of living is in the next state, the Web has it.

You might check Wikipedia for articles on biology or the American Revolution, but the online encyclopedia has articles about many cities and towns. The entries describe population, land area and makeup, and even things like median income.

Wikipedia's city entries vary widely in content. Articles on smaller cities may only contain demographic information, while larger ones describe history, economy and even infrastructure. This limits the site's usefulness.

City-Data.com is the best place to look for information on a certain city. All you do is search the city name and select the entry in the state you're looking for. Like Wikipedia, City-Data has a lot of demographic information, but City-Data also has crime statistics, average rent, employment information, schools, hospitals, and even radio stations in the area.

Indispensable for researching and planning a move, City-Data is worth keeping in your Favorites. But what if you just want driving directions or information on a local business?

Many people already know about MapQuest, the website that offers free driving directions, but alternatives are available. RandMcNally.com's routes often reduce driving time. Google Maps has concise directions and detailed maps, though searching for your destination and starting point is needlessly clumsy.

And if you'd like to know more about the business you might be getting directions to, InsiderPages.com has reviews of local businesses, and lots of them.

The best part about InsiderPages.com is that the reviews are written by users, not professional reviewers. You can sign up with the site and write your own reviews, and while you won't be paid -- they may have promotions involving $50 gift cards at Starbucks -- it's a great way to share your thoughts on local businesses.

And if you're wondering what the cost of living is like in a town you'd like to relocate to, try the Cost of Living Comparison Calculator at http://www.bankrate.com/brm/movecalc.asp. Pick your home town, the town you want to move to, and enter your salary to see how the locations compare in both cost of living and average salary.

It may never replace the good old phone book, but the Internet is becoming a popular place to look for local information.