@melvin123 We are not from here, and other than my daughter, have no family here. Almost all of our friends have already left (because we associate mostly with parents of our older son’s, most of them are retired now). None of my work colleagues are here because I am a consultant and they are all over the country.
While our specific community is lovely, it is ‘all in’ on the schools. City services are mediocre at best and the recreational facilities are awful. (a runner got a ticket running on the street a couple of weeks ago - I am a runner and have been for years and THAT kind of attitude towards pretty much everything makes me insane. There is an ordinance against playing catch in your front yard, too).
While having kids in the schools you couldn’t find a more enthusiastic fan of this community than me, and I am ALL FOR supporting public schools, but that is really all this community invests in. And I want more very close services where I hang my hat next. First class medical services are 6 miles away from me (Cleveland clinic), but I can’t buy a burger and a beer where I live. Kind of a weird place. Drive-throughs are not allowed; Neither are fast food restaurants. I don’t frequent either of those, but you get the picture that pretty much anything which was not in existence in 1935 is allowed here. I will pay high taxes for decent services and a thoughtful use of tax dollars to help the most vulnerable, but not for a police car to sit and ensure that a temporary one-way street is enforced during rush hour so that 4 households are not bothered by traffic noise.
So, if we stay here in the area, we could easily move to where my son would still be very close to his friends and we’d still be close to our daughter. But we are planning on a bigger move than that eventually.
Because our son holds everything in, I don’t want to add to what I think will be tough on him under the best of circumstances. And, @momofsenior1, you are right that he may not be home for his first summer. But chance are, he will be.
Keep the thoughts, experiences, etc. coming. We meet with our realtor next week to get a sense of the market and the 100 things she’ll want us to do on the house.