Customer Reviews

Moving to Small Town America: How to Find & Fund the Home of Your Dreams

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Moving to Small-Town America is practical in purpose and broad in scope. Author William Seavey starts out by examining why so many people are unhappy in cities. He then helps the future emigrant plan for a move with a checklist of priliminary steps to take, consideration of financial expectations, and advice about job-hunting from afar. A subsequent chapter focuses on entrepreneurship in small towns. He discusses factors that contribute to livability, presenting some interesting information and ideas about population, growth, and city limits. Pros and cons of "meccas" are presented and suggestions given as to how to gather information about a prospective new locale. Disposing of an urban dwelling and finding rural housing as well as practical advice about the moving process itself are also covered. In the final chapter the author recounts his expeiences with gaining acceptance into new communities by volunteering. William Seavey is the founder of the Greener Pastures Insuitute, a firm specializing in rural relocation. Not surprisingly, the book is peppered with plugs for its services. Nevertheless, it contains much useful information and many interesting ideas. He makes many references to the land and admonishes his readers to fight to keep their adopted home towns as attractive and livable as when they were lured there themselves. Although there is some overlapping, this book and John Clayton's Small Town Bound are complimentary. Clayton emphasizes social adaptation in a new community as the most important criterion of prosperity. Seavey, while not neglecting this aspect, focuses more on the practical details of the migration--how to disengage from the old place, the actual moving, and the settling in in the new place. Both books have appendices listing many useful resources.