when to hold 'em, when to fold 'em

Reading Richard Florida's Who's your city? it's only natural to think about one's own situation: should I move? where to?

For me moving begins with a few caveats. First, in academia the job search is a little unique. I'd need to create a list of locations and/or institutions then wait to see when good jobs open at those sites. Second, before even thinking of moving, there are the considerations of my wife's career and the kids' lives. Whether or not Syracuse is a good place for them, they are happy and have friends and so on. I know from my own childhood how difficult it can be to move.

So that said, if I were to move, what would I be looking for?

1. A vibrant intellectual and cultural community--interesting people to work with, cool things to do with friends and family, diversity, good schools
2. A green, sustainable place--where we can walk or take decent public transportation, fresh air, parks, places to exercise, and so on
3. Fitting in a little--not that everyone should be like me, but I don't want to be surrounded by the dominant Christian-American monoculture or by acquisitive, materialist competitive types. I crave people who are more open/experimental, creative/intellectual in their pursuits, who are less acquisitive and so on. But I also don't want to be drowned on counter-cultural lifestyle politics, which is how I sometimes felt living in Ithaca.
4. Long-term affordability--we don't desire a huge house, but we have two kids and a dog. We work from home a fair amount (though maybe that could change). I don't want to be in a situation with kids where we have to hop from rental to rental in a city.
5. Proximity to family?--that's the tough one. My family is in the Northeast. My in-laws live in the Southwest. Opposite sides of the map. Living in Syracuse we can make weekend trips for family get togethers, which happens a couple times a year. We fly to the in-laws once a year for two weeks. But the cost is high (four plane tickets out of Syracuse + boarding the dog). I'm not sure we can resolve that one, but it might be nice at least to live near a more major airport hub.

In the end I don't really have a list of cities, at least not yet. I've lived in New Brunswick NJ, Las Cruces NM, Albany NY, Atlanta GA, Ithaca NY, and Syracuse NY. Each has had it's positive attributes. I've also lived in rural NJ, rural PA, and rural NY and I can tell you I can pretty much rule out the "rural" living thing.

So we'll see. Right now though the thought of any move is purely hypothetical. I've got no plans on going anywhere. Still Florida's book does make you think about your choices.