I see. That makes sense. But then don't most of us want our hometowns presented in a positive light?
You can also find info about things like the mean temperatures, schools, crime statistics, etc, by Googling. That might give you some idea about those things. Also use the Chamber's website to find realtors and look at listings for houses to give you some idea what's available there and how housing prices might compare with where you are now. The schools probably have websites, too, so that might help you find out what activities and such might be available for your kids. The local paper may be online and give some indication of community activities there might be there for you. Also find out the names of the grocery stores and check if they have their ads online, which will give you an idea of how grocery prices compare to where you are.
I'm not sure how you would find out if the town is in a flood plain, but that would be information worth knowing. An insurance agent in that town should be able to tell you, or a mortgage company.
One thing I would want to know about is what medical care is available. How close is the nearest large hospital? A lot of small towns (I know nothing about the town you're referencing) have primary care clinics, but you have to go elsewhere for anything very serious, for surgeries, cancer treatments, etc. I live in such a town. The nearest full-service medical center is two hours away by car, not a reassuring situation as we get older and not a ton of fun when my mom had cancer and had to go there frequently for treatment. That four hour round trip, with nine hours of chemo in between the going and the coming, really takes a toll on a sick person. And of course in a dire emergency, even Life Flight isn't going to get you there as fast as if you lived in town with a bigger facility nearby.
We've driven through North Dakota a few times but don't know how it would be living there. However, we did live in northeast South Dakota a few years and it was hot and dry and flat with no trees. From the looks of it when we pass through ND, it's probably about the same, although we find the drive across the state interesting because of the subtle differences in the landscape that revealed themselves with every passing mile. To be honest, we'd rather drive across North Dakota than Montana! We thought Montana would NEVER end!
Although the badlands on the east side were beautiful and a nice surprise, since we didn't know MT had badlands.
One thing that was wearing on us when we lived in SD was the constant wind. Our driving experience across ND would indicate it may have similar wind conditions. The last time we drove across there, it was so windy the wind shear held the awning on our trailer on the roof of the trailer across the entire state, and blew me across a parking lot once when we stopped. And believe me, I'm no Skinny Minnie! I'm sure it's not quite that bad all the time.
Have you visited the town? If not, can you? I think it's nice your bro wants your family to grow up with his. What a great experience that would be for your kids!
As tourists, we like North Dakota. The badlands there are prettier than the Badlands in South Dakota. ND has great state parks, which you would enjoy if you're campers. There's a lot of interesting history in ND, too.
All of this probably isn't very helpful, sorry. I'm just sort of throwing out ideas for questions I'd want answered if we were moving, stuff people don't always think about asking beforehand.
