43 Questions to Ask Before Picking a New TownThe article was linked from somewhere else as a materialism audit, which I think sounds like a good idea.
I found the article itself slightly disappointing in that respect, but I thought it was a good framework from which to approach the problem.
Some interesting snippets:
"checklist includes scouting the drop-off zone at schools, eavesdropping shamelessly, figuring out where people swim in the summer, scanning the community’s bookshelves and pestering the local psychologist. The object is to figure out what a community really stands for and whether you would want to be friends with any of the people who live there."
"comments from suburb shoppers about cars in the driveways being too nice or concerns about how dressed up the mothers are in the drop-off line at school. So, start there, with materialism"
