I posted earlier in the week about trying to decide about whether to buy a house in our current area (DC) or doing something else because we were/are considering moving to NJ in a few years. After talking to my husband a bit more, it came out that apparently he's actually not all that into moving to NJ (apparently he was trying to pacify my mom and her aggressive "you must move" approach by telling her that "he'd move in a second"). He's not vehemently against the idea, but he's not eager either.

So we started making a pros/cons list and of course it's about 50/50, and thus I turn to the Bees for thoughts.

The pros of moving are 1) being closer to both sets of grandparents and 2) good schools. This would give us personal flexibility to have more of a life as adults (we have no support system in DC at all), but also flexibility with work, because my mom can pick up our kid from school, be her "after school caretaker until we get home, etc. The areas of NJ that we would move to also have good schools and a fairly decent price point for housing.

The pros of staying in DC is that 1) we have better job market access here (husband is in government IT, so he could make a private sector move but likes public service, and I'm in the nonprofit world), and 2) we really like the DC area for all it offers culturally/recreationally (museums, lots of cultural experiences, etc.). We can definitely get those things in NY, but it's not as easily accessible as it is in DC.

From all other perspectives, it's pretty much a draw. There are good schools in the DC area as well, and while the pricepoint can be steeper here, the property taxes in NJ are so much higher that it'd be a wash. The commutes suck in both areas.

Being close to family would be amazing, and is definitely a swaying factor for me, but I can also see us being more proactive about creating a support system here. Our parents are aging (husband's especially), so it'd be nice to be closer to help them out, but is it enough to make a move? I guess my gut is saying no, but I'm wondering if there's something I'm not factoring into the equation.