If the home computer market is finally taking off, what better uses are there for a computer than finding a home or fixing it up?
The program Smart Moves explains that it helps you “identify those communities and neighborhoods within a metropolitan area that best meet your requirements related to housing, schools, costs of living, demographics, personal security and/or location.” (The metropolitan area I explored was San Francisco’s.) A tutorial then explains how to use Windows menus, icons and buttons.
Next comes an interview by an electronic Genie. You are asked to enter things like your Zip code and marital status and whether children live with you. An optional More button brings more detailed questions on things like the preferred type of area-urban, suburban or rural. From a list you select the reason for the move and whether you intend to buy or rent.
Finished with the 17-question interview, I clicked Done and was presented with the suggestion of looking in Atherton, Calif. Selecting the List icon presented the names of 47 communities in the San Francisco area, with each ranked according to housing price, crime rate, educational climate and how urban or suburban the area is, as well as an overall ranking. I selected Atherton, clicked on Details, and was presented with a small chart with rankings for housing, education, crime, people (mostly families with children), taxes and location, not all of them filled in. You can click on icons that will color-code a map for the rankings.
The Smart Moves CD-ROM contains information on more than 10,000 communities in and around 310 U.S. cities.
The program should be widely available for around $20. The number for more information is 913-661-0808.
