We recently did the same, though in our case opportunity drove our decision and not careful consideration. We got quite lucky under the circumstances.

My observation, fwiw, is that the American small town, self-sufficient and independent from a neighboring city, is a dying breed.

Not all small towns will die the same way or on the same schedule. But here are some things to think about.

- Is there a tourist draw? Do short-term rentals address this opportunity? Every vacation rental is a unit unavailable to the local salaried population and where we live this cannibalizes the fabric of the small town.

- Is the local industry durable? That could be a university, it could be timber, it could be a BMW factory 90 minutes away, it could be a fishing fleet. Where we live the local industry will be eradicated in our lifetime due to climate change. And the state university system is retracting, not growing.

- Do the local schools suffer under-enrollment? Where we live they do not, but neighboring towns have so many retirees and houses turned into short-term rentals that the schools are threatened.

In short, the internet means there are no undiscovered places, and the economics can undermine what makes a place special in the first place. Add to that some places are going to be significantly impacted by global warming.

Today we live in a sort of paradise but we are aware that it may not be our forever home, if such a thing exists.