Tips & Guides / Moving Guides

Tips for Moving to a New City

By Bri Hand | Jun 23, 2021
City skyline

Moving to a new city can be exciting—and intimidating. While moving can give you a fresh start, life-changing experiences, and the opportunity to try new things and meet new people, it also means saying goodbye to old friends and family in your current city. 

Whether you’re moving to a new city for work or just a change of scenery, you’ll want to do what you can to avoid feeling too homesick, which can make it difficult to feel at home. You can manage potential homesickness (and moving complications) by following these tips for moving to a new city. 

 Visit your new home city before you moveMoving to a new city

If possible, it’s a good idea to visit your new city before you move so you can familiarize yourself with your surroundings. Visiting ensures you’ll have a sense of familiarity with your new city and will keep you from feeling too overwhelmed as you try to orient yourself after your move. 

Taking a short trip to your new city is also a great way to learn about different neighborhoods and figure out where you want to live. You can also explore the public transportation system and check out essential amenities such as grocery stores, pharmacies, and gyms. If you don’t have a job lined up before the big move, you should also research your new city and what the job market looks like in your field. After all, interviewing for a new job is a wonderful excuse to visit your new city! 

However, if you can’t visit ahead of time, that doesn’t mean your move is doomed. Here, the internet will be your new best friend (as if it wasn’t already). Read what people have to say online about different neighborhoods, poke around Google Maps to get a sense of what’s located in different areas, and look at as many pictures and videos as possible. 

Organize yourself with a moving spreadsheet

Moving involves multiple steps, including finding accommodations, packing your belongings, setting up utilities, and having your mail forwarded to your new place. Your first step when moving to a new location should be creating a comprehensive checklist that can be your source of truth as you navigate this process. 

This checklist should include all the crucial steps you must complete, along with any deadlines you need to keep in mind over the next few months. Having your to-do list in one place will also limit your anxiety, prevent you from feeling too rushed close to your move date, or keep you from forgetting any important steps. 

 Use a professional rental site to find suitable accommodations

Accommodations in your new cityOne of the best things about the internet is how easy it is to access crucial information about apartment rentals in a new place. For example, you can use Landing’s website to find furnished apartments in over 375 markets in the U.S. Landing listings include information about each home, such as its available move-in date, number of bedrooms, and extra amenities, such as gyms, dog parks, and pools. 

By renting an apartment, you’ll avoid the headache of having to find maintenance workers and technicians as soon as you move to a different city, since this will be your landlord’s responsibility.

Seek personal and professional support

Moving is considered to be one of the more stressful experiences people go through, and starting over somewhere new is likely outside of your comfort zone. Here, it’s a good idea to seek support from your friends and family members. Maybe you can even convince a friend to move with you to make the transition to your new city easier!  

If you are worried about moving to a new city alone, however, you can use social media platforms like Meetup to meet new people in your community. You can also leverage Facebook groups for insights into local activities and resources. This is an easy and low-stakes way to make new friends and build your new community from the ground up.

When it comes to your actual move, hire pro movers to transport your belongings to your new city. This reduces your workload and ensures you won’t have to worry about driving a large moving vehicle such as a U-Haul through an unfamiliar area. 

Embrace your new home

Meeting new peopleInstead of spending each night unpacking when you first arrive, make sure you plan social outings and start meeting new people. Making some friends will help you settle into your new home, and you can also pick up great tips about your new town from locals. 

Moving to a new place can be a great way to explore the country and enjoy new opportunities. Familiarizing yourself with your new surroundings, creating a checklist, and using rental websites can simplify your move, too. You’ll also benefit if you receive support from your friends and family and explore new social opportunities in your new home.

Looking to relocate? Landing offers fully furnished apartments in over 375 markets throughout the U.S., with flexible lease terms that give you more freedom as you move to another city. Browse Landing’s available apartments here

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Jess Goudreault in Austin.

Looking for a cheat sheet for getting settled? Landing member Jess breaks down her approach to getting acclimated to her new city in her blog post, “How to Spend Your First Week in a New City.”

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Bri Hand

Bri Hand is Landing's Content Marketing Manager. She currently lives in Salem, Massachusetts, with her partner and dog, Arlo, but relishes any opportunity she can to travel so she can try new foods, see gorgeous sights, and daydream about living somewhere new after visiting there for less than 24 hours.