Whether you're moving across town or across the country, the Internet can help with your relocation decisions by providing details about your new community and its services. Here's where to find valuable information about cities, communities and neighborhoods including schools, housing costs, demographics, crime rates and jobs:

• monstermoving.com is an information portal for people relocating. It offers a wealth of information via links to demographics data, building and construction activity, city guides, government links, healthcare, insurance and legal resources, job search data, parenting resources, schools, travel and more.
• iOwn.com's Neighborhood Reports offers neighborhood statistics on demographics (age, population and household income) weather conditions, industry, crime and school districts (class size, student-to-teacher ratios, SAT scores and college matriculation rates).
• HomeAdvisor.com's Neighborhood Finder lets you select a neighborhood based on crime statistics, schools, and type (urban, suburban, and so forth). It also offers pointers on good and bad communities.
• RealtyLocator.com's RealtyLocator is a portal that claims 100,000 links to 10,000 communities in 50 states. Major city portals within RealtyLocator provide quick links direct to a given city's information.
• Claritas' (at http://yawyl.claritas.com) " You Are Where You Live" offers a "peek" into the windows of your potential neighbors. You can enjoy or voice contempt for virtual voyeurism that gives you a "look" at potential neighbors' habits, lifestyles and behaviors. Claritas' brand of electronic neighborhood "surveillance" relies upon demographically and behaviorally distinct types or "clusters" of people with names like "Blue Blood," "Winner's Circle," "Young Influentials," and "Blue-Chip Blues," 62 of them in all.
• Homestore.com's Find A Neighborhood on the Realtor.com site, has a useful feature that helps you identify, by city or ZIP code, communities that meet your preferences as to house type, size, age and price range, as well as neighborhood demographics, schools and crime rates.
• Yet another Homestore.com brand, HomeFair.com offers calculators to help you decide where to live based on home prices, schools, crime, salaries, transportation, demographics and community services.

Also, don't forget to check the real estate sections of online editions of newspapers for useful community and neighborhood information.

Finally, keep this in mind: The Internet is no substitute for your own legwork. Ask your friends and colleagues, walk and drive around neighborhoods, talk to local residents, read local newspapers, visit the local library and planning department and do whatever it takes to help you get a better sense of a neighborhood or city.