Glad i found this thread. GF and myself are currently thinking of moving out into this area, also. Having grown up in NYC, and currently living in Chicago, I doubt the 'crime' you speak of will measure up to what I'm used to. But how bad is this 7 months of rain? We are debating this topic here between the two of us, and she constantly says "Which would you rather have-rain all winter, or 5 degrees all winter?"
Hmmmmmmmmmmm.......