Moving is a royal pain.

The Moving Center won't make it any less complicated or costly, but at least its wealth of links and information take some of the unknowns out of the process. Maneuvering around the site is a breeze. Its major departments -- community information, financial services, moving services, television, phone and Internet, services and appliances, apartments, real estate, online auctions, post-move and calculators -- are accessible via buttons from the home page. Click on one and you get an article on the subject from a news service and a host of related links, many of which are commercial. Some departments are comprehensive, others are much less so and just offer a smattering of local companies.

The layout is clean, presented in eye-appealing shades of blue, and its minimal graphics keep the pages loading fast. With a little more original content, the Moving Center could be a happening place. As it is, it's a handy jump-off spot for people who are facing the daunting task of relocating.

• Calculator: This page lets people making an out-of-town move compare their old city with their new one. From drop-down lists that include most major cities in the United States, you plug in where you're at and where you're moving -- and voila! A page pops up that compares such things as taxes, housing costs and air quality. So now I know that when I move from Boca Raton, Fla., to Nashville to pursue my lifelong dream of becoming a country singer, I'll pay $100,000 less for a 2,000 square foot house -- yeehah!
• Moving services: Here's where you'll find some good advice on the actual, nasty business of getting all your stuff packed up and moved to a new place.

--By Daniel P. Ray
June 11, 1999

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