Is the Grass Greener and Value for Money

We have two big projects at the moment (aside from three projects between the ages 16 months and 6 years next Sunday): schools and houses. Before we started expecting our third child, we bought a flat in the centre of Berlin. A perfectly nice flat, with a nice bilingual school across the street. Last spring, we moved and last fall, our girls started at the kindergarden of this school. But, as life goes, things didnt quite go as expected. Suddenly there were 5 of us. The flat will be too small in a few years, when the kids are bigger. A new building was constucted to obstruct our previously nice view. And worst of all, our school decided to raise their prices (rather radically), and it looks like they will keep increasing them in the years to come. We love our area, but as the schools here (public and private) are completely oversubsribed, and as flat prices are rising 16 percent per year, we're considering another move. Hence we are joining the rat race again: where to find an affordable place to live, with a good school nearby? Without school-aged kids, no such worries. With kids, the equation called life starts to include a high number of variables. It's important, I find, to stick to the essentials, so here is my equation: Well-being of family as a whole = proximity of school/work/friends/playdates + affordability + proximity of at least five great cafes ;)