I'm not talking about their Wikipedia stats. We are unhappy with our current town for a number of reasons including-
brown water- everyone in town has been complaining about this issue for 2 years and they just keep saying they are working on it and that it passes health & safety compliances. But it's so bad that it stains my white laundry and my sinks/ bathtub.
no bon-fires- whenever people try to just relax and have a controlled fire pit in their back yard, the fire dept promptly shows up and makes them put it out and sometimes gives a citation. It's ridiculous and it's not state law or anything, many surrounding towns allow it.
selectmen- I was involved in a public dog bite incident and was not happy with the way the town selectmen handled the dog/ owners/ situation.
There are other issues like plows only making one pass up the center of the street in winter not coming all the way to the edge of the road, torn up roads, bad school rankings. It's just not a place I want to be anymore, but these aren't things that are published so when house searching how would we find out more about how a town handles these things before we buy a house in that town? I don't know anyone who lives in the towns I'm considering. And the owners want to make a sale so they will probably just say it's great or no comment. One of my friends said she literally interviewed neighbors of the house she bought, is that common?