Move here. It's always ranked as one of the safest big cities in America and one of the top 10 to live in for 2006. It also ranks as one of the highest in literacy.
We have about 100k less people, but only had 19 murders.
Plus, if you count the 7 cities all around the water here, there's over 1.6 million peeps.
http://www.city-data.com/city/Virgin...-Virginia.html
I'll give you a hand moving the sofa.
Almost forgot, you can visit your relatives in about 7-8 hours by taking one highway.