"Thirty-seven percent of Americans have never moved beyond their hometown," reports Jennifer Graham in the Wall Street Journal (7/16/10). Indeed, "America has become a nation of homebodies -- 56 percent of us never move from our birth state -- even as the myth of the mobile American persists." That myth has roots in the mid 1800s, when "May 1 was our nationwide 'Moving Day,' (which was, incoincidentally, around the time that landlords raised their rents) and those covered wagons were still headed west."

The question remains whether the fabled American mobility -- to the extent it still exists -- is a good or bad thing for kids. A recently published study, "Residential Mobility, Well-Being and Mortality," suggests it's bad: "Drawing from the experiences of 7,100 adults they followed for 10 years, the authors found the lowest levels of well-being among those who had moved frequently as children. These adults also had fewer friends and less satisfying relationships, and are slightly more likely to die young."

It gets worse: "Sometimes children who kill are children who had to move to a new school, or a new state or neighborhood, resented it, and lacked the coping skills to adapt and fit in," according to the TLC. Shigehiro Oishi of the University of Virginia, meanwhile says frequent moves can increase creativity, but are not always great for introverts. And Christopher Hook, whose childhood included five moves, says that while mobility made it harder to form deep relationships, he believes he is more adaptable, and his family is closer, as a result.