Hmmm. Never really spent any time in Dawson, but just got home from a month in FSJ. Dawson doesn't strike me as anything special, but it has the bases covered. If you like the outdoors, it would be a good base. DC puts you about 45 min from FSJ (pop. maybe 30 000), about 1:15 from Grande Prairie (say 70 000, no PST), and around an hour from the Mountains around Chetwynd and Tumbler Ridge. You are also about 20 min from cheaper Alberta gas, just across the border.
While I was up in FSJ, I was in for non-stop fun with the bunch up there (atleast when I wasn't slaving away earning my room at Charla's or making cheesecake
), seems like the kind of place I could get used to. If you family is used to big city amenities, it might be a shock, but if you like a quieter life and running your own show, you might find it a very nice place. Don't know what specific amenities you'd have in DC, but for outdoors you'd have sledding, quadding, wheeling, hiking, fishing, hunting, boating and canoeing opportunities a little bit away. Ceramics painting in FSJ
, and there's always drinking.
HTH,
Curtis.