The first priority was to stay away from Central, or any other large city for that matter. The last thing he needed if he was going to settle ,even temporarily, was a place where scholars and alchemists, who could easily identify him, were abundant. Which is why he decided on the little one-horse town in the middle of nowhere as he did. More importantly, though, it was half-way between Dublith and Rizenbul, which made it much easier for one traveling Elric to make special visits.
He had much difficulty getting used to human company, but swallowed down his fears and contempt to do what he had to. He had retained his penchant for eating often, that habit which had earned the teasing of his elder siblings, and thus made sure his apartment was not only near to work, but by the market as well. Seeing as he had little talent for cooking, he didn't scout the market so frequently as he did the various restauraunts in the village. He searched, and tried to fight against his tendency for forgetting details, and in time had memorized all the important locations for finding a good meal. He even discovered he had a particular liking for Xing cuisine, and chalked that up in his mind so he could remember to take out Alphonse, who had a love for exotic food.
He kept all the important places in mind; parks, shops, cafes, things that people would normally think to see. He had one special place however, that he kept in mind. Just a small spot he passed often on his way to work; a place where the river ran into a slow stream, and ducks swam past, eyeing pedestrians in hope of some charity bread crumbs. It wasn't the ducks that interested him, though (no matter how their pitiable begging reminded him of Al's stray cats); it was the perfectly sized spot underneath the quaint wooden bridge, where he and Al could sneak away tokiss in secret (and ignore the bugs.)