Arcane Topic Warning! Probably only Dwarf fans will find this interesting.

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

Originally Posted by Groin Redbeard

I think that essentially the Erebor was uninhabited. There was no gain for the dwarves by moving into a lone mountain in the middle of nowhere.

I don't mean to bring up the 'Chicken and the Egg' comparision here. But could it be possible that one of the reasons that the dwarves moved in was because of Lake Town and the ability to trade with humans?

Hmm.. very interesting, I think that Lake Town probably came before the dwarves settled into Erebor...