If the people in Laketown in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug really do fear Smaug, why don't they just relocate to a far away place?
From the LotR wiki:
So in other words, until Smaug the town had provided a very good defence against almost all forms of attack. The townsfolk were't living in fear of invasion or under any real threat and so felt secure.
It is worth nothing the following from the wiki as well:
In other words, once they realised their predicament, many tried to leave the place to survive.
Finally, with regards to the rebuilding of the town after its decimation by Smaug:
This last step meant they didn't need to worry about relocation again after the death of Smaug.
Additionally, @invalid_iq's answer provides some excellent economic reasons why the townsfolk remained.
Most of them make a living of fishing and doing business with the elves. Relocating makes fishing impossible and also, most likely, stops them from doing business with the elves (which they do using the water).
So if they move to another location, they lose all there income and hence, they have to start from complete scratch. They think they have a pleasant life at the time being, knowing that the dragon wont wake up without a good reason. There's no point for Smaug to destroy the city, unless he can use it as a threat to get what he wants.
Compare with real life where people live in places that is plagued with regular disaster such as Bangladesh (flooding) or parts of USA (tornadoes). After they have lost everything the survivors just rebuild.