Emigration !!!!!!

[OUTSIDER]

No not me....at least not yet, but I had a phone call from one of my sister's this morning and she's seriously thinking about it in about a year or two's time.

We've always had a good relationship and can talk very openly about thing's, she opened her heart up to me about how sick she is of life in London and the UK and how her and the hubby are really thinking about leaveing the country, I told her about this BB and about the wide range of people from all over the world who come here and told her I'd ask you guy's and gal's for some information.....so come on people help me out.

My sister is a secretary for a managing director of a major multinational company and her husband is a civil engineer for a London local council and has been for almost 20 years or more, they have two daughters both in their mid teens, their looking to move to one of four countries, America, Austrailia, Canada or New Zealand.

They want to move to a mid sized town or a suburb outside a city they say they like the look of Boston and the general New England area (LOL, thanks to having seen them on This Old House) but that they are open to considering other parts of the counrty as well, they'll have about £150,000 to use as deposit on a home and want to move to a nice place.

So come on you's guy's and get vocal about what part of your country fit's the bill, think of it this way "if you had the time and money to go live in any part of your own nation and using the proviso's set out above where would you want to live in your nation ?".

 

[lavender]

 

[OUTSIDER]

LOL, Lavender are you a mind reader or something ?.......

My sis did mention Denver and Colorado as a possible but I forgot about it, also the house I think would be a three/four bedroomed mid-class type.

 

[lavender]

 

[OUTSIDER]

I may well take you up on that offer.......any other offer's wanna make while I'm here

What about the work side of thing's, is there much work for civil engineer's and secretary's in the US and what's the pay like ?

 

[lavender]

 

[Jean Val Jean]

Kansas City

is a fantastic place to lve. It sprawls over 30 miles with lots of green spaces and a low enough population that you get more of a hometown feeling. There are many major corporations located there Sprint, Hallmark, etc., and easy enough to find jobs in.

You are close to the country, close to the Ozarks, Grand Lake in Oklahoma, and Colorado is a quick flight away for the skiers. KU is an excellent college, the put in an express highway just for getting to Lawrence from Overland Park so it takes only 20 minutes.

A city of Fountains and designed green places where people still smile, say good morning, and mean it. Not like when I lived on the east coast.

well that's my two bit pitch...

 

[OUTSIDER]

And a damn good pitch to J.V.J

Anybody else know a good place to settle ?

Don't be shy speak up

 

[Cheyenne]

Are they considering weather in their decision? I think the twin cities area- St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota- is a great area to live. You can have the big city atmosphere close by but live in the suburbs. Lots of open space and lakes. Also quite a few headquarters for corporations are located there. I only ever visit that area, but in the last 15 years or so there always seems to be major construction going on. I think job prospects would be good for both of them, at least as good as the economy allows right now. The real drawback is the harsh winter weather. You must love cold and snow to survive in Minnesota.

London is most like New York City, I think. At least it reminded me a lot of NY when I was there to visit. Living near, but not in, Boston or NYC may be good. The cost of living is much higher on the East coast though.

 

[Guest]

$150,000 pounds is over $200, 000 dollars U.S. I'd say that would make more than a "nice" deposit.

God you people should call this board the "IL"Lit board.

 

[OUTSIDER]

Are they considering weather in their decision? I think the twin cities area- St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota- is a great area to live. You can have the big city atmosphere close by but live in the suburbs. Lots of open space and lakes. Also quite a few headquarters for corporations are located there. I only ever visit that area, but in the last 15 years or so there always seems to be major construction going on. I think job prospects would be good for both of them, at least as good as the economy allows right now. The real drawback is the harsh winter weather. You must love cold and snow to survive in Minnesota.

London is most like New York City, I think. At least it reminded me a lot of NY when I was there to visit. Living near, but not in, Boston or NYC may be good. The cost of living is much higher on the East coast though.

I think the weather thing may have already been taken into account since she was talking about Denver which I hear can get a little chilly in the winter too.

I know my brother in law has letter's after his name (don't ask me what they are) so he's a pro and sis is like I said a secretary for a MAJOR company and will get a good ref or even maybe able to transfer to a US branch office.

Again I think they want to stay away from big city's because thats part of what's burning them out about living in the UK/London, the other thing is that we're all so tightly packed in this tiny island that I think their craving a little space.

Thanks Chey I'll pass it on to them and see what they say, keep em comming people

 

[cymbidia]

The info contained within these links may or may not help your sis+ make a decision, Outsider, but here they are anyway.

The Most Enlightened Town in Every State and Canadian Province
http://cafe.utne.com/towns/states.html

"Best Place to Live" tool. Everyone wants to live in a city with a low crime rate, great schools, a warm sunny climate, affordable housing, and plentiful jobs. But there are always tradeoffs in the real world, and that's where this tool is invaluable. They have two versions of the "Find Your Best Place" tool. The full version has over forty categories, on nine pages. The quick version has fifteen categories, which is just right for beginning your search for the ideal home.
http://www.bestplaces.net/html/find_your_best.html

Money Magazine Best Places To Live list - very recent info
http://money.cnn.com/best/bplive/

Relocate-America.com's 2000 list of America's TOP 100 places to live: http://www.relocate-america.com/townvote.htm

Ten Risky Places
http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/534189.html

The Best Places For YOU to Live
http://choosetocruise.com/americatwo.html

Find Your Spot. An online quiz devoted to helping you find the best place to live, work, & retire. Discover a perfect hometown, one that matches YOUR unique interests. Then search for jobs in your career field in your Top Spots.
http://www.findyourspot.com/

And finally, the United States Census Bureau releases info that compares the nation's states and metropolitan areas in everything from banking and births to wages and welfare. Users can view a number of state and metro rankings tables in HTML or download the entire publication in .pdf format. This Data Book also serves as a guide to sources of data from the Census Bureau, other federal agencies, and private organizations.
http://www.census.gov/statab/www/smadb.html

 

[OUTSIDER]

Cym you are the bomb

 

[registered "^^"]

Denver is a very expensive place to live

Midwest would be the best bet, they would be in the middle of everything. With a deposit like that they could buy a mansion and 100 acres in Indiana!





and many University's hire Civil Engineers today to help with expansion plans, I know Ball State University in Muncie, IN does. He should be able to find a very good job with his background. Good Luck.

 

[OUTSIDER]

Re: Denver is a very expensive place to live

Midwest would be the best bet, they would be in the middle of everything. With a deposit like that they could buy a mansion and 100 acres in Indiana!





and many University's hire Civil Engineers today to help with expansion plans, I know Ball State University in Muncie, IN does. He should be able to find a very good job with his background. Good Luck.

Thanks mate I'm about to give them a call to see if they got any of the info I've sent them so far....I'll let you know what they say

 

[OUTSIDER]

Just talked to my sis and bro in law and their amazed at how helpful you'v all been, sis might even turn up for a look later so I have to be on best behaviour for a while, anyway while I had my bro in law on I asked him what letter's he had after his name and they are:- A.M.I.C.E, I.Eng and soon he'll also have M.H.I.T as well.

Those letter's mean nothing to me but I'm sure their very important in his line of work, I also know he's had to work his balls off to earn them too.

 

[OUTSIDER]

Bumping it for the afternoon/evening crew.

 

[registered "^^"]

He worked his balls off!!!!!!

Now I know where you get your AV's!!!!

 

[OUTSIDER]

Re: He worked his balls off!!!!!!

Now I know where you get your AV's!!!!

Hence only the two kid's I'll bet, LOL

 

[cymbidia]

You ought to bump it for the weekday people, too, Outsider, especially the evening and night crew. There's lots of creativity, a smattering of sophistication, and a high degree of astounding intelligence represented by Literoticians who tend to congregate here then. IMHO, of course.

Well.
Hmmm.
Evening and night as i percieve it.
Evening and night as it falls here on the U.S. west coast, anyway, where it's now just after 1pm on Sunday the 23rd and snowing, too, for the first time this year. ~sigh~ I detest the stuff.

 

[OUTSIDER]

I will bump it tomorrow evening and maybe a little later in the week but I don't want to bore people with it so I'm gonna take it easy, don't forget the time table on this thing is somewhere between one and two years so there's no rush just now.

And I know just how much people here love to help out, especially if it means that they get to pass on that little bit of info they'v had stuck in the back of their mind and thought would never come in handy but somehow never went away, also people love to talk about where they live or would like to live it let's them share their fantasies.

 

[Trinka]

I am from the midwest, Milwaukee, Wisconsin to be exact and my husband and I moved to the Miami area last November.

Depending on what your family is looking for, I can tell you the Midwest is more conservative. The cost of living is much less expensive, but the amount they earn will be less. I know for most Europeans, the prices we pay for food, etc is much much less than what you pay at home. The amount of the "deposit" you are suggesting they have for a home I know would buy them, cash, a large beautiful home with a nice piece of land in Wisconsin. Conversely, the same home where I live now in southeast Florida would be almost double the price.

There are certain areas of the country where civil engineers are in more demand than others. For example, my husband is a mechanical engineer and the Atlanta area would have been a better career move for us. Mind you, it took him 3 weeks to find a job down here, but there is more opportunity a little bit north of us. Miami needs civil engineers now because the infra-structure was not properly planned - the city grew faster than the resources.

One other topic, which I only bring up because we have personal experience with this is, is that your family will be "foreigners". I am not trying to scare you away or give a bad impression of the US, but it is something to consider. I would suggest moving to a more metropolitan area where there is a broader range of people. You are British, and in my experience, that is "closer" to American than other nationalities. (Please forgive me if I am saying this wrong.) My husband is from a Eastern European country and speaks beautiful English, but he has had many problems here finding jobs, and with people giving him a hard time because he was not born here. A reason we moved to Florida is that with so many immigrants, he fits right in.

I hope this is helpful. If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me.

 

[Weird Harold]

Re: weather matching

London is most like New York City, I think. At least it reminded me a lot of NY when I was there to visit. Living near, but not in, Boston or NYC may be good. The cost of living is much higher on the East coast though.

While London and NYC are very close matches in their comsopolitan nature, the climate in the north east/east coast is much colder in winter and warmer in summer than England.

Wehn I was stationed in England, I was struck by the similarity of the climate to where I grew up in Oregon. Weather-wise, I felt perfectly at home.

The Pacific Northwest, (Western Oregon, Western Washinton, and Northern California) would give them the comfort of a climate they're used to and the wide open spaces they crave. Portlsnd OR and Seattle WA are available to ease the shift from cosmopolitan to bucolic lifestyles when they get overwhelmed by the changes.

 

[OUTSIDER]

I am from the midwest, Milwaukee, Wisconsin to be exact and my husband and I moved to the Miami area last November.

Depending on what your family is looking for, I can tell you the Midwest is more conservative. The cost of living is much less expensive, but the amount they earn will be less. I know for most Europeans, the prices we pay for food, etc is much much less than what you pay at home. The amount of the "deposit" you are suggesting they have for a home I know would buy them, cash, a large beautiful home with a nice piece of land in Wisconsin. Conversely, the same home where I live now in southeast Florida would be almost double the price.

There are certain areas of the country where civil engineers are in more demand than others. For example, my husband is a mechanical engineer and the Atlanta area would have been a better career move for us. Mind you, it took him 3 weeks to find a job down here, but there is more opportunity a little bit north of us. Miami needs civil engineers now because the infra-structure was not properly planned - the city grew faster than the resources.

One other topic, which I only bring up because we have personal experience with this is, is that your family will be "foreigners". I am not trying to scare you away or give a bad impression of the US, but it is something to consider. I would suggest moving to a more metropolitan area where there is a broader range of people. You are British, and in my experience, that is "closer" to American than other nationalities. (Please forgive me if I am saying this wrong.) My husband is from a Eastern European country and speaks beautiful English, but he has had many problems here finding jobs, and with people giving him a hard time because he was not born here. A reason we moved to Florida is that with so many immigrants, he fits right in.

I hope this is helpful. If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me.

I think my sis and her hubby would be able to "fit in" because their outgoing and get along with other's really well, if I remember rightly they'v been to the US on a couple of occasions and got on well with people they met.

Thank you it looks like the mid west is getting a few votes

 

[OUTSIDER]

Bumping it for the last time tonight cause I'm off to bed, I'll catch any answer's tomorrow before going to work

Thank's in advance