Oregon

Wompa1

Hi All,

I've been living in Arizona for the last 3 years. It's a beautiful place BUT I'm living in Phoenix which gets very hot for 6-7 months a year. It can be a frustrating place to live (as can the US in general).

I was talking with my Fiance about possibly moving somewhere different. With my only criteria being that it's affordable and by the coast. I was thinking North Carolina but she's suggesting Oregon.

From what I understand, Oregon has the same kind of weather as Ireland. The coast line is mostly rocky overlooks. But it's a beautiful place with a lot of wildlife and forests.

I was in Northern Oregon and Portland. It didn't blow me away. It wasn't as clean as Arizona. Portland was a pretty strange city. Nicer in terms of public transport and walkability compared to Phoenix but overall, I think I prefer Phoenix.

So, has anybody from Ireland moved\lived in Oregon? Any perks to living there say...compared to Ireland?

iusedtoknow

I've been a few times for work and play.

I kinda like Oregon, it's a bit mad but with a great music and tech startup scene. There are other towns - I have some friends living in Bend, which they love - it's quiet, clean and pretty nice place to be. The climate - i've only ever had rain in Oregon but it was nice.

The other suggestion I could give you is Seattle - it's a nice town, clean and well run. There are some beautiful islands around that I've been to (went to a very fun wedding on Vashon). Again...it's damp but the city is made for it.

rossy1044

Have a look at Sacramento if you're looking for something a bit different. I know it doesn't have the best name for itself but we moved here after initially planning on moving to Portland and its great. Other than the Summer when its gets unbearably hot the weather the rest of the year is unbeatable. It also has very good cost of living while still having enough stuff to do. Its also close to San Francisco if you miss big cities.

iusedtoknow

rossy1044 wrote: »

Have a look at Sacramento if you're looking for something a bit different. I know it doesn't have the best name for itself but we moved here after initially planning on moving to Portland and its great. Other than the Summer when its gets unbearably hot the weather the rest of the year is unbeatable. It also has very good cost of living while still having enough stuff to do. Its also close to San Francisco if you miss big cities.

I love sacramento - i've been a couple of times, and the drive up from SF is pretty easy when there's no traffic. The train from there also dumps you at Jack London square which is nice in itself and also a ferry ride from SF.

Wompa1

iusedtoknow wrote: »

I've been a few times for work and play.

I kinda like Oregon, it's a bit mad but with a great music and tech startup scene. There are other towns - I have some friends living in Bend, which they love - it's quiet, clean and pretty nice place to be. The climate - i've only ever had rain in Oregon but it was nice.

The other suggestion I could give you is Seattle - it's a nice town, clean and well run. There are some beautiful islands around that I've been to (went to a very fun wedding on Vashon). Again...it's damp but the city is made for it.

rossy1044 wrote: »

Have a look at Sacramento if you're looking for something a bit different. I know it doesn't have the best name for itself but we moved here after initially planning on moving to Portland and its great. Other than the Summer when its gets unbearably hot the weather the rest of the year is unbeatable. It also has very good cost of living while still having enough stuff to do. Its also close to San Francisco if you miss big cities.

Thanks guys! I've been to Seattle quite a bit and Sacramento once. I liked both places. Loved San Francisco and really, really like Monterey which isn't that far away either. I would love to live there BUT the cost...

The cost of living in California is bananas. House prices in Sacremento don't look too bad but I worked for a company based in California, the taxes are pretty steep over there. Now they do have better rights for employees! So I guess that's a trade off. They also have a very good social welfare programme... Ya know what, maybe I should look into Sacramento a little bit.

Currently I'm tryign to be as skeptical as possible and find all of the flaws as well as the positives. What worries me about Oregon the most is that the expenses of the place isn't up front. You don't pay a sales tax but instead they hit you with a 9% state tax. It seems like I'd be paying just as much in tax there as I would in Ireland but my tax money would be going towards a lot less.

Thanks for the suggestions. Bend is also the one place that I keep seeing as the best place to live in Oregon.

iusedtoknow

Wompa1 wrote: »

Loved San Francisco and really, really like Monterey which isn't that far away either. I would love to live there BUT the cost...

The cost of living in California is bananas. House prices in Sacremento don't look too bad but I worked for a company based in California, the taxes are pretty steep over there. Now they do have better rights for employees! So I guess that's a trade off. They also have a very good social welfare programme... Ya know what, maybe I should look into Sacramento a little bit.

All true - from your paycheck you generally need to take off 35% in CA for federal/ state taxes, as well as SS and other state costs. I've just done my taxes and have been hammered for state but our overall marginal rate is hovering around 25%

Monterey is a great chilled town, but outside of tourism there is little work. It is possible to commute from there to San Jose/Cupertino area where there is no end of employment.

SF is painfully expensive rent/mortgage wise, and the city finds new ways to raise the sales tax every year.

Wompa1

iusedtoknow wrote: »

All true - from your paycheck you generally need to take off 35% in CA for federal/ state taxes, as well as SS and other state costs. I've just done my taxes and have been hammered for state but our overall marginal rate is hovering around 25%

Monterey is a great chilled town, but outside of tourism there is little work. It is possible to commute from there to San Jose/Cupertino area where there is no end of employment.

SF is painfully expensive rent/mortgage wise, and the city finds new ways to raise the sales tax every year.

Would you believe. Where I am now, in Arizona. State tax is about 4% for me. Yet, somehow after Federal taxes paying the 33% income tax...I'm making a pretty good salary but I was pretty suprised. Tax went up significantly this past year for me, with no explanation. I went to H&R Block and they couldn't explain why, even though my salary actually went down on the previous year, my taxes went up.

I make more money here than in Ireland, so I'm able to save more but I think when I settle down, the taxes in Ireland don't seem so bad because they at least go towards services that are worthwhile and help people...but I might be a little cynical now and wearing the rose tinted glasses.

Sacramento is one I'm going to look into for sure though. Maybe things are a little better in Calfironia though from what I could tell, things were worse. I've been all over the state a few times. Roads are worse there, they have tolls which Arizona does not. They have a huge homeless population, drug problems...which Phoenix also does but maybe Oregon does not? Traffic around LA and also around the Silicon Valley\San Francisco area were brutal. Cost of petrol was a lot higher too.

I guess I'll have to keep thinking this through

Maybe you Irish lads who moved over could confirm my feeling here. I think I took living by the water for granted...being landlocked now makes me feel like I'm missing something. I don't even swim! But I feel like being by the water is something I need....it's very strange. Out of everything I miss from Ireland the water and air quality are the two biggest.

iusedtoknow

Wompa1 wrote: »

Maybe you Irish lads who moved over could confirm my feeling here. I think I took living by the water for granted...being landlocked now makes me feel like I'm missing something. I don't even swim! But I feel like being by the water is something I need....it's very strange. Out of everything I miss from Ireland the water and air quality are the two biggest.

Well don't move to SF for air quality - 40% of our pollution comes over the pacific from China

But I agree with you. I grew up in Bantry and close to the water - I lived in Barcelona and loved it, then moved to Madrid and HATED not being close to water. We went to the coast whenever we could, even in winter just to be close to water.

Now I can't be kept out - i do a lot of kayaking in the bay area and have vowed never to live land locked again.

él statutorio

Santa Barbara is perfect if it wasn't for the price of property here.
Having said that, places like Goleta, Carpenteria are close by, have sensible prices and are all on the coast.

Wompa1

él statutorio wrote: »

Santa Barbara is perfect if it wasn't for the price of property here.
Having said that, places like Goleta, Carpenteria are close by, have sensible prices and are all on the coast.

I love Santa Barbara. I'll check those towns out too! I drove up to Santa Barbara last year from Phoenix. Long, long drive. I drove over to Huntington Beach and then up from there to drive up the coast. Amazing. I stopped at almost every major beach. That stretch along the coast and back with the stopping took me about 15 hours!

You guys being Irish..how do you like living in America? Any notions to move back to Ireland?

iusedtoknow

Wompa1 wrote: »

You guys being Irish..how do you like living in America? Any notions to move back to Ireland?

none - well only if family needs came up. I moved away in 2005 and every time I go back I feel slightly more alienated from the place. I was really happy growing up there, but always feel slightly out of place when I get there now. I missed the bust, but lived through it in Spain and it was rough.

If anything, I'd move back to Barcelona in a heartbeat. The wife is from there, and i think we'd slip back into life very easily there.

él statutorio

If you can get over the house prices in the city of SB (I'm looking at buying in Goleta) it's a cracking place to live.
Clean, safe, good schools, lots to do. Great weather, the coldest it got this winter was about 14C the hottest it got last summer (in an unprecedented heatwave) was about 30C.

I'm only living here since September but herself grew up here and wanted to move home. It has been an adjustment for me to be honest. I can see that the lifestyle is better in terms of outdoor stuff and general day to day.We both left good, safe well paying jobs to move out here. Granted we both got better paying jobs once we landed but I guess I'll have to take stock and see how we're doing once we've done a year here.
Settling in has been more difficult than I thought. I miss the craic and the banter in my old job where I was for 11 years. It's not quite the same here. We've both struggled to make friends which has been tough but again we'll probably have to give that more time.

Overall, I do enjoy living here. The endless optimism from Americans is nice (as is their lack of begrudgery).

I don't think we'd move home anytime soon to be honest, wife and daughter seem happy out overall.

rossy1044

Wompa1 wrote: »

Maybe you Irish lads who moved over could confirm my feeling here. I think I took living by the water for granted...being landlocked now makes me feel like I'm missing something. I don't even swim! But I feel like being by the water is something I need....it's very strange. Out of everything I miss from Ireland the water and air quality are the two biggest.

Yeah we moved from living beside the sea in Ireland to now being over a hundred miles from it. Tbh I thought I'd miss it more although probably like yourself I never went it the ocean! People in Sacramento are generally into hiking as well as skiing and snowboarding in Tahoe

Wompa1

I'm struggling over here. I'm not homesick for people so much but I'm homesick for food, cultre and scenery. I've been over here for just over 3 years.

Even small things, like when you're in traffic and need to get into the other lane. People are a-holes when driving. In every state that I've been in bar Hawaii!

Also, people not using indicators is a major problem. When you're going 70mph and somebody merges without indicating...that's a gamble every day that could cost you your life. I read somewhere that somebody dies in a car accident here, every 11 hours.

I like the optimism and I love the quality of service that you get here. Love that everything is open late.

I hate the credit rating system. I hate the guns. I hate the general lack of empathy...Homeless people need to get a job, people in minimum wage jobs need to aspire to more etc. I went to a dentist with a toothache and he prescribed me Vicodin...that was crazy. I think that leads to a lot of the problems here, so many people are medicated in some way or another.

I wonder if that optimism is kind of to their detrement at times. I don't know any other people who are like the Americans. They work very, very hard and most are constantly optimistic. That has to be exhausting. My fiance is the same and she doesn't seem to notice or want to deal with anything which might be negative...it's madness.

The 'Veterans' sh1t is getting pretty annoying too. Every poltical issue gets spun into being about the Troops and the Veterans. Homeless Veterans are priority, the other homeless can f*ck off. Companies are actively culling their pensions. If you want one, you need to join the forces it seems. Education in Arizona went up by 18% in the last few years. If you want an education, join the forces. 3 of the 4 jobs that I've held here have given preferential hiring to Veterans...so, if you want a job, join the forces...it's like they got rid of the draft but replaced it with a system that put insurmountable odds against people outside of the 'elite'

That would worry me for raising kids in the US. Ditto, the propaganda about freedom and that lark. It all seems very calulcated against the citizens of the country.

Also the great irony, you have freedom but you can't say any of this to Americans or they'll get very upset. They may even try to get you fired it seems...when punishment for speaking your mind is losing your job..you have the freedom to speak but there should be a big * beside the word Freedom...also Don't criticize a University that somebody attended because they still refer to the collective University as we even if they finished up there over 10 years ago....it's kind of a f*cked up place...

Sorry, ranting. I find, I can't say any of that here...

iusedtoknow

Wompa1 wrote: »

<Snipping>...

I kinda get what you are saying. The only thing is that here in SF people are as cynical as they are in Ireland.

Aspects of life frustrate me, but San Francisco is a real international city that is basically a bubble - which is sometimes good and sometimes bad.

One of the things that annoys me is that EVERYONE has to have an opinion about EVERYTHING that is more valid than yours. Everyone knows a better restaurant than you, or better driving route etc.

However, i recently bagged a promotion at work - there was nothing but congratulations from my old reports and peers. If that had been ireland there would have been no end of begrudery and back talking. I like that.

Fundamentally, i like life here - it's a bit far from Europe, but I go back 7 or 8 times a year for work and play so I get my fix and am often aching to get back to the US after about a week or 2. My wife is a doctor and while the medical industry here is appalling, she has been exposed to techniques and tools that she could only have dreamt about in Spain.

We're not planning on staying on the west coast forever. Our green cards are coming through next month, and I have to keep working for my company another 2 years (or pay them back). But after that, we're thinking of heading east for a while - a 6 hour flight is far more tolerable than 16 hour door to door that we have to do to get back to my family or the wife's in Spain.

Wompa1

iusedtoknow wrote: »

I kinda get what you are saying. The only thing is that here in SF people are as cynical as they are in Ireland.

Aspects of life frustrate me, but San Francisco is a real international city that is basically a bubble - which is sometimes good and sometimes bad.

One of the things that annoys me is that EVERYONE has to have an opinion about EVERYTHING that is more valid than yours. Everyone knows a better restaurant than you, or better driving route etc.

However, i recently bagged a promotion at work - there was nothing but congratulations from my old reports and peers. If that had been ireland there would have been no end of begrudery and back talking. I like that.

Fundamentally, i like life here - it's a bit far from Europe, but I go back 7 or 8 times a year for work and play so I get my fix and am often aching to get back to the US after about a week or 2. My wife is a doctor and while the medical industry here is appalling, she has been exposed to techniques and tools that she could only have dreamt about in Spain.

We're not planning on staying on the west coast forever. Our green cards are coming through next month, and I have to keep working for my company another 2 years (or pay them back). But after that, we're thinking of heading east for a while - a 6 hour flight is far more tolerable than 16 hour door to door that we have to do to get back to my family or the wife's in Spain.

Maybe it's more of an Arizona issue, I have. I like San Francisco. Is it true that the locals look down on IT workers that are moving into the city because they are hurting the image of the place?

When I go home, I have to fly to San Francisco and then over to Dublin and the drive to Galway It's brutal. I get home once a year.

I don't feel alienated yet when going back. Though, I noticed within 2 weeks of living in the US. If I was talking to somebody at home about something messed up happening in Ireland the response would be "Yeah but sure, in America yee are..." I became an outcast very quickly

I also agree, success is celebrated here. Over there, people want to cut the legs from under you. My fiance is currently researching Medical Schools here. I'm trying to convince her to move to Ireland with me, within a couple of years she could get citizenship and go to school there for a tiny fraction of the price...my worry is that she'd agree to it and then have to work in an Irish hospital. Like the one in Galway....she'd hate me for it, I think.

iusedtoknow

Wompa1 wrote: »

Maybe it's more of an Arizona issue, I have. I like San Francisco. Is it true that the locals look down on IT workers that are moving into the city because they are hurting the image of the place?

Kind of, it's a slightly complicated situation. Rents are attrocious here as no one wants skyscrapers. I live in a neighborhood in "the city" called the sunset and it is 90% single family homes. There is a scarcity of property, and so landlords can charge what they want. Tech workers are well paid and so can afford it. We actually got "lucky" and have a 2 bedroom house with a garage/basement area for a relative steal of $3000 a month. But the reality is...we can afford it. There is an anti tech crowd, but they are anti anything that pushes them out of their rent controlled apartments (i.e. 3 bedrooms for $700 month).

The ones I feel sorry for are teachers and nurses. One of my wife's friends at work has to commute 2 hours each way to work at the hospital because she simply can't afford to live anywhere close to work.

I also agree, success is celebrated here. Over there, people want to cut the legs from under you. My fiance is currently researching Medical Schools here. I'm trying to convince her to move to Ireland with me, within a couple of years she could get citizenship and go to school there for a tiny fraction of the price...my worry is that she'd agree to it and then have to work in an Irish hospital. Like the one in Galway....she'd hate me for it, I think.

TBH, even without being a citizen she would still save - a colleague of my wife did his medical training in Cork (he's american). Even with foreign national fees he still came out owing 1/3 or what some people do - and he his now chief resident at the main teaching hospital here in SF. He has nothing but praise for Irish medical training.

él statutorio

I'd have to agree with that, the flight times back home are the biggest killer.

I agree with you guys on the drivers and stuff like Freedom*.

I have a 3 year old daughter and to be honest I'm still not sure if I'd be happier for her to grow up here in the US or back home in Ireland. I'm lucky in a sense that SB is a bit of a bubble and is quite European in its general outlook but assuming we do stay here, I'll have to make her aware that the US isn't the be all and end all that a lot of its citizens seem to think it is.

Wompa1

iusedtoknow wrote: »

Kind of, it's a slightly complicated situation. Rents are attrocious here as no one wants skyscrapers. I live in a neighborhood in "the city" called the sunset and it is 90% single family homes. There is a scarcity of property, and so landlords can charge what they want. Tech workers are well paid and so can afford it. We actually got "lucky" and have a 2 bedroom house with a garage/basement area for a relative steal of $3000 a month. But the reality is...we can afford it. There is an anti tech crowd, but they are anti anything that pushes them out of their rent controlled apartments (i.e. 3 bedrooms for $700 month).

The ones I feel sorry for are teachers and nurses. One of my wife's friends at work has to commute 2 hours each way to work at the hospital because she simply can't afford to live anywhere close to work.


TBH, even without being a citizen she would still save - a colleague of my wife did his medical training in Cork (he's american). Even with foreign national fees he still came out owing 1/3 or what some people do - and he his now chief resident at the main teaching hospital here in SF. He has nothing but praise for Irish medical training.

I'm glad I posted here, all of this is good to know!! Randomly, I just an e-mail about a contract gig in San Francisco! I'll try and cast the net out a bit further and see what's best for us. Thanks for the advice!

InTheTrees

Wompa1 wrote: »

You guys being Irish..how do you like living in America? Any notions to move back to Ireland?

25+ years in the Land of the Americans for me.

And yes, I hear home calling.

InTheTrees

No state income tax in Washington State.

Wompa1

InTheTrees wrote: »

No state income tax in Washington State.

Yeah, they get you in other ways though. I've spent quite a bit of time up there. Have a few friends living up there. It's a really great place though! But again that cost mounts!

Wompa1

InTheTrees wrote: »

25+ years in the Land of the Americans for me.

And yes, I hear home calling.

Wow! I'd love to hear your outlook. What's driving you home after so long? If you don't mind me asking.

él statutorio

Wompa1 wrote: »

Wow! I'd love to hear your outlook. What's driving you home after so long? If you don't mind me asking.

I'd like to hear too, after 25 year's I'd have assumed you'd be well settled.

InTheTrees

Wompa1 wrote: »

Wow! I'd love to hear your outlook. What's driving you home after so long? If you don't mind me asking.

Well it hasnt happened yet! And I suspect it wont be a full break if it ever comes.

In brief... just because of time constraints; in a lot of ways America feels like a place to go and work.

Politics and corporatism are a little wearying after awhile.

Wompa1

InTheTrees wrote: »

Well it hasnt happened yet! And I suspect it wont be a full break if it ever comes.

In brief... just because of time constraints; in a lot of ways America feels like a place to go and work.

Politics and corporatism are a little wearying after awhile.

You fell for an American, didn't you?

That's my problem with getting out of here

ProudDUB

Wompa, I'd pick NC over Oregon every day of the week. I have a lot of family in California and in Seattle, so I would travel between the two fairly often. Oregon is beautiful, especially during the summer. But it has always just struck me as a healthier version of Ireland. Same weather (except for better summers) but the people are really into their outdoorsy stuff, so if that is your thing, it may be the place for you. I hate the cold and the rain. That is a big turn off for me, but it may not be for everyone.

When I lived in Altanta, I spent a lot of time at the NC beaches, as like you, I craved being by the sea. The cost of living is a lot lower than out west, but the pay will be too, so that can even out over time. I like the southern way of life, the laid back attitudes and the food. I didn't like how over the top it could be in its politics and how Republican it was. So if that is a turn off for you in AZ, it may be a bigger turn off for you in NC. However, there has been a lot of migration to NC over the past few decades as the universities and what not attract tech & bio companies and tourism is always a big thing. So I found that a lot of the people that I came into contact with, had moved there from somewhere else, often New York, Chicago etc etc, so they brought mindsets with them that were not traditionally southern. That could be both bad and good.

NC is the coastal playground for millions and millions of southerns though & that is reflected in property prices. If you are ok with being a 20 mile drive from the sea, property is quite affordable, compared to the west coast. But if you are looking to live right by the ocean, you'd need some pretty deep pockets.

InTheTrees

Wompa1 wrote: »

You fell for an American, didn't you?

...a whole string of them!

Its tough. If I left for good I know I'd miss the USA.

Both places have huge positives...

InTheTrees

Wompa1 wrote: »

Even small things, like when you're in traffic and need to get into the other lane. People are a-holes when driving. In every state that I've been in bar Hawaii!

Also, people not using indicators is a major problem. When you're going 70mph and somebody merges without indicating...that's a gamble every day that could cost you your life. I read somewhere that somebody dies in a car accident here, every 11 hours

Oh dont start me on american drivers...

25 years and its never got any easier. It takes about 15 minutes to get a US drivers lincence and they drive like they're asleep and are dying in droves... but god help you if you criticize.

InTheTrees

Wompa1 wrote: »

When I go home, I have to fly to San Francisco and then over to Dublin and the drive to Galway It's brutal. I get home once a year.

United have a good flight to Shannon every day from Newark. You should be able to get there from AZ.

With a long stopover there's time to get into Manhattan for a few hours too.

Wompa1

InTheTrees wrote: »

United have a good flight to Shannon every day from Newark. You should be able to get there from AZ.

With a long stopover there's time to get into Manhattan for a few hours too.

I got that flight once and once into JFK. It's a complete gamble on the price. Went through Boston once too. Flying out through JFK again in a few weeks.

There's a BA flight from Phoenix to Heathrow, I got that once too but it's all dependent on which is the cheapest

InTheTrees

Is the drought affecting Arizona much?

Wompa1

InTheTrees wrote: »

Is the drought affecting Arizona much?

No, not at all. Even people in America think Arizona must charge a fortune for water. It's actually pretty cheap. I just got a water bill for 2 months. It cost $25.

The water is plentiful, a bunch of states in the west and south west share the same water source. The Colorado river. California uses it as a source too but they go through their share of the water very quickly.

One problem in the desert is the 'hard water'. If you go away for a few days and come back you'll see a rusty ring in your toilet. All water has to be treated for consumption. But it's fine for showering, watering grass and all of the junk

lil_lisa

Wompa1 wrote: »

I just got a water bill for 2 months. It cost $25.

Ours just came in at $180 for the last 2 months and that's only that low because we've turned off our sprinklers and are trying to be as conservative with water as possible.

Dave1442397

I've been here 25 years and would never go back to live in Ireland.

We were back for a few weeks in August, and I found it very crowded and expensive.

This part of the country is expensive in some ways, such as property tax on houses, but for schools and entertainment it's great.

Wompa1

Dave1442397 wrote: »

I've been here 25 years and would never go back to live in Ireland.

We were back for a few weeks in August, and I found it very crowded and expensive.

This part of the country is expensive in some ways, such as property tax on houses, but for schools and entertainment it's great.

Where in Ireland were you, that you think it's crowded?

I grew up in the west, so maybe it's a bit different to where you were. If I was to move back there, I'd pick Clare, Mayo or somewhere in Galway to live. That's part of the reason, I was thinking about the North West of the US. Lots of wilderness and smaller towns.

I've found that the US is only slightly cheaper overall. The differences on paper don't live up.

My income tax, both state and federal together for my first year was somewhat low, I was expecting it to be lower but it was explained to me that you get screwed if you're single...which seems to be the case for me. I've estimated that I'm paying around 36-38% tax on my income. I'm making above average pay but not enough that paying so much doesn't hurt me considerably. And that's after my tax return, I've put my with-holding up, in hopes to get money back and not owe anything..

Healthcare costs is no contest. We can say what we want about the quality of care in Ireland but it's at least more humane and affordable for all.

Certain electronics. This one really suprised me but video games and games consoles are more expensive here! Laptops were more expensive when I first moved here, it looks like they are falling more in line with Europe. What I don't really understand is we pay 21% VAT at home, here I pay 7% sales tax, you'd think the prices would vary largely and they don't seem to.

Cable and Internet Possibly the biggest rip off in the US. I saw that the communication companies in the US have the 2nd largest lobbying power in Washington after the Defense contractors and it shows. They carve up the country and each gets ownership of a region and overcharge for a crappy service. Nothing but re-runs on TV. The internet is the equivelant of Irish cities about 6 years ago! And you'll pay 100+. They also try to bundle a phone in with it, you set the f'kin thing up and then get harassed by telemarkters. I had to just put my landline in a box, the calls were such a nuisance

Food. You have incredible variety here for eating out. When you go to Target, Walmart, Frys etc. at first you're delighted with how cheap meat is. Then you cook it and realize the damn thing is two or three times the size of our chicken..even the ones that are labelled as Organic here..I don't know how they get away with it. If you want proper, good quality meat, with the same standards for processing as Ireland, you'll pay just as much as back home in a butchers. If you go to Tesco or Dunnes in Ireland you can get a 3 for deal for 9.99 and the quality is fine, it's not poison, like WalMart and Target..So, I'd give Ireland the nod for that.

Fruit & Vegetables. This is one my Fiance from the US noticed in Ireland..I guess I don't eat much in the way of fruits and vegetables. She said our grocery store prices for fruits and vegetables are much, much lower than here. Where we are, if you want reasonably priced fruit you need to go to a Ranch Market.

Petrol. No doubt it's cheaper in the US but there's a catch for me at least and where I'm living. Most of the jobs here are in the 'cities' aroud the Metro area. The more affordable apartments and homes are 15+ miles from the cities. Your commute tends to be long and traffic blows. I end up spending twice as much a week on petrol here, as I did in Ireland, even after the huge price difference.

Car Tax. I paid almost $700 for 2 years of Car tax. Back in Ireland, my yearly car tax for the same car is 150 euro.

College. Forget about it!!

Rent. Rent is more expensive here than it was in Ireland (anywhere outside of Dublin) but I must admit, the quality of accomodation is much higher here. Unfortunately, furnished apartments are more rare than a Unicorn so there's added expense with getting setup AND moving. The nasty little secret here when renting is that landlords and management companies up your rent every year when you try to renew. They know what a pain in the ass it is it move here and think you'll just accept it.

Entertainment Going to the movies is a lot more expensive here. Where I am, there's a lot less good quality FREE live music but you do get a great variety of bigger bands to pick from. There's always something on, though. Gambling is a strange one here...for a country that champions their freedoms, it's really restricted when it comes to gambling. Where I live there's around 7 casinos and more being built but some don't have dice games, there's no sports betting. Obviously, online gambling was made illegal here too...it seems so strange. Any a-hole can buy a gun and hop in the back of a pick truck going down a highway at 65mph...no problem. But you better not play online poker!

On top of all of that, over here we have very little in the way of employee rights (unless you live in California). I live in a right to work state. The treatment of some of my colleagues has been disgusting. One of my friends got fired and died shortly afterwards. He had to sell his car and other belongings to help pay for his treatment. That just wouldn't happen in Ireland.

Homelessness here is shocking and the way the homeless are stigmatized is awful.

Minimum wage workers are considered second class citizens.

Violent crime scares the bejaysus out of me. It's rampant. A guy was shot and killed half a mile from my apartment last week. That's one of many. I read apartment ratings for a place I was interested in moving to. Honest to God. The review said Pros and had a list of things, one of which said there's a small convenience store in the complex then in the Cons: Crime is really bad. An old lady who worked in the convenience store was opening up one morning and was shot and killed by one of the residents...

Advertising is really doing my head in. I went to La Jolla for a weekend and was out in a remote part away from the roads, shops etc. I'm enjoying the view and then a plane with a Geico banner comes flying overhead. It's pretty much impossible to escape advertising

I really struggle with it over here at times. It's tough to look past a lot of the flaws. In Ireland, we progressed as a nation. It seems like here, bar a few states like California, Washington and Oregon. They have not progressed at the same rate.

iusedtoknow

Wompa1 wrote: »

<snipping your post>

So our situation is kinda different as we moved to the US from Spain, rather than Ireland but our findings are kind of different

Rent: WAAAAAY more expensive than Ireland/Spain - we pay $3000 for a 2 bedroom house in San Francisco. But, the difference is amazing for what you get - fully refurbished to a very high standard - energy efficient and walking distance to a lot of organic fruit veg stores. In Spain if we rented a house, it would be in an estate, would cost the same and would have to drive everywhere

food: good quality organic fruit and meat is expensive but worth it. When we first moved we went to safeway to stock up on things and thought we'd try the steak. Big mistake and never ever again. It was horrific. We now get all of our meat/fish/veg at a local butcher and it worth the cost - it currently accounts for 2/3 of our food budget. Trader Joes meat is actually pretty good as well, but stay away from their fruit/veg unless you want an infestation of fruit flies

Eating out is cheap as hell, despite the tips - though with the minimum wage being $12, more and more places are going with service charge up front which is great

taxes ugh. Off both our paychecks we lose around 1/3 for state/federal and ss. We filed a few weeks ago, got a refund from federal but owned $$$ to state for some reason. We are generally around 25% in federal every year

healthcare we pay $300 a month, but have a low co-pay/detuctable. We insisted on the top tier despite the fact that we are healthy, just for peace of mind sake. My wife works in the medical system - it's flawed but top quality - at least her hospital is (teaching/research)

lack of social care awful. There are around 8000 homeless in SF. A lot have mental health issues that make a lot of downtown a no go area (tenderloin, mid market) . The city pores millions in every year but it just seems to get worse.

Gas we have a car but mostly use it for the weekend. My wife can walk to her work and my company have a corporate bus that I take to/from the office when I need to go in. The public transit in SF is creaking but functional. Most offices downtown are financial services and tech startups - if you live in the city and work in tech, your company usually provides transport to/from silicon valley.

Internet/cable we get 100mbs with comcast, and our entire package is $150 a month, we have cable so we can watch european soccer - if we didn't watch that, we'd just have internet

All in all, it is still cheaper here (via the ratio of our salaries vs cost of living) than europe ever was for us.

Wompa1

iusedtoknow wrote: »

So our situation is kinda different as we moved to the US from Spain, rather than Ireland but our findings are kind of different

Rent: WAAAAAY more expensive than Ireland/Spain - we pay $3000 for a 2 bedroom house in San Francisco. But, the difference is amazing for what you get - fully refurbished to a very high standard - energy efficient and walking distance to a lot of organic fruit veg stores. In Spain if we rented a house, it would be in an estate, would cost the same and would have to drive everywhere

food: good quality organic fruit and meat is expensive but worth it. When we first moved we went to safeway to stock up on things and thought we'd try the steak. Big mistake and never ever again. It was horrific. We now get all of our meat/fish/veg at a local butcher and it worth the cost - it currently accounts for 2/3 of our food budget. Trader Joes meat is actually pretty good as well, but stay away from their fruit/veg unless you want an infestation of fruit flies

Eating out is cheap as hell, despite the tips - though with the minimum wage being $12, more and more places are going with service charge up front which is great

taxes ugh. Off both our paychecks we lose around 1/3 for state/federal and ss. We filed a few weeks ago, got a refund from federal but owned $$$ to state for some reason. We are generally around 25% in federal every year

healthcare we pay $300 a month, but have a low co-pay/detuctable. We insisted on the top tier despite the fact that we are healthy, just for peace of mind sake. My wife works in the medical system - it's flawed but top quality - at least her hospital is (teaching/research)

lack of social care awful. There are around 8000 homeless in SF. A lot have mental health issues that make a lot of downtown a no go area (tenderloin, mid market) . The city pores millions in every year but it just seems to get worse.

Gas we have a car but mostly use it for the weekend. My wife can walk to her work and my company have a corporate bus that I take to/from the office when I need to go in. The public transit in SF is creaking but functional. Most offices downtown are financial services and tech startups - if you live in the city and work in tech, your company usually provides transport to/from silicon valley.

Internet/cable we get 100mbs with comcast, and our entire package is $150 a month, we have cable so we can watch european soccer - if we didn't watch that, we'd just have internet

All in all, it is still cheaper here (via the ratio of our salaries vs cost of living) than europe ever was for us.

It's not much cheaper for me in terms of salary vs cost of living. But maybe this year will be different when it's all said and done. I got a bump in pay. My pay is now almost double of what I was making in Ireland before I left and I was making good money by Irish standards. So I'm doing pretty well!!

I considered taking a job in Silicon Valley but the pay is about the same for me there as it is in Phoenix and the living costs are a lot lower in Phoenix. It's part of the reason I was thinking Oregon over California.

A few weeks ago here, a nutjob went on a shooting spree a few miles from where I live. Shot and killed, 5 people. This weekend, early on Saturday morning I decided to go into the hot tub at the apartment complex. I was in it for 10 minutes when 5 uniformed police officers came up to the fence and asked me if I had seen anything crazy happening in the parking lot....

I don't know how crime was in Spain but I grew up in small town in the west of Ireland.

The military obsession is also very off-putting. Rah Rah Rah Suppor the Troops Rah Rah Rah..Yeah but what about the Veterans.

Propaganda is so abundant and blatant to everybody but the Americans themselves...it's like a form of brainwashing...

Also, don't know how it is for you. I've got a 401K, got it at two of the places I've worked. It's pretty good, unless I try to retire early...also, there's talk of them upping the age of retirement to 67 which could make it useless. But they've been killing off private pensions. Every place I've worked informed me that only those grandfathered in got a pension.

iusedtoknow

Wompa1 wrote: »

I don't know how crime was in Spain but I grew up in small town in the west of Ireland.

The military obsession is also very off-putting. Rah Rah Rah Suppor the Troops Rah Rah Rah..Yeah but what about the Veterans.

Propaganda is so abundant and blatant to everybody but the Americans themselves...it's like a form of brainwashing...

Also, don't know how it is for you. I've got a 401K, got it at two of the places I've worked. It's pretty good, unless I try to retire early...also, there's talk of them upping the age of retirement to 67 which could make it useless. But they've been killing off private pensions. Every place I've worked informed me that only those grandfathered in got a pension.

Crime was not really an issue for residents, it was more petty crime against tourists that didn't have their wits about them. The biggest crime in reality was the gouging of the government on the people. Sales tax went up from 8% to 21% over night. Taxes went through the roof and they trawled your bank accounts looking for if you had filed your taxes - if not, they would just take a few hundred

Ugh...the military - i hate how every chump in a uniform is "thanked for their service". I just ignore the propaganda completely, use netflix primarily for TV and rely on the Washington Post/NY times for news.

401k's are OK. My company matches unto 10% which we can't touch until 59 1/2. Our plan TBH is to cash out then and move back to Spain or somewhere cheap.

Wompa1

iusedtoknow wrote: »

Crime was not really an issue for residents, it was more petty crime against tourists that didn't have their wits about them. The biggest crime in reality was the gouging of the government on the people. Sales tax went up from 8% to 21% over night. Taxes went through the roof and they trawled your bank accounts looking for if you had filed your taxes - if not, they would just take a few hundred

Ugh...the military - i hate how every chump in a uniform is "thanked for their service". I just ignore the propaganda completely, use netflix primarily for TV and rely on the Washington Post/NY times for news.

401k's are OK. My company matches unto 10% which we can't touch until 59 1/2. Our plan TBH is to cash out then and move back to Spain or somewhere cheap.

Not a bad idea, this is no country for old men

Healthcare costs make this place a bit tougher to grow old in. But like you said, the quality is great from my experience.

My own thinking that this is a great place to 'make it', to set yourself up for a comfortable life. It's just not a great place to grow old or even to settle in too long term. If things go bad here and the likes of you and I lose our jobs, there won't be much compassion or helping hands out towards us.

In countries in Europe, you don't live a lavish lifestyle but you get security. Though, it sounds like maybe it wasn't like that too much in Spain. What the government did there sounds like straight up theft!

Uno my Uno.

Thanks for your posts guys, I'm moving to the US next month and your observations have been really interesting and helpful.

dave2pvd

Careful Uno, I could counter quite a few of Wompa1 and iusedtoknow's observations. They're not wrong - far from it. But as far as costs go, SF and to a lesser extent Phoenix are expensive. There are plenty of cost of living comparison sites out there to research this.

I live in Atlanta. Here, rent here in a good area would be half or less what you'd pay in SF. I pay $50/mo for 50mbps from Comcast. Work pays $500/mo toward health insurance. My mortgage interest and a few other things knocks down my net tax take to around 21%. Car insurance is very cheap compared to IRL. Costco (and a number of other stores) has high quality meat and produce for reasonable prices. Car tax (vehicle reg) is far cheaper than an equivalent car in IRL.

Beyond cost, food and beer is far better than IRL.

Having said all of that, I would love to live in SF or one of the many wonderful cities/towns in WA or OR. Not Seattle or Portland though. I'd aim for smaller cities/towns such as Bend, Yakima, Tacoma, Redmond, Olympia,...

Wompa1

Uno my Uno. wrote: »

Thanks for your posts guys, I'm moving to the US next month and your observations have been really interesting and helpful.

Where are you moving to?

Wompa1

dave2pvd wrote: »

Having said all of that, I would love to live in SF or one of the many wonderful cities/towns in WA or OR. Not Seattle or Portland though. I'd aim for smaller cities/towns such as Bend, Yakima, Tacoma, Redmond, Olympia,...

I've heard a lot of good things about Bend. I've spent a lot of time around Redmond and Bellevue. Very nice but again, quite expensive. Traffic is awful around Seattle too, which is a shame. Also, that damn toll!

I drove up to the Olympic Game farm, it was a really nice drive. Got the ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge. It was really nice out in Bainbridge. It also struck me that waiting 40 minutes to get the ferry across in the morning is probably better than spending an hour and a half driving in from Redmond...unless you work for Microsoft...then you just work in Redmond

Uno my Uno.

Wompa1 wrote: »

Where are you moving to?

NYC, talk about expensive!

Wompa1

Uno my Uno. wrote: »

NYC, talk about expensive!

You planning to go long term or try it for a year or two?

I looked at New York when I was moving here. There were a few places out in Queens that weren't too expensive. You can usually command a bigger salary there to counterbalance the cost of living

crapmanjoe

Wompa1 wrote: »

You planning to go long term or try it for a year or two?

I looked at New York when I was moving here. There were a few places out in Queens that weren't too expensive. You can usually command a bigger salary there to counterbalance the cost of living

Yeah sunnyside / woodside are relatively reasonable (by NY standards) - Astoria is very nice but getting to Manhattan prices.

Actually just finishing up a 4 yr stay in NY - heading west in two weeks- had enough of the never ending winters - great place to be in your 20's - so much to do!

Uno my Uno.

Wompa1 wrote: »

You planning to go long term or try it for a year or two?

I looked at New York when I was moving here. There were a few places out in Queens that weren't too expensive. You can usually command a bigger salary there to counterbalance the cost of living

Headed to the US long term, NYC? 2 for 3 years at least. My initial preference was for the mid-west but New York City will be just fine. Ultimately you go where the work is really, there were some possible locations that would have not been ok!

There are pros and cons with any location in any country, NY may be expensive and competitive but there are opportunities aswell as the benefits of living a great cosmopolitan city.

Uno my Uno.

One further question, how did you guys handle your lack of credit History? a couple of friends have told me it was very difficult to get simple things like Phones or cable accounts as they had no US credit history and thus a low score. One of them advised getting store cards, using them as frequently as possible and paying them off on time.

That seems kinda finicky to me, is there a simpler way?

spideog7

Uno my Uno. wrote: »

One further question, how did you guys handle your lack of credit History? a couple of friends have told me it was very difficult to get simple things like Phones or cable accounts as they had no US credit history and thus a low score. One of them advised getting store cards, using them as frequently as possible and paying them off on time.

That seems kinda finicky to me, is there a simpler way?

Just get a regular prepay phone, they're cheaper and there no credit check. Utilities will charge a few hundred dollar deposit but you get it credited to your bill after a few months of on time payments.

After a year or so I got a regular credit card through my bank, until then I used my debit card. I never had any trouble with credit history, but I paid cash for my car and always rented so never needed it. My score is good now I think after a few years of just doing the normal stuff.

Ruu

Uno my Uno. wrote: »

One further question, how did you guys handle your lack of credit History? a couple of friends have told me it was very difficult to get simple things like Phones or cable accounts as they had no US credit history and thus a low score. One of them advised getting store cards, using them as frequently as possible and paying them off on time.

That seems kinda finicky to me, is there a simpler way?

When I first started out, I was told no score is better than a bad score.

Perhaps your bank might have a secured credit card, basically you deposit an example of $500 and that is your credit line. You get the $500 back plus some interest if/when they upgrade your card to a normal credit card. Just an idea to start small.