I want to live in America

TeaBagMania

The job market is strong here at the moment, good time to move.

US is a great place to work and stock pile cash, then move back to Ireland.

Hope to retire there as person of independent means, fingers crossed

Still have many years to go

endacl

Chrongen wrote: »

The Hillman Avengers could stage a retaliatory strike though.

Boom!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

TeaBagMania wrote: »

The job market is strong here at the moment, good time to move.

US is a great place to work and stock pile cash, then move back to Ireland.

Hope to retire there as person of independent means, fingers crossed

Still have many years to go

That's a dream held by many before you, who went to the US, and achieved by few. I hope it works out for you - genuinely.

bnt

Apart from a few cities in the NE and NW, living in the USA would mean a lot of driving. The urban sprawl has to be seen to be believed. I was in Jacksonville FL a few years ago, which has about the same population as Dublin, spread out over about 3x the area. I'm heading back to Houston TX later this year: the city itself is spread out over a single county (Harris County) the size of Leinster, and then there are satellite towns feeding it. Public transit is very thin on the ground and stops at the county line - but subsidised e.g I got the whole way across Houston on two buses for a single fare of $1.25.

RDM_83 again

Cina wrote: »

Absolutely.

Much stricter guns lows, far lower crime, much better health service, better social welfare.

Canada is sort of like living in the US with the benefits of a Western European state, so arguably better.

The thing about the US is that it's amazing if you're relatively well off, and pretty awful if you're poor.

Exclude resource extraction, construction and union jobs from this

Lower wages if your working in a in professional sector than the USA, lower wages in finance than the various European hubs.
Very high cost of living, very high cost of travel (people in Canada often travel into the USA to catch a flight).

Big spread out country clustered on american border so it's easier to visit US than most parts of Canada for many Canadians.

Stereotype of being dull has some truth to it, nanny state laws around alcohol (great place to be a stoner), compare trying to have a legal drink past 2 am to any similar sized city.

Weather is incredibly cold one half of the year in a way that's genuine restrictive unlike the Irish damp and gloom.

Crime rate similar or higher than most of Western Europe.

Way fewer days off than Europe.

pauliebdub

A few of my friends have moved there and seem to like it. They don't mind working 10 hours every day and having just 10 days of annual leave every year. It wouldn't be for me.

Greentopia

RDM_83 again wrote: »

Lower wages if your working in a in professional sector than the USA, lower wages in finance than the various European hubs.

Take away the high cost of medical insurance in the US and the difference in wages would not be much if any.

RDM_83 again wrote: »

Very high cost of living,

Depends on your lifestyle. I know someone who lives a very minimalist lifestyle in Kitchener Ontario and what she can live on would in no way be possible in Dublin because of the cost of rent there.

RDM_83 again wrote: »

Big spread out country clustered on american border so it's easier to visit US than most parts of Canada for many Canadians.

Surely the same would hold true for Americans living close to the Canadian border? it takes over 3 hours to fly from Minnesota to Florida.

RDM_83 again wrote: »

Stereotype of being dull has some truth to it, nanny state laws around alcohol (great place to be a stoner), compare trying to have a legal drink past 2 am to any similar sized city.

I'd take slightly dull any day over gun murders, huge inequality, third world level poverty in many Southern states, trigger happy cops, a healthcare system that leaves the poor to die in the gutter or bankrupt, millions of fundamentalist nutjobs... and so on.

RDM_83 again wrote: »

Weather is incredibly cold one half of the year in a way that's genuine restrictive unlike the Irish damp and gloom.

Calgary-333 days of sunshine on average. British Columbia on the coast is mild the whole year round, temperatures rarely go below freezing. People tend to over exaggerate how cold much of Canada is.

RDM_83 again wrote: »

Crime rate similar or higher than most of Western Europe.

Depends where you live. Much preferable in that regard to most places in the US in any case.

RDM_83 again wrote: »

Way fewer days off than Europe.

True.

I'd choose most places in Europe any day over the US, and even Canada. Wouldn't live in the US if you paid me a million a year.

redcup342

Greentopia wrote: »

Take away the high cost of medical insurance in the US and the difference in wages would not be much if any.

It depends on how much money you earn.

In the US you don't pay more health insurance if you earn more money so in a lower paying job its a significant cost. In a high paying job your health insurance isn't a big cost.

Capitalism

Greentopia

redcup342 wrote: »

It depends on how much money you earn.

In the US you don't pay more health insurance if you earn more money so in a lower paying job its a significant cost. In a high paying job your health insurance isn't a big cost.

Capitalism

True enough. Unless you lose that high paying job along with your company health insurance, and you have one health problem that ends up putting you thousands of dollars in debt, if not bankruptcy.

Also capitalism, US style. I know someone who actually died over there because they couldn't make enough money teaching in high school to cover their medical expenses.

She was living pay cheque to pay cheque like millions of Americans and had some acute health problems that needed ongoing treatment. An extremely bright and capable maths teacher who loved her job. She was only in her early thirties when she died.
Murica.

jmayo

redcup342 wrote: »

Canada is cold end of.

WTF would you go to Canada for except for work

Ehh have you any idea how bad the winters much of the US gets.
Hell Florida Georgia even got snow a few months back.
And parts of Canada have damn fine summers.

Yester wrote: »

Part of the attraction is that you could just get in your car and drive from New York to Calafornia.Best I can do here is Donegal to West Cork.

Ehh hop on ferry to Roscoff and knock yourself out.
And as others have said there will much more variety than traveling on interstates passing dead end hick towns in the US.

wakka12 wrote: »

I think driving through parts of middle east would be a bit unnerving!
An american road trip would be absolutely amazing, I think one of the best in the world, the variety of scenery and cities you'd see travelling from east to west coast would be spectacular.

There would be big chunks of sameness as well.
Also distances tend to measured in hours of sameness.

Yester wrote: »

Yes but there would be a language barrier. My last trip abroad i got in a big argument with a spainish taxi driver. Me speaking english and him speaking Spanis. I have no idea what it was about but we were very angry at each other.

Maybe you shouldn't think about US if you tend to get into heated arguments with strangers as a lot of Americans are packing.

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

you are right about Europe, but in the US you could track north along the canadian border or south, to avoid the sameness of the centre. Though some people like that, it looks cinematographic.

If you track north along Canadian border you will run into the flatness of mid west and places like the Dakotas.
Look at a map and notice how straight the roads are.

Snowseer

long_b wrote: »

Everything's free in America

Stung by a bee in America.
Fell from a tree in America.
Damaged my knee in America.
Life’s not for me in Amer-i-ca.

jmayo

Super highways coast to coast just easy to get anywhere

And somewhere on the way you might find out who you are?

You may not be looking for the promised land
But you might find it anyway

badboyblast

I have travelled to alot of places in the the USA over the last ten years , the great thing is I guess is that you can get proper seasons , if it's cold where you are you can jump on a plane to another state where it would be warm, a big plus for me is that there isn't the same focus on alcohol as there is in Ireland .

If you are thinking of earning a good living you should have recognised university qualifications from major universities here in Ireland to help you land the job you want.

If you want to excel in certain fields the openings seem to be there , I'd say it isn't a place you want to be earning 40k a year and just surviving.

You can make good money there and thats a fact. It's all relative to what you want from life and for your family

Manic Moran

I moved to the US from Ireland back in January 2000. I had about $2,500 in my pocket when I got off the airplane in Cleveland, and a credit card with a $3,000 limit. No job lined up, no house arranged beyond a person I knew from the Internet I could stay with for a couple days, I didn't really know anyone, or have family within 3,000 miles. In hindsight, I was naively optimistic, or incredibly stupid.

I am absolutely confident I can say I have a better life here now than I would have in Ireland had I never moved. I'm not living the stereotypical dream, I don't have a mansion with a fountain to drive around, or a Maserati to drive around it in, but I have a wife and kids, own my house, cars, computers, firearms, can rent airplanes when I want to fly, go abroad every year on vacation as well as 'local' weekend trips to places like Louisiana or Tennessee... I -enjoy- my life, I don't just live it. It's about as good as one could reasonably expect. I'm registering my own company next month, so let's see if I can improve upon it anyway.

Don't let the naysayers prevent you from moving to the US if that's what you want to do. There are arguments for Canada, Australia, Brasil, South Africa... anywhere you want to move to. There are arguments for staying in Ireland, and folks are happy there too. The US is still a land of opportunity, though.

Padraig1888 wrote: »

The thing about the US is they get hardly any paid holiday days and bank holidays. You'll realise it's not so bad here tbh. Just our climate is gik.

I realise that the rates are low for the first year or two, but it's not necessarily, too horrible here. I just checked my HR folder:
Last year, I got 9x bank holidays and Christmas Week off, and earned an additional 25 days of PTO for my own discretion (which, granted, includes sick days).
That's not bad.

The U.S. has the second highest rate of imprisonment in the world. Nearly a quarter of all prisoners worldwide, are in the U.S.

Egads. So our police force is generally good at its job, and the prosecutors actually prosecute. I do hope one day we'll fix the societal problems which are encouraging folks to go into crime, but I've pretty reasonable liberty mainly because I don't do things like battery, robbery, and so on.

Would it fcuk? You get on the motorway at New York and the scenery doesn't fcuking change until you hit the Rockies. Mile after mile after mile of bull****, for 2000 miles. If it's not prairie, it's desert, if it's not desert it's wheat fields. You get past the Rockies and you're back to desert/scrubland but at least you got the beautiful city of LA to look forward to.

Depends on what route you take. For example, sure, if I wanted to go across Wyoming and Nebraska on I-80, it's boring as hell. But I do that if I'm in a hurry, such as the first time I drove it. On the other hand, if I take I-90, that's a far more scenic, through the Black Hills of South Dakota, or the Big Sky Country of Montana. Last time I went cross-country, I decided to take the Southern route, from Fort Knox via San Antonio. You'd be surprised at the amount of mountains and trees in places like New Mexico and Arizona. One nice thing about my current residence is that if I drive three hours one way, I can be skiing, if I'm two hours the other way, I can be surfing. I want to look at 100m-tall trees, I go two hours North, if I want to go mountain hiking, two hours South. Works for me. There is a -lot- of scenery in the US, if you're willing to actually look for it.

I think you have to be legally resident there first to join - ie have a green card.

Correct. It is pretty much the fastest route to citizenship, though, if you can get into the country legally.

The flyover states are poor.

Yes and no. The wife and I were taking a serious look at moving to Kansas City last year, it's a surprisingly up-and-coming city. Decided not to as I do have a daughter who lives in California, and I'm going to wait a while before going away, but it has jobs, a cheap cost of living, it's centrally located, winters aren't too god-awful, a blossoming culture scene. Nobody ever thinks about these "little" places (KC is 2 million population), but it's well worth a look. Savannah was also a contender, although I guess Georgia is only a flyover State if you're going on holiday.

Also on my radar is Montana, though that's probably more a retirement gig, with a winter residence in Arizona or some such. It's not all New York and Los Angeles.

Ursus Horribilis

The more I learn about America, the less I think of the place. I'm sure it's a great place if you get to live the American dream and make your money. It seems to be a merciless place if you fall on hard times or you don't manage to get a good job. Their healthcare system makes ours look good and that's some going. It also seems to be a horribly divided, angry country when it comes to politics. Depressingly, there appears to be a large cohort of the population who are uninterested in educating themselves or believing any news source other than Fox News. So much for making America great again. Was it ever great in the first place?

NollagShona

Agreed. I’d live in any Western European city over USA

Herb Powell

LeinsterDub wrote: »

One of your cars would make the journey easier

http://media.giphy.com/media/l2JdSP4o5EZkTU16o/giphy.gif

Chalk it down.

Manic Moran wrote: »

Egads. So our police force is generally good at its job, and the prosecutors actually prosecute. I do hope one day we'll fix the societal problems which are encouraging folks to go into crime, but I've pretty reasonable liberty mainly because I don't do things like battery, robbery, and so on.

I agree with most of your post tbh, especially re: the hyperbole about being too scared of gangs to even visit, and I'm sure you can have a great life there, but man oh man, this bit. If only it was that simple.

Like, there are a (not insignificant) number of prosecutors who are eager to prosecute not because it's warranted but because it makes them money in a for-profit prison system. That's not the stuff of conspiracy, either.

MadYaker

I lived in L.A for 2 summers working for my uncle and renting a room off some granny he knew. I loved it and I still enjoy the occasional visit. Not sure id want to live there full time though. If you're middle class or above it's a great country. If it was relatively easy to get a visa id try it for a year.

c.p.w.g.w

I have no idea why anyone would want to leave Ireland for America...

Employment law is messed up in the states- look up "at will employment". There is zero protections for the unemployed, sick or poor.

Many people need to work multiple jobs and even when in employment you will probably have to depend on government food stamps.

It's the richest country in the world yet has so much poverty, that's it's genuinely depressing.

It's a country that's so divided and you'd be lucky to have anything that resembles a life

badboyblast

c.p.w.g.w wrote: »

I have no idea why anyone would want to leave Ireland for America...

Employment law is messed up in the states- look up "at will employment". There is zero protections for the unemployed, sick or poor.

Many people need to work multiple jobs and even when in employment you will probably have to depend on government food stamps.

It's the richest country in the world yet has so much poverty, that's it's genuinely depressing.

It's a country that's so divided and you'd be lucky to have anything that resembles a life

Are you taking from experience, you seem to paint a very different picture to anyone I know working there

c.p.w.g.w

badboyblast wrote: »

Are you taking from experience, you seem to paint a very different picture to anyone I know working there

Not directly, but I know a couple of people.

But also I have watched a number of documentaries, and read a lot of different stories.

My previous post isn't applicable to everyone

I know one person who is living the dream with regards their career and pay packet, but if you are working class in the states you are much worse off than the working class here in Ireland from what I have read and seen in a number of different documentaries

Also some states don't practice at will employment...And some company's don't use "at will employment"

Also things like paid holidays aren't available to employee's in many industries until you have served an x number of years

Spanish Eyes

I like going to the US for a holiday, it is an amazing place.

But I would never live there, it would spoil the view so to speak. Far away hills and all that.

I would be very concerned about Health costs, and despite all the talk here no one would be turned away in this country ever. We are living in a great country, it has many big faults, but looking after people will never be one of them. Our DSP is good, and you will not go hungry either. Never heard of food stamps here.

But I suppose the response will be "what about the homeless here"? They probably get more supports than you or I will. Up to them to avail of it, it is there. Rest my case.

US to live in NO, to visit and do the road trip YES. But no, I would not live there. Just my opinion.

salonfire

Manic Moran wrote: »

Egads. So our police force is generally good at its job, and the prosecutors actually prosecute. I do hope one day we'll fix the societal problems which are encouraging folks to go into crime, but I've pretty reasonable liberty mainly because I don't do things like battery, robbery, and so on.

Easy to say when you are in good health and not dirt poor.

If you were unable to work and too poor to feed yourself, would you still be as confident you would not resort to crime?

Manic Moran

salonfire wrote: »

Easy to say when you are in good health and not dirt poor.

If you were unable to work and too poor to feed yourself, would you still be as confident you would not resort to crime?

According to the BoP, these are the crimes putting people away in the federal prison system. https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_offenses.jsp

Is it your contention that a significant portion of the US's inmate population is because they had no recourse other than to deal drugs (46%), unlawfully carry arms, explosives, or commit arson (17%), or commit sex offenses (9%) in order to feed themselves? That's a tally 3/4 of the BoP's inmates on just the top three offence categories.

I also looked up my State, the California Dept of Corrections, https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Reports_Research/Offender_Information_Services_Branch/Annual/Census/CENSUSd1306.pdf,

The highest categories of offense in the State's overcrowded, 135,000 prisoner system are Murder (16.5%), Robbery (16%), assault/battery (12%), assault with a deadly weapon (9%), Lewd Act with Child (6.5%), which gets us almost to 2/3 the total CDC inmate population.

One might have thought that the starving, need to feed offence might be larceny or shoplifting (Petty theft). In California, that's about 1% of the inmates.

I submit that most of the US's inmates are there because of poor life choices, not desperation.

salonfire

Manic Moran wrote: »

According to the BoP, these are the crimes putting people away in the federal prison system. https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_offenses.jsp

Is it your contention that a significant portion of the US's inmate population is because they had no recourse other than to deal drugs (46%), unlawfully carry arms, explosives, or commit arson (17%), or commit sex offenses (9%) in order to feed themselves? That's a tally 3/4 of the BoP's inmates on just the top three offence categories.

I also looked up my State, the California Dept of Corrections, https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Reports_Research/Offender_Information_Services_Branch/Annual/Census/CENSUSd1306.pdf,

The highest categories of offense in the State's overcrowded, 135,000 prisoner system are Murder (16.5%), Robbery (16%), assault/battery (12%), assault with a deadly weapon (9%), Lewd Act with Child (6.5%), which gets us almost to 2/3 the total CDC inmate population.

One might have thought that the starving, need to feed offence might be larceny or shoplifting (Petty theft). In California, that's about 1% of the inmates.

I submit that most of the US's inmates are there because of poor life choices, not desperation.

Nope, I am saying that in the absence of a proper healthcare and welfare system, there are people who's last resort is to turn to crime.

Wanderer78

Manic Moran wrote:

I submit that most of the US's inmates are there because of poor life choices, not desperation.

You probably should do more research into the fundamentals of criminality

Brian?

Richard Hillman wrote: »

Too many gangs for my liking. Wouldn't even visit it as a holiday

The whole of the US have too many gangs everywhere? From South Dakota to Hawaii and north eastern Maine?

Brian?

wakka12 wrote: »

Most of europe has liberty and whatever 'pursuit of happiness' entails,which is surely subjective
Why pick america over even canada? They have very similar culture overall but with most of the bad bits of american culture ironed out, like political extremism, religious fanaticism and gun culture, more equal society

Canada is too cold, eh.

Brian?

badboyblast wrote: »

Are you taking from experience, you seem to paint a very different picture to anyone I know working there

I lived in the states and it lines up exactly with my observations.

Franz Von Peppercorn

Wanderer78 wrote: »

You probably should do more research into the fundamentals of criminality

Some crmininality is economic based. Much isn’t.

The average (mean) age in prison in California is 39. Not sure why that surprised me.