Emmigrating to the US...

[ArizonaBlue]

So, i've been eyeing up California, Los Angeles to be more precise. It might sound like a cliche but the culture; music fashion etc speaks to me; the values Manchester has.

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Well, I guess you would be used to expensive stuff as I know it isn't exactly cheap in the UK but you just have to be prepared as LA and California in general is one of the most expensive states to live in.

 

[bluemoon32]

Australia is the way to go, it's where I'm looking, and as long as you have something to offer, you should be accepted.

It's full of f*cking Aussies though

 

[stonerblue]

If you're young, single and child free then stop pissing about and get a ticket. I've been to the States a few times and was offered at least one job on every visit.

 

[pominoz]

I would highly recommend Australia,we seem to be riding out the global down turn well,great weather and great people. (on the whole)
Come on down.

Had a nephew who went out to OZ in Jan on a year-long visa. He came back in 4 months saying they were no jobs. I think the only job they found was fruit picking and that dried up also. So it's not as easy as it looks.

My nephew (22) has been out here since January on a working visa and has been working 6 days a week (he has a trade).He has applied for a 12 month extention and loves it here.He has made enough money to "pop" home for a few weeks and come back to work.

 

[SmellTheGlove]

GStar,

Getting lots of good advice, so not tons to add. However, here goes:

I fly all over the USA and while I can fully understand the lure of LA (from TV and the movies, of course) it would be one of the lower cities on my list of places to go. If you want California, then San Francisco is by FAR the better city (LA is not really a city, but more a long beach surrounded on 3 sides by mountains, which sounds nice, but....) to visit.

Getting here is easy on a visitor's visa for 90 days. DO THAT before EVER contemplating living here. While you are here, travel to every place you THINK you might want to settle and check it out, because America is more than a few different "countries" rolled into one.

The Northwest is different from California, which is different from what Americans call the Southwest, which is the desert states of Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico. The Northwest is generally temperate and can be quite cloudy, as it "enjoys" a maritime climate that comes over the North Pacific, mainly from north (which is why the water on the west coast is COLD, even all the way down to Southern California!). California, because it stretches so far up and down the west coast, has three different microclimates along the coast, inland, over what is called the "inland empire" where most of the food is grown, and over the Sierra Nevada mountains which run down the eastern edge of the state, where 2 feet of snow can fall overnight!

The South is the Bible belt and best to simply steer clear, unless you like to NOT understand the language, NOT like to eat the food, and are afraid of being shot (like the nobs on Top Gear almost were!). Now, Florida is a country all of its own, and is really 3 countries in and of itself. Northern Florida is the American south, see previous, central Florida is vacation capital of Florida (Disney, Universal, cheap shopping, etc..) and South Florida is mainly retirees, except Miami, which is unofficially part of SOUTH America (English being a virtual second language, which Spanish primarily spoken!).

Coming across the middle of the country, Utah is Utah, which means high desert or mountains and Mormons, lots of Mormons. Salt Lake City is the ONLY big city, but there are some beautiful ski towns there. Colorado is flat to the east, with the Rockies jutting out of the ground in the middle of the state, where Denver is, and west of Denver still seen as "frontier country" unless you are in a ski resort. Denver is a nice city, but certainly a long way from Manchester!

The northern tier of the country is cold in the winter, hot in the summer and desolate all year round. Dances With Wolves and A River Runs Through It are good movies that sum up life in these parts. More cattle than people.

The Midwest is dominated by cities such as St Louis, Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit and Cleveland, with Chicago being FAR AND AWAY the best of the bunch. Hot summers, cold winters and brief spring and fall. More Polish people live in Chicago than in Warsaw, and I would venture that between Boston (Northeast's biggest and best immigrant city) and Chicago, there are more Irish than Dublin. Great YEAR 'ROUND city and lots to do. On Lake Michigan, which makes the English Channel look like a river running through Europe, and the Great lakes are the largest source of fresh water on earth. I would venture that Chicago is probably THE MOST like manchester of any of the US cities. It has a reputation for hard work, graft, and a very active "subculture." The city is somewhat racially divided, with whites to the north, blacks to the south and hispanics to the west, although sprinkled into that mix are numerous ethnic hot spots and villages. It is a true "melting pot" and the crossroads of the country.

Out East, you will find a temperate climate in the mid Atlantic, with warmer and more humid climates tot he south and colder, but still wet, climates tot he north, The people of the larger cities, especially NYC and the Washington area are quite metropolitan, but there are some very distinct cities too. Philadelphia has a large urban black population, as does Baltimore and the District of Columbia, while there are also large concentrations of blacks within the other mid Atlantic states of both North and South Carolina, and Atlanta, Georgia is one of the largest concentrations of upwardly mobile black populations in the USA. I say this NOT to be racist, as it is simply a matter of fact, neither good nor bad, but because there are STILL some racial holdovers from the pre- (and Post-) Civil rights era of the 60s. These states are all quite beautiful, with warmer, more humid climates than to the west and north, but lack large cities and concentrations of jobs, with the exception of Charlotte (Banking) and Atlanta (multiple large corporations such as Coca Cola, Delta Airlines, CNN, etc..).

The NorthEast is a city versus country issue. The cities are large, established urban areas, with long and deep histories (by American standards), while the ex-urban areas are VERY NICE country areas, with more "British" climates, plus mosquitoes out the wazooo!!! it is very easy to see why the colonists found this area to their liking and why it is still called New England.

So, MULTIPLE different countries, cultures, climates and peoples, with none being better than the other, just different. People here DO move, but they also often yearn for the place they grew up, unless they find a similar culture/climate, etc...

The "YOUNG PEOPLE" places that spring to mind are NYC, Boston, Chicago, San Fran, Portland, and Seattle, with Washington, Denver, and L.A. as distant seconds. If I were you, I would TRY and fly into NYC (Cheapest fares!!!), spend some time there, and in Boston, and Washington, hop over to Chicago, then Denver, then head up to Seattle, down to Portland, San Fran, L.A. and San Diego. And take AS MANY SIDE TRIPS FROM THESE CITIES AS POSSIBLE! By the time you have visited all those cities, you will have taken in MOST of the culture you were looking to experience as a potential immigrant from an industrial, cultural, sports city such as Manchester.

if at all possible, come to the States for the moths of May, June, July or August, preferably the first three, as you will find traveling easiest, the weather the best, and more people out and about from which to judge each cities offerings in the way of festivals, culture, outdoor activities, etc...

If you are planning to hitch hike, it is NOT usual in the east, and much more usual in the west, though the distances between cities in the west can be MASSIVE. If you are going to hitch, get yourself a weapon, preferably a knife (guns can get you into trouble and you probably could not get one legally anyway!) that would be useful of both self defence and "general needs."

I came over in 1982 on an F1 student visa. I met my wife in university and we married before my visa expired. The process I went through has changed since then, and is much more rigorous now. There are no Brits allowed in the lottery (too many here already apparently and not enough power in Congress, unlike the Kennedy's, which makes it easy if you are Irish!!!).

Unemployment is OFFICIALLY almost 10%, but is considered by MOST economists to be 17%, as many people have simply stopped applying for jobs and have fallen off the rolls, and/or are UNDERemployed in part time work, just to get by.

One avenue you MIGHT want to look at is finding a job with a UK company that has large operations in the USA. This is an easy, legal route in the USA. After that, of course, it is up to your Manchester charm to hook the 5'10" 110lb blonde with legs all the way up to there (the accent helps, as long as you don't sound too unintelligible!!) and see where that takes you!

Good luck!

ChicagoBlue

I've learned more about the US from this post than I did from seven years of geography lessons. Fabulous.

 

[blue jim]

Thats the main thing keeping me here now, in all honesty, i just want to see us win something, be there for the begining of it all.

Still, i'd keep the season ticket (give it tom mates when im not around)

But, since graduating i'd been offered grad scheme places (had to turn them down through illness) and having been on JSA for a few weeks after a couple months of job hunting i'm now temping til Xmas with less disposable income than if i stayed in bed sponging off the Government.

So, i've been eyeing up California, Los Angeles to be more precise. It might sound like a cliche but the culture; music fashion etc speaks to me; the values Manchester has.

So, how do i do it? Do i need to find a job first and get them to apply for my visa? Can i go over there and apply because i've got a degree (E3 visa or something?) just a bit of advice of how to go about it, opinions etc would be great.

to me the american equilivent of manchester is chicago.

been wanting to do the same thing though, only i dont know if it would be easier to get in under my irish passport or british passport. if you do it, you should plan to do it within the next 4-5 years and get out of any debts you are in. i get my degree next year and my plan is to build up a couple of thousand quid so i something to live off while i find a decent job.

 

[bluemoon32]

Los Angeles is a hideous place, worst place i've ever been to in the US.

 

[pominoz]

Australia is the way to go, it's where I'm looking, and as long as you have something to offer, you should be accepted.

It's full of f*cking Aussies though

Yes it is,and what is wrong with Aussies?

 

[bluemoon32]

It's full of f*cking Aussies though

Yes it is,and what is wrong with Aussies?

Suntanned fucking Cockneys








































;-)

 

[dave the pie]

By far one of the most educational and interesting topics ive ever read on bluemoon!!!
me an afew mates went to L.A for afew weeks in june and loved every minute of it. Went down 2 san diego, (which i didnt really like) for independance day, which was mint, and went to vegas for a bit. But i loved L.A, and would consider moving there in the future. So much to see an do, and vegas is only a 4 hour drive away!!