Question for Europeans
 

Why would a European want to live in America instead of Europe?

Cheap real estate.

Economic and personal opportunity, freedom (yes, really!), a different (not absent) class structure, an escape from historical memories - but it's going to vary a lot by the person. But these are all reasons I have heard for emigration to the US (and Canada).

Not for me, happy to visit but not for a long term.

Most people I know who are interested in moving to the US think that it is easy to get rich. But as information about reality has improved over the years, fewer people are interested. The lack of freedom in the US has become a big issue -- dress codes on the beach, giant lists of rules for public parks, the censorship of American television, behavior of the police: these are just a few of the issues that rapidly deflate the enthusiasm of visitors.

Purely materialistic reasons....will always be English!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm an American who now lives in Europe and hope I never have to live in the US again. The belief "we have more freedoms than any other country in the world" you immediately realize once you live outside the country is nonsensical pablum fed to us in school and repeated over and over until we are brainwashed. I have never felt so free as I do in Europe. When I go visit family in the US I realize how nearly everything is controlled, banned, forbidden, illegal, etc., etc.

My salary is twice what I was paid when I left my last job in Boston, a big city with what is considered high salaries, I have four times as much vacation, I feel appreciated at work, the food is so, so, much better - fresh veg and fruit at the markets instead of sanitized plastic wrapped unripe junk at supermarkets.

No, linda8, I'm staying right here.

beaupeep, would be interested to know where it is you live in Europe.

Over 20 years ago we considered a move - to Pasadena CA. My OH was offered a job at NASA. We thought long and hard about it. The job was fantastic, and the OH would have loved it. We knew people there already and knew the general area. But we decided against it. The reasons? Three sons to get through school and university, health care, distance to family, two weeks holiday a year, the difficulty I would have in getting a job, the general pressure of life in the US. We opted for the Netherlands instead. High taxes, high house prices, new language, tough to build a social life here. But my kids coud go off on all day bike rides without me worrying, go sailing without needing to join a fancy club, go horse riding for a few guilders a week, they could got to uni without it breaking me. There is no zero tolerance just tolerance, no pressure to belong to a church, to believe in anything. Here we have the real freedom to develop as we want to be, something which I see less and less in the US.
So i shall continue to visit the US, and love it and it's citizens, but I would never again consider emigrating there.

I know lots of Swiss who have moved from Switzerland to Canada but none to the States.

Beaupeep, who lives in Switzerland, hits the nail on the head. However, many Swiss enjoy open spaces and the possibility to open their own business, which is much harder to do in Switzerland. So they head to Canada, New Zealand or South America. Very few move to South Africa or the States anymore.

The excellent bread.

It wouldn't suit me - crap beer, crap sports, no pubs.

Most people I know who express an desire to move to the USA do so on the basis that they think it's easy to get rich there. Methinks it is easier to do well over here than there.

But they do have bigger houses, and shinier teeth than us. That could be an incentive to some.

I can think of one reason: If I were a scientist I would propably find better financing for my research in the US.

But that is just about the only reason I can think about. I have lived in California, and the climate was way more comfy than in Finland or even southern France where I also have lived, but that is not enough to outweight Europe.

>>>freedom (yes, really!), <<<

WillTravel, would you care to tell in what way I would be more free in the US? Because everything seemed less free, kids could not even walk or bike to school by themselves.

Only when it´s Bush free.

The two countries that currently appeal the most to the French as relocation possibilities are Canada and Australia.

I definitely agree with beaupeep about being brainwashed. I did all but one year of my schooling in the US, and the whole freedom idea was drummed into us constantly. I would imagine that the main results are the decisions by policymakers of the obligation to "free" other countries like Chile, Iraq, Venezuela... What gets me is not wanting to "free" Saudi Arabia and certain other dictatorships. Is freedom less important than, hmmm, oil?

I have no interest in living in America. I'm perfectly happy in Europe.

beaupeep -

Of course you can get fresh fruits and vegetables in the U.S. Are you kidding? We get them all the time from the two markets on the next block from us. (Excellent quality).

elina: Yes, kids can walk or bike to school. It depends on where you live - is it a city or suburb (too far to walk), or a rural area?

It depends on the neighborhood, too, of course, if it's safe. But don't believe all the negative stories one hears in the press about this.

As far as general freedoms are involved:
Just came back form Budapest. We had a private guide for an afternoon who has visited the U.S. He told us that he was amazed that he got a ticket for driving 75 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone. "It's not as if I were doing 90mph. I felt more free under Communism!!" So, I guess he thinks that going 20 miles over the speed limit is no big deal and to be stopped from doing that is cutting back on his freedom. We found it very interesting.

Linda,

please clarify - do you mean the European posters on this board, or just a general pro&con question?

In 2nd case: wide open spaces are definitely an appeal, but is there still a lot of that left? I mean, in places where you also have a chance to a decent job and connection to the general culture other than by internet and TV?

Since my first visit in 1974, I have spent maybe 70 weeks in America at different times and seen a fair bit of it. 25 years ago I would have jumped at the chance to live there but in more recent years I have found myself falling out of love with the country.

Crime does seem to be bad there and it is said that 2/3 of Americans have guns in their homes. The Bounty Hunters show says there are over ten million fugitives at large (people who have skipped bail) in America. The show does demonstrate how people in America are guilty till proved innocent.

My uncle in Buffalo worked for Westinghouse for years and years and one year they decided they didn't want him and he was out the door. At one time he and his wife had to take care of her father who had fallen into a coma. Her father stayed that way at their home as they could not afford hospitalisation, till he died more than a year later.

Like many I don't like Bush's foreign policy which consists of crushing all opposing countries. America is first in military might and has more might than numbers 2-10 combined (including China and Russia) and is still building up more using National Debt to do it and to keep a high standard of living (Every man, woman and child in America owes about $900,000). Not a place to be if the bubble ever bursts.

I'm just back from two weeks holiday in the US, and although I enjoyed my trip, nothing I saw made me want to live there.

The climate- in some parts- might be a plus. And I thought it was pretty clean and tidy. And the people were VERY polite.