Relocating to the States? Suggestion
 

My wife and I are considering a move to the States, this after having been twice on buisness and once on personal holiday. We greatly enjoyed our time over there but are torn between choosing a place which we would like to move. First off I have a fairly marketable profession and thus believe attaining a job would not be too difficult. The places we have been? Oregon, Minnesota-Wisconsin and California. Despite the different purpose for the trips (buisness and hols) we saw a quite a bit (relatively) of each. Our favourite?...hmmm thats hard to say. Obviously the thrill of living in San Francsico or Portland is evident, but we have children and Wisconsin seemed the best for that. My wife didnt care for Los Angeles and wasnt too thrilled with San Francisco (of course I loved SF!) or San Diego either, but we DID like California. Are there smaller, less problematic cities in California with good telecom opportunities? So what would you recommend? I realise an individuals hometown or state is usually the first recommendation, and thats ok. But where would you, as a Native, live if you had the chance? A little bit about us; we are from Bristol, England have 2 children of ages 2 and 6. Mind you, we are in the early stages of planning this move, this is more to get an opinion of what Americans think about certain areas/states than anything. We look forward to your insight!

Cheers!

Hard Questions! Generally the government schools here, called "public schools" often are very inferior to European schools, so paying attention to the school quality is essential, wherever you live.
In the upper mid section (Minnesota, Wisconsin, etc.)& in Calif, and Oregon, the state govts are more "socialistic" -- high taxes, more nanny like. The winters can be hard in the Northern areas, and mid section, called mid West and upper mid West. Always look at -public school quality - environmental quality,
-taxes and govt attitude, -weather and climate, -
cost of living & housing (CA and NY are high), -transportation, - open attitude to stangers, -the local economy and opportunities..
In general, the "sunbelt" area from Virginia to Arizona is nice, but check the schools, unless you can pay tuition of $4000 each child each year for a good private or private "religious" school. ( The "religious" schools push good education and good behavior and citizenship, rather than pure doctrine.) Good luck. Best wishes.

Why not look at Dallas, Texas? You will find that there are no state income taxes and that there are MANY telecom firms in the city.

If you are used to 4 seasons It would be difficult to give that up. The beauty offour distinctive seasons can be found in New England. That refers to the extreme Northeast area, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusettes, Rhode Island, and Conneticut. The ocean and mountains are easily reached for recreation. I hope you have the opportunity to see this area for yourself. Each year Money magazine rates the top 300 places to live in the USA, I checked the website , the entire report from july 97 can be viewed at http://pathfinder.com/money/best-cities-97/ Number one is Nashua, New Hampshire. The criteria used is also detailed, such as education, health care, cultural, unemployment, cost of living, etc. For example, different parts of the country are considered more expensive to live in, houses will cost more in San Francisco or the Boston area. Good luck in your search. Sandra

I'm not sure what you mean by good "telecome opportunities." We are a little more wired than Europe in general. I am a writer but also do work in the computer field, live in CA but have lived all over the U.S. and abroad. In CA, there are many smaller cities that offer great opportunities. For example, Santa Cruz--low cost of living, on the ocean, and about an hour south of San Jose, the heart of Silicon Valley. But really, what kind of climate and terrain are you looking for? Hot and dry, four seasons--that really is the bottom line. In CA, you can also live in the far north, like Eureka and Arcata--beautiful towns, low cost of living, low crime, etc. The terrain is very varied. If you like, you can e-mail and I can give you more information on California and also other places.

Well, as you can see...EVERYONE seems to think they live in the best part of the USA. <BR> I grew up in Wisconsin and married an upstate NY man (the beautiful country part of NY) We now live in Kentucky. My best suggestion is for you to try to request tourism information from the Chamber of Commerce for specific states/cities. <BR> Create a description of "exactly" what you are looking. What are your family's interests, needs//DO you like lots of traffic, big cities or quiet small towns. Climate is an important criteria too. <BR> I love Lexington, Kentucky it is a progressive/medium size city. It is famous for its rolling hills and thoroughbred race horse/farms. Churchhill Downs (Kentucky Derby) is close by. <BR> The "BEST" place to raise a family is in small town Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. If you are ever visiting that area..let me know. I can put you in touch with some people who will let your kids see the dairy cows being milked..and take them on some other farm adventures.. (the school are great there too!)

Marc, <BR> <BR>Have you actually talked with American companies? Before you have your heart set on coming here, be aware of the Visa issue. You may well be able to obtain a job, but you will require H-1 sponsorship if you do not have a green card. That costs employers a whole heck of a lot of money in legal fees. You will most likely have your share of legal fees getting that green card. There are many companies that simply will not do sponsorships. Almost all companies will pay you significantly less. <BR> <BR>As for where to live - as you can see there are just so many areas with such a diversity. You need to decide on the climate you want, and whether you want to live in the country or city. In the telecom industry you would be more likely to be city based. But even so, you can commute like so many of us do. Live in the country or suburbs and work in the urban areas. One of my favorites for that kind of quality of life is suburban Philadelphia. You can get housing costs closer to what you would pay in the country, with good schools (nothing like the rotten center city ones found here), and yet a half hour from center city Philadephia. (not with rush hour traffic mind you) <BR> <BR>

We once considered a move to a different state and subscribed to the local newspaper. This was very revealing since we could read about what kind of crime was occuring, how active the community events were, what kind of politics, etc. Another thing to do is to check thru the yellow pages for that area for the things you consider important. I was shocked when a city we were considering didn't have a single bookstore. You may also want to see what kind of churches are in the area if your religion is important to you. Make sure you get a local paper and not a large city one that might not print local events. Good luck. I know a British family and one of their problems with their teens is that they cannot work because they aren't US citizens until they reach a certain age. <BR>

<BR>As a Brit living in the States for many years (NYC) I have seen many places. Mf favorite is New Mexico (Santa Fe ) but given your cicumstances (two young children and coming from Bristol) then Wisconsin is a great place for you and the kids.

As you can see by now, everybody thinks that they live in the best place. There is no really best area for everybody. It all depends on your preferences. I am a native Californian who has lived all over the USA ( not military ) and several foreign nations. My permanent home is in a small city in the San Diego area but I live several months of the year in the San Francisco Bay area. <BR> <BR>I personally feel that California is by far the best place to live. That is why we returned here. It offers any lifestyle that one could wish for. Rural to big city. As far as schools go, our school district in the San Diego area is rated in the top 10 for all of the US. California is very diverse with people from all corners of the world. We personally are torn between Northern and Southern California. We like both of them but for different reasons. BTW, San Diego has the lowest crime rate of any large city in the USA. San Jose has the lowest crime rate of any city over 300,000. The cost of living varies tremendously in California. The San Francisco Bay area is by far the most expensive. There are many nice smaller cities that have a very low cost of living. <BR> <BR>Work wise, Silicon Valley ( San Jose ) and San Diego are both full of TelCom opportunities. You should have no problems as there is an acute shortage of workers and many companies are importing high tech workers from abroad. The general unemployment rate is < 3% in both areas. Both areas are great for higher education. Salaries are highest in the Silicon Valley but the cost of housing is very high. <BR> <BR>In any event you are going to get a lot of opinions. Making a move is a major undertaking especially to a foreign country. I suggest that you list what your preferences are regarding climate, rural, vs urban, etc. California offers you the most variety of things to do. Our son literally goes surfing in the morning and snow skiing in the same afternoon. <BR> <BR>Good luck

Hi - I am interested in this topic also. I live in Canada (BC) and my husband is thinking of finding consulting work in the States. I am not ready to move to the States, so he may do the commute thing for awhile. Both of us work in the information systems (computing) field. Location is not a big thing for us right now, except for an easy means to commute back to Canada. Does anyone have some more suggestions for work locations in this field? Also, are there sites on the web that list consulting jobs in this field? Any help would be appreciated!

Well I have lived in California all my life and having been to Europe and lived on the East coast and toured that whole area would say that we have found a little paradise here in temecula. Its an old stage coach stop that used to take travelers up to the gold mining town of Julian. The Old Town consisted of a bank, a blacksmith shop and grocery stores. It remained a small town until l970's when builders began building homes here. It has really taken off now. Every thing is brand spanking new and mostly a mexican type influence with red tile roofs. Except old town where we still have that western feeling. We have roller hockey teams, little league, community swimming pools, gymnastics, roller skating rinks. I think the population is about 40,000. Homes go from about $127,000 up to spectacular mansions. We live on 3 acres, have horses, barns, rabbits etc. The schools are excellent. The weather is wonderful if you can put up with several heat waves in the summer. My son is joining the Naval Sea Cadets based out of San Diego and we will be driving him down there twice a month. He will get to sail on ships and get some experience. He can also visit England, Holland, Belgium and live on their ships for several weeks. In turn, their Sea Cadets will come here and stay. We have also had Baseball teams from Austrailia stay with us and play our American Little League teams and visit the San Diego Padres team. Many people in Temecula work here but a vast majority commute into Orange County or San Diego County. All depends what you do. When we retire I want a log cabin house up in Julian and I'll be all set! Good luck! <BR>

Tricia and Jill Henderson: <BR> <BR>First Tricia, I agree with you 100% on Temecula. It is a great place to live. Low cost of living, very low crime. My son is a high school teacher and is trying to get into the Temeculae area. They just built a new high school ( last year ) and will probably need another within 2 years. I just love Penfold's Restaurant. I often tell people that Temecula would be my choice if I was first starting out in Southern California. Now, I disagree with you on Julian. Been there many times. Much too cold for me in the winter. If I wanted cooler wether and mountains then I would live in Northern California which is much nicer. <BR> <BR>Now Jill, I posted a message in your other thread about this subject so I won't repeat myself. I am a consultant and very familiar with your situation.

Jill Henderson: <BR> <BR>I posted my message on your thread in the "Canada" forum. BTW, I am "SoftWareSam".

Hey bobby! Thanks for the compliment on Temecula. My son is going to that new high school. (Chaparral High School) they have no senior class yet so that is neat and the principal established a college room wherein anyone in the town can use it to research colleges and universities. My daughter is sending them info on Utah State for their collection. BUT bobbi= Julian too cold? I've only spend a night or two in a cabin but I was fine. Now Philadephia and Michigan were cold. Eight degrees and dying. Julian probably doesn't get much worse than Idyllwild or Big Bear and tons of people have mountain cabins up there too.! Oh well! :) <BR>

One more thought-my husband is European and we live part-time here in Seattle. It has direct flights to London non-stop, no state income tax and of course lots of tech/telecom between Microsoft and Att wireless. We love the area and are both in high tech-more software oriented than Portland-which still has a lot of hardware companies. Of course, you have gotta like coffee, rain and all that stuff :)

I lived in Wisconsin from 1957 'till 1982, in northern Calif. since 1988, and love both places greatly. In my opinion, Wis. and Minnesota are great places to raise kids. Check into the research on schools and you will see that the upper midwest ranks about the highest. Mpls. is as pleasant a city of its size you may find (lived there for a year too), and outlying towns such as Mankato or Stillwater are nice if small city life suits you. Madison, Wisc. is really worth looking into for a medium sized but cosmopolitan place. Of course, you really have to give strong consideration to the winters in this region. <BR> <BR>By comparison, Calif. has very mixed performance in schooling. It varies greatly by school district. We live in Santa Cruz County, about 90 min. south of San F., and love it. But never would we consider living in the immediate Bay Area or southern Calif. - a personal bias against rampant suburbanization and the fast paced lifestyle. The climate here is near perfect, and there is fantastic scenery with the mountains and coast. Some friends from Gloucester were here for a month last summer and loved it - would like to switch places. <BR> <BR>Housing here is really expensive by midwestern standards. Do your research for comparison; you may be surprised at how much more property you can afford in Wis. or Minn. than in Calif. <BR> <BR>You might also want to investigate Washington. You probably know that there was a lot of migration there from Calif. in the '80s, but housing is still more affordable than here. <BR> <BR>Good luck <BR>

A point regarding housing costs that should be stressed: When comparing housing expenses in various areas you must consider total annual cost of taxes and utilities. In many areas, housing may be far less expensive but the cost of property and school taxes can be several hundred dollars per month higher than other places. Additionally, there are wide variations in the cost of gas and electric service, as well as in the amount of heating and cooling required per year. <BR>Yahoo has a useful service (not entirely acccurate but interesting) that allows one to enter an annual income level for a given location in the US and then compare it to other US locations. It then calculates the cost differential in living expenses for the areas, factoring in taxes, utilities food costs, housing prices etc. <BR>I believe it's in their real estate/rental section under aheading of "relocation". E-mail me if you can't find it and I'll send you the URL. <BR>

All the above are informative and well thought out. I have lived in Souther California all my life with the exception on two years in which I live in the Washington D.C. area. I would probably say that the Minnesota/Wisconsin area is a good place to raise to raise kids if you can deal with the winter season. The San Francisco or Seattle area are good places for jobs in your field. The Washington DC area is pretty good all around. But there is no doubt that Souther California has the best weather(mild) in all the states. I have been to San Francisco several times and I hated it. Would never live there although know many collegues that do. It just goes to show that even within the same state it depends on what is more important to you. Might want to consider Denver, Colorado area.

This is a reply from someone who has been a lifelong resident of Minnesota (Minneapolis resident to be exact) and abhores winter!!! This is a nice city to be in because it has many things to do and the people are friendly, (very conservative, though) but weather speaking, BE READY FOR COLD!! I am always amazed each spring that ANYTHING comes back to life after the extreme winters. It's as though this state has two faces. People always say that the "summers" are nice, but in reality, they can be rather warm and VERY humid. Not to mention many bugs and mosquitos!! Why do I live here? I won't be for long. So, if weather is one of your deciding factors, Minnesota wouldn't be number one on my list. If a strong economy and good education are important to you, and I assume they are, then Minnesota could be a possibility, as both are very strong here. This is just my opinion of Minnesota. Good Luck! <BR>