ever thought of coming to IL/ Chicago suburbs? You should take a look, its very nice out here and people are usually are very friendly as long as you don't live on the south side of the city. You could also try up by Dealfield WI. its where i went to military school last year. The city is just developing and new houses are going up, you should take a look because the relestate is really cheap up there, and its only about 20-30 mins from Madison and about and hour and a half from chicago. Delafield is kinda out there in terms of where its located, its small and there i think about 10-20 thousand people there so not that many. also to be honest you wont really find better health care anywhere else in the world, I think that the us is the best for health care since so many company's offer it as part of a job, health care is one of those things where you get what you pay for. Sure you can go to canada and get a "generic case" healthcare that costs you almost nothing but when you pay for it you can get a "lain li or coolermaster" healthcare plan.
And it's getting where most jobs don't include healthcare. I asked about the cost of health care for my wife and myself (my kids are on medicaid) and the cost was near double what I earn a month. Per two weeks. The healthcare industry is ****ed. Plain and simple. CUBA has a far better health care system than the US.
Have you thought about Duabi? Crime is low, no snow-yet you can ski here. Cultural mish mash, cheap gas. Fast cars, loose women. Call to prayer 5 times a day. Everyone speaks english; not very well mind you, but that's 1/2 the fun. A land of contrasts and oppertunities. oh and as a US citizen, you only pay taxes on anything over the first 70K you make. No state taxes. this post is about 30% sarcastic.
You are kidding right? If you really want to live in London you're looking at 200k+ for a studio/1 bed flat. Maybe in moving out to the East (I live to the West so my knowledge of the prices in the East are minimal) prices will be a little lower, but not really that much until you get quite far out again. If it were me I'd follow the job. Most salaries etc are relative to the area so although it may be cheaper/more expensive in certain areas this is more or less bareable (house prices in London aside anyway!). Just get a job you're going to enjoy and go from there. The north is colder and wetter, the south is generally warmer and sunnier. I know where I'd rather be
houses in the edinburgh area (civilisation) http://www.espc.com/EspcPublic/UniversalPages/DetailedSearchResults.aspx some hills http://www.munromagic.com/MunroMap.cfm
I'd take your own advice and find someone who knows something about economics and have a talk with them about your plans of having a better life someplace else, especially with regards to healthcare. Nothing is ever free, especially healthcare and the like, just in Europe and many other places the costs are shifted onto the tax side so everyone has it and everyone pays for it, it's just not separate from the tax rate. If you're having trouble finding a job in the US perhaps its the field that you're looking in, unemployment rates and quite low at the moment. Perhaps rather than running away from the US and it's percieved problems you should address the individual issues. I'm worried that you'll uproot yourselves and be just as unhappy when you realize the grass is just as green...
Just to chime in on the "hey, you should come to where I live" bandwagon, Right now, I'm in Japan. Yes, it is generally expensive to live here but as others have said, the pay is commensurate. I'd really only recommend considering Japan a place to live if you are really serious about it and speak decent Japanese. Bear in mind that you basically cannot become a Japanese citizen, so while you can enjoy the national health care and other nifty stuff, you still have to pay US taxes. Another alternative location for you...my home state of Texas! Others may not agree but I think it is pretty darn nice. San Antonio is a great city. Austin is bearable because it is so small. The hill country is just beautiful. Then again, maybe I'm just a bit home-sick. In all seriousness though, do as suggested by Rocket773 and really examine your reasons for leaving the US. An international life isn't easy.
I think if you want to live in Scotland you should consider more Central Scotland, up North you are too far away from everything and the accents can be difficult to understand (only in the very far North and in the Western Isles). Glasgow would not be easy to understand either, Central Scotland and Edinburgh are probably your best bets for living and I would say they are probably the geekier areas of Scotland. If you say you are a geek though you are probably better off down in England more tech companies and definately more places to buy PC components from. If you are interested in Central Scotland I could give you the low down.
I don't do heat well, so no Texas for me(parents are moving there soon though). I'd definitely love to hear more about central Scotland, granted any decisions made probably won't take any action for at least 2-3 years, unfortunately. My girlfriend wants to finish her college first at least. Then we just need the money. As for me being a 'geek', I'd just say that I'm above average, but I'm no genius. And, any components I want I can have shipped, so no biggie how far I live from any store. I just want to live in a decent neighborhood, I don't even need much of a yard if anything. I'd be happy if all I had to do was work for a computer company, be set financially, and have enough funding(or sponsorship) for my hobby of modding just about anything electronic I have around me.
Not many tech companies in Scotland, but the south of England has a few, plus, we have loads of major scientific centres so a psychology degree could come in handy. Also, we're close to Bit-tech HQ (almost too close...).
Hi! Don't overlook NI. People here are in general very friendly. You can say hello in the streets and they'll say hello back. We don't have any real troubles here any more. 99% of people aren't effected anyway. I'm biased, but I've been to all the Uk countries and the Republic if Ireland. On the whole NI is a very practical country to live at the moment. Although if I were in your position I'd go to the UK and travel all over including Ireland and see which one I loved most. I like the sound of Scotland too though! Got nothing against England mind, but I know some Americans find it a bit too reserved tbh.
It's a good point gar - don't be put off by NI, there hasn't been major trouble for years, and the political process has come on a long, long way these days. Couple that with the fact that it's a brilliant area, with nice people, and you're onto a winner tbh.
Well the healthcare in the UK, which we get raped for in taxes, is even worse. Last time I checked (which I admit was a few years ago now) it was ranked 18'th in the world. Personally, I think there are way too many taxes for what you get in the UK. Things are generally expensive, especially, and most annoyingly, the things you really need to live, ie: housing, food, petrol/diesel, utilities (water, lights, gas), public transport (which is the worst in Europe btw) The weather doesn't help things either, after around 7 years its started to really get to me now, what with 3 months of 'summer' if you're lucky. Overall I find the UK is OK but only for a few years, enough to save up some money & invest it elsewhere where you plan to really live your life. The biggest change I think you'll find if you move here is a huge decline in your quality of life. I'd recommend looking at countries like Australia, or New Zealand if you really can't be bothered with learning another language. Otherwise Spain is something to seriously consider, IMO.
There's actually a lot of electronics companies within the central belt, they don't call it Silicon Glen for no reason. In fact the digital to analogue converter found in all ipods come from an Edinburgh based company. I think Edinburgh is a fantastic city to live in, but then again I might be a bit biased.
Which part of Edinburgh you from alextwo? My other half was brought up in morningside (the snobby cow ).
Well any Northern Ireland Questions Ask me, plus u can hope over border to the republic easily no checkpoints, form belfast you are 2 hours drive form dublin city centre
