moneypenny20

I've never had the urge to move to America. However I wasn't aware I had an urge to move here either so who knows?

Hebe

Would never have chosen USA - been on many occasions but as a general rule I can't stand the yanks and the thought of living amongst them .........

calliope

First, the migration to the US is not harder than Australia, just less fair. While a person must prove he has a skill and pass a points test to enter Australia, all one has to do to move to the US is have close family there who can sponsor, or marry a US citizen. As we have seen from the 12 million illegals in the US, another method is simply walking over the border.

I could have lived in America but chose Australia because it is a closer cultural fit to me, especially humour, and has much less crime and a good healthcare system. On top of this it is a much fairer society and more egalitarian than the US, in ascendance rather than in decline like America, and has nowhere near the paranoia or police state mentality developing in the US, and a better work/life balance.

sammax

I wouldn't live in America, I don't like the gun culture.

carolinephillips

Too many right wing creationists and gun toting rednecks/crims in the USA.

And I don't speak Spanish, which is well on its way to being the dominant language in many parts.

ub40fan

Having worked with the American Forces in Berlin, and seen first hand just how they can brush their teeth from the inside, there is no way on Earth I would like to live among them.

Sorry to any American's on here, but i like my bullshit, superficiality and crap a little more toned down.

I have visited New York and San Diego, nice to visit but didn't want to stay and not keen on going back - well, maybe San Francisco just to look at the up and down streets with the trams on though.

ozzieeagle

I'd have to Visit the US first. I've seen enough different types of Americans to know they aint all bad..... So I'd definitely give it a chance depending on my views after a lengthy visit... 4months+ if possible. I'm quite attracted to Boston actually from the looks and the 'tude of different aspects I've seen.

Dorothy

^^
What she said

ozzieeagle

More detail please Dorothy.... Surely the US is a very diverse place, with major differences in attitude, culture, and feel across the Country ?

IE: I think I wouldnt want to live in the deep south.... However I'd have to see and experience it for myself before I knew that for sure.

RICH

Well! Given where the question was asked, I can understand the replies. Let's say you had not already landed in Australia or set your heart on it, and did not know what it would be like. You are sitting at home in Britain and some one said pick AUS or USA. 3,2,1-go.

I am in US, not because I chose it, and not because I did not like Australia, just because.

Dorothy

I've visited over 35 States in my time. My brother lives in the Midwest and my son lives in Georgia. I lived for 20 years within 30 minutes of the US border.

Yes, America is big and diverse. However for the most part it is not somewhere I would choose to live. As Canadians we are accustomed to having a decent (although not perfect) healthcare system, fair(er) more equitable laws and in my opinion much more tolerance of people & ideas which may be different to our own.

I watch American tv -specifically my husband likes NCIS- and cop type shows and I see how the suspect is usually either black or middle eastern appearance.

There is very little culture taught other than "American" culture. That is WASP. In my childrens' schools in Canada they were taught all about different religions and cultures and learned about native culture. My son, who grew up in Georgia and Arkansas never learned any of that and sadly my niece in the Midwest isn't either. She's learning about religion (Christianity only) in school and American history. Mostly how 'they' won WWII and how them Muslims tried to wipe em out on 911.

I think culturally Australia is very much like Canada and it always makes me roll my eyes just a little - ok, maybe a lot - whe I see posts about how American Australia is becomming. And no, Canada and America are not the same at all. We may have similar accents, but that's where the similarity ends for me. And FWIW I don't think we sound the same at all! And if we do, it's because a lot of Americans in the public eye take diction lessons to have a more neutral accent, which in the end sounds like a typical central/western Canadian.

ozzieeagle

Well all of that would definitely put me off. I've heard and seen to a small degree that New Yorkers are fairly worldly and happy to be exposed to and open to different cultures though ?

Bermudashorts

No, if I were able to migrate to USA as easily as I could to Australia, then I would have gone to the US a good ten years ago and I don't think Australia would have ever come up. I did a lot of business trips to New York in my late 20's / early 30's and was sure that is where I was supposed to be.

Now I am here though and getting a little older perhaps, I don't feel the pull of the US so much. I might like to live there for a couple of years, just so that I did get to try it in the end, but a couple of years will do. With Mr BS job / company we have a good chance of making it over there for a stint ... one day, one day.

Japonica

^^ ^^
What she said.

We may be neighbours, but there's a huge divide in how we see the world.

Many of my friends are American. So are my cousins and uncle (although, to be honest, they live just across the border).

I've had lengthy discussions with Americans, on everything from the role of government to health care (amongst other issues) and I know that the philosophical divide is just too great for me to live there and feel at home. Even the most liberal Americans would probably still be considered right-wing by Canadian standards.

Rick Mercer's Talking to Americans was a laugh sure, but there were other aspects of the program as well...to highlight just how deep the differences run.

There's a few places I'd like to visit, but I would not live there. Even if we were promised the world and everything with the move was wholly financed. It's just not for us. Not to say others wouldn't like it though.

calliope

It seems to me that non-Americans who actually know America are never very big on moving there, but non-Americans who know it from the TV or holidays are much keener. I have spent enough time in America to know I couldn't live there, for the reasons you mention about cultural divide, but if I were making the judgement from a holiday I can see why it might look appealing. Certainly, above all I would hate to grow old there. And yes I agree with those saying that Canadians and Australians are much closer together culturally than either are with Americans 100%.