Thank you.

There's a time in our lives when we all need a little understanding.
Maybe I've reached that time. LOL.

Actually, no it isn't. Britain actually has some of the lowest crime rates in the world.

Here, Here, Indeed on a world scale Britain is a very safe place. You just got to know where to avoid. Oh and ladies, please stop taking shortcuts down dark alleys, or through parks alone at night. Just sensible precautions wherever you live are neccessary. Since Cain killed Abel there has been crime in this world, no matter where you live.

However you can limit your chances of becoming a victim of crime by taking sensible precautions.

You are welcome, a lot of people under estimate the effects of leaving the saftey of familiarity and that feeling of belonging. A lot of people hide this because they do not want to let their partners down, but end up miserable inside. This is not healthy. If you are unhappy, you are doing the right thing by coming out with it. You only live this life once, so you only have one chance to be happy on this earth. At least you can say you tried, and it just was not for you. That is quite honourable.

manchester excluded of course

Actually, it has been voted one of the safest cities in which to live in Europe and my girlfriend has picked up a few Mancunian traits in her time here, although admittedly not all of them neccassarily good ones.

My point exactly!!! each to their own

Here,here!

Actually I was referring to its charm, which, for the most part it is not. I do agree that there is a certain charm that is unique to a lot of places in the UK, manchester, however, is not one of them.

As for being one of the safest cities in Europe, i call BS on that one, not that it's necessarily more dangerous than some places, but I don't see it as being exceptionally safe either. In fact, I've seem more street level violence growing up in Manchester than I've ever witnessed in over a decade as a copper here.

The people are sound though.

http://www.unionleader.com/article.a...chester+is+one

So your view is as least a decade old. Places do change you know! Maybe it was the company you kept

I like the suggestion that the residents of Manchester are violent thugs, but "sound"

What has Manchester New Hampshire got to do with the price of Beans?

S x

I would like to add, we went to vancouver last april and stayed a month to have a look round to see if we would like it better than the east coast. I have to say it was a beautiful part of canada, but what really shocked and surprised me,were the homeless i actually took some pictures to show my kids as I had never seen so many in one place. Another thing we noticed were people picking up cigarette butts from the ground, and they were dressed so well and looked so respectable it was really amazing, people came up to my husband asking him for cigarettes, it was so sad they did'nt look like down and outs or anything (sorry if that is not PC but I don't know how else to put it) also people going through garbage to get bottles and cans it was just terrible, I'[ve never seen anything like it in the 21st century in a western country, or am i just too protected?

I agree with you. There are a lot of homeless that nobody wants to help or even see.

Totally agree with you on that one
Living just outside manchester and have friends from there i must say that i have never felt safe when i was shopping or clubbing, i was lucky there was plenty of guys in our group

Where now i feel safe, i can walk the streets at night and can go shopping and leave my car running in the car park
Could i do this in the uk........maybe some areas, not others....
Sorry but that applies to canada in whole, but our community is good for now
Totally disgree with the food comment, one thing i missed when i was back in the uk was good food from good places.
I hate fast food, when we go out to eat i like proper places, i didnt like alot of the places in the uk as i thought it was tasteless.
I also disagree with the tv, the world is a small place, i watch less tv here than i ever did, also when back in the uk the tv bored me...............why because anything i want to watch i can do via internet link up so its not just uk based.
I hated the driving, i hated how people just carried on driving when people wanted to cross the road, i hated how the kids neally got run over in the supermarket car park........................many a thing i hate.

But then yeah it has history, yeah it has culture and its where i was born
I left the uk hating the place, i came back after seeing family this year and i do love the uk, but i would never live there.

As for the healthcare, yeah there is parts of it that sucks, but they saved my life here in canada and my doctor is the best guy ever in my familys eyes, my kids love him and we see him all the time (his kids same age etc etc)
Being an expat is not for everyone, i see people move here everyday, i also see people move back for different reasons, but was it not best to try it and go back with the adventures you have had or never to have tried it and sit there in years gone by saying "well only if".......................................?????