gardnma

Well, HE wont need it anymore. Unlike us sad sacks, he'll be out with his mates pissing it up all the time.

Hayley

Bromley girl- yes I follow with curiosity your posts because your reasons for moving to the Uk basically mirror mine. I am from a small town with really good schools in Northamptonshire called Rushden. Not that I want Rushden to be overrun because then the house prices will shoot up but I'm looking at 3 bedroom terraces for 105- 110 thousand pounds. If I was in the market for the 300k that some of the people on this post are mentioning I'd be looking at a palace!! Is it that the area that you are looking is overpriced or the difficulty of getting a mortgage? This is what I am worried about with no credit in England.

Rushden is about 5 miles from the nearest train station (wellingborough) which runs into London every half hour so I feel it will be central.

How do you feel about your kids growing up in the states?That is my main worry just how they will be educated and affording to send them to college. I worry also if they don't fit in to what people expect here (if they were gay for example- my husband brother had a terrible time over here) In the big cities of the US this would be better but then that's not really where I want to be living.

bromleygirl

Yes, I remember worrying about my children growing up in the States. My children have loved being here and are receiving a really good education. My daughter in particular loves wearing school uniform. Actually I would say that this is my major hesitation for not moving back to the States. Saying that I know I don't like the behaviour that I have seen from British teenagers since I have been back and I actually thing that American teenagers are more polite - this is one change that I have found since being back after 8 years. As for the cost of college, are you aware of the fees in the UK now? I am sure that the UK is going the same way as the States and by the time our children are of college age the cost will be near same.

I am torn between their education here and being able to afford a home in the States. I'm in Cambridge where house prices are almost on a par with London/Bromley. Plus I also think it is much more difficult to get a UK mortgage versus a mortgage in the States. Even trying to get a bank account open when you first get back will be very difficult. I was only able to manage this as I had a job contract and a US passport!! If we didn't live in Cambridge I really don't know where else we would live. I've spoken with British friends who are still in the States and I think by the time they finish college my children will be at the same standard on the US as they would be in the UK. If we were to go back to the States I would definitly choose an openminded, liberal big city to live in where alternative lifestyles are accepted and people are not so judgemental. I know for a fact that I could never live in the South as I am just too outspoken and would undoubtadly get myself in trouble. I'd probably go to somewhere like Minneapolis/St. Paul to live.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't make the move, but be prepared for a shock to the system. I've found trying to get things done more difficult and it's been far from an easy ride. I think a major factor for me is that I want to be able to afford a home of my own here and not constantly rent. Plus after 2 years of raising my children on my own I think it would benefit both my children and myself if their Dad were able to share the responsibility and spend time with them. We each have our own unique circumstances and you just really need to weigh up what is important and remember that you will never knwo unless you try.

How long have you been in the States and how does your husband/children feel about moving back?

Hayley

I will have been in the Us for 6 years when I go back in 2 years time. My husband is English (i'm dual) so he is excited to be going home- but he is very easy going and if I was desperate to stay in the states he'd remain here. My son is 7 months old so he doesn't have much to say about the matter!

I do worry about things like getting a Uk bank account, I've been reading up on how difficult it is to get things like this sorted. I feel that the way I view things is that when I first came to the US it took a while to build up (4 years) to what I have now and I started off in IHOP (was terrible- all the folks who without the NHS couldn't get beta blockers!) :scared: and so if I am going back I have to view it as starting from scratch and if I do better than my first 2 years in the states I'll be ok. So I'm comparing England to my first couple of years here not the life I have now- or it is really going to fall short!

is there any way you would consider a cheaper area? You would still be closer to family than the US? Big city US has real issues with crime and education so I think it would be hard for teenagers there. As you said you have to weigh up what makes sense to the individual but I just wanted to help by maybe being a voice of all the concerns you had with the US before you left- they are still here and living large!

Always21

I was worried about that too, but then I found out you can open a UK HSBC account from here in the US. It was so easy; I had my UK cash card and cheque book within two weeks. I know that's a loaded sentence though and you're thinking of all the hundreds of other things that would have to be done. We still have to get an import license for our cockatiel, my wife will have to take a driving test in the UK, and we may have problems getting a mortgage, but the way I look at it is you can't fight the system. If you really want to make the move bad enough, these are the things you have to do and you just have to lay it all out it steps and work through one thing at a time. Looking back at what we've accomplished already (getting my US citizenship, getting boys' UK passports, setting up bank account, signing up with a British-American tax advisor, putting the house on the market and accepting an offer, etc) it really doesn't seem that bad. Hopefully the steps still ahead won't either.

Hayley

this is actually really helpful (the bank account info) despite being a small thing. I don't have any branches of HSBC here so how does this work? How did you manage to recieve a Uk checkcard?
Would be great to know all on this!

Scout

I have to speak up here because you yourself just judged all of the South in the US with that comment. Plenty of Southern cities are cosmopolitan and offer alternative lifestyles. Atlanta, Miami, Charleston, New Orleans (before it was blown away), etc. I grew up in the South.....trust me.....Southerners are tolerant for the most part. Not all of us are rednecks that are portrayed on the tv........some of us even speak out when we disagree.

whiterabbit

Hi I am a new member who has some insight here. I am married to an American, 2 kids (6 months and 2) and we lived in Atlanta GA until 2001. We liked the place have loads of friends (English and American) but my wife wanted to work in the UK for a bit so we bought a house in London, rented our Atlanta one out, I got a job transfer and we moved back. Here is the good and bad and the reasoning we moved back to Atlanta. Obviously things relate to living in London but we could not get decent jobs anywhere else.

Good,
Family, old friends and more to do within easy reach and of course more vacation time.
Weather was actually better than I remembered.

Bad,
Cost, we made 130k pounds a year and were broke because of the cost of living. In Atlanta we have a 4 bed house, in London a crap 2 bed terrace which cost way more.
Commute time (10 mins in Atlanta, 2 hours in London on the awful tube.
Work conditions, same company (Big 5) very easy going in the US, horrible in London, stuck up and everyone had a chip on their shoulder. No advancement prospects like the US.
Daycare in the UK 1600 pounds a month and they close at 6 so always stressed about getting back on the tube. In Atlanta 1000 a month close at 7.30.
Schools are now as bad as the US and everyone I knew was paying for private school in London the same as in Atlanta. This surprised me until I got back
Once we settled in because it is so hard to travel, places close early and eveyone is so exhausted we ended up not having the social life we expected.
Immigration and crime is also out of control in London and its not like the place I grew up in and missed. Yes I know the US has crime but its easier to avoid becasue you are not forced to take public transport or live next to a violent council estate. US teenagers are much better behaved and spoken.

Final straw was when my wife got pregnant again and the hospital and NHS care was horrible, we ended up having to pay in the UK anyway for some tests etc and in the end she gave birth back in the US.
Anyway we are now back in Atlanta, with the extra money we have we can pay to fly parents over for long visits, pay our house off very soon and retire much earlier than in London. Maybe then we will take part time jobs and visit the UK a lot but never to work there again. Don't get me wrong Atlanta is not fantastic but it beats London hands down for day to day living with kids which is all that counts righ now. I would not sell up in the US and move back to the UK. Go there for a few months first to see what you think.

bromleygirl

Sorry Scout, I suppose I have judged the South on what I know of it myself and what I have been told by others. To me, the majority of the south appears to vote Republican in presidential elections and it is quite conservative. I'm not saying that all of the South is intollerant and I'm sure that there are pockets of more liberal areas in the South.

Scout

I understand. I myself am originally from Atlanta. It's a great place to live, except for the heat and humidty in the summer and the traffic and for the most part it is Liberal (albiet surrounded by Republicans). But watch the South come the next election. Something tells me it may well swing back to the Democrats after 8 years of the lunatic now in the White House. I know the South went with Clinton so it has been done before.

Scout

Where are you living in Atlanta? I am originally from Decatur. One thing I can do to make you wish you were back in the UK right now is tell you the temperature here this morning was a lovely 65 degrees F.

For me moving to the UK was the better option, but then again I am living in the valleys of SE Wales and not London. I can't say I miss Atlanta traffic one bit.

gardnma

Thanks for the eye-opening post. I think there is the danger of "rose-colored" glasses being over here after a while.
Just one thing abot your post I cannot fathom, 130,000 pounds / year ??? I've been checking out salaries online and me and the wife would make about 50-60 thousand combined. She's a RN and I'm a bleedin' engineer for pete's sake. Do you know what the average income is over there for semi-prof people??

Ta

Cape Blue

I'm not entirely sure that a comparison between Atlanta and London is entirely valid, for starters London has a population density of 4,700 people/Km2 whereas Atlanta's is nearer 220. London has double the population of Atlanta but does not have the classic US suburban sprawl.

I met met US teenagers in LA that were significantly worse behaved and spoken than anything I have ever seen in the UK.

Jerseygirl

Generally speaking, we also found UK teenages to be worse than US teens. ie swearing loudly in public places, purposely walking in your path and forcing you to move to one side.

whiterabbit

We live in Brookhaven. Its a pretty nice place to live we can walk to the MARTA (train) and shops and bars in Buckhead. Yes I do miss the UK weather the heat here as got very old, although spring and autumn are nice.

Traffice here although bad is not as bad as SE England.