le10

Looks like I'm going to be returning to the UK within 6 months.

Not something I want really, but the continuing uncertainty of visa extension and/or green card has gotten too muh.

Fed up of renting. My family need a home.

Anyway, the main thing I will miss is that I have yet to encounter chavs in the US ( at leat the areas we frequent ). No tattooed, facially pierced morons whose idea of classy is having a glass to drink from.

My impression over the past two years is that the US ( or at least the affluent areas in NJ ) are muh more civilized than the UK.

People call you "sir" in a shop, my kids friends call me "Mr. le10", I love hearing the phrase "you're welcome", I love the absence of aggression on the roads etc etc

And....I'm going to miss the trees, lakes and beautiful blue skies.

I'm going to miss amazing health insurance and some of the best doctors in the world (NYC).

Wish we could stay...but it's ended up just too complicated.

Wonderful to have had the opportunity and experience though.

Le10

Pulaski

I agree with much of what you say, but you appear to have managed to avoid contact with the deprived "inner city" areas, and the many poor rural areas, with both having plenty of "chav substitutes", and worse still, many of them are armed.

le10

Yep...l'm aware we have lived in a bit of a bubble here.

US society seems much more stratified than the UK.

In other words, you only get to live in a "nice" town here if you can afford it.

Nice for the privileged, not so nice for the under-privileged.

UK towns are more a microcosm of the general UK society.

I realize I'm generalizing so dont shoot me..

Bob

Affluent areas, I think that's key.

When it's lovely, it's lovely. When it's not, it's not.

The different scenery and wildlife is really quite lovely though

One thing that's a little sad, go to any kids museum, farm or some such for kids and the car park is all very upper middle class. Never see and old banger in the lot with inner city poor folks. Even the library passes for a lot of things still don't make them affordable places to visit for families, which is a big shame as they would probably benefit the most from it.

I've no idea if that's the case else where, but in my little bubble of the burbs at least.

Jerseygirl

They don't call this town LaLa Land for nothing. Yes it is safe but go down the road a few miles into some areas of M/town and things change.

cluedweasel

In a way, this goes to show just how diverse different areas in the US are. Certainly in my locality, if you ever hear a "you're welcome" or "thanks", it will come complete with a UK or Commonwealth accent. You can spend a week of holding doors open, letting people out into traffic, picking dropped items up, etc. and never have any acknowledgment other than the occasional grunt.
As for tatted morons, this place has more tattoo parlours than it does doctors offices. Miss chavs? We have plenty, usually hanging out in our multitude of dive bars. The police estimate that at any given time, 30% or more of drivers on the roads are impaired with either drink or drugs. We even have teenagers hanging out in parks being abusive to passer-bys.
Sounds like some horrible inner city location? Nope. This is a town that regularly makes top 10 lists of desirable places to live, best places for tourists, best ski towns, etc.

Sally Redux

A bit illusory I think. We recently had some British visitors and they were really shocked by the homeless in San Francisco and that LA did not look glitzy as they imagined it would.

Jerseygirl

We certainly live in a bubble. We have virtually no crime apart from out of towners speeding. If I call the cops they will be at my door in less than 5 minutes. Chain stores and fast food outlets like McD's, Burger King, large supermarket chains are not allowed to operate here. We've recently used a large painting and decorating company. The area manager said working in this town in a nightmare because the cops will often stop their vans and search them...just to make sure nothing has been stolen from the houses they are working in. After dark if the cops don't recognise your car...there's a good chance you will be pulled over.

AmerLisa

They call them rednecks here...

Englishmum

But it sounds like such a paradise....

So why on Earth are you planning to move out of town Jerseygirl?

Jerseygirl

You know where I live and the reasons for moving.

Ruth16

I guess they dont know about all the homeless on the streets of London

Bob

They're pretty visible there and everyone knows about it.

Gets swept under the carpets a lot more around here.

scrubbedexpat099

I do not live in the burbs, I have done.

I was in Boulder on Friday and you can tell summer has come, the wino's were at the traffic lights with their cardboard notices.

When I first came over it was one of the things I noticed that initially it was much more difficult to tell the nice areas from the not so nice or down right nasty.

I was watching the coverage of Woolwich, I know the area and then reading the bio of the killer, he went to a 6th Form college that used to be the Secondary Modern nearest where I was brought up.

Does not make me want to go back.....

tipex

So you say anyone with tattoos and piercings is a chav? I must be a chav then? but at least i'm not a shallow minded bigot. You obviously don't Know fashion and trends because a very large spectrum of adults are getting inked.