Hi,

New here and seeking a bit of pre-move advice. Through my company I have an opportunity to re-locate to the US, something that both my wife and I have been keen to do for some time. Because of the nature of my work (consultant) I have some say in which office (i.e. city) I'd like to move to, and currently am feeling a bit spoilt for choice so would appreciate any advice out there.

Background: We've lived in London for the past 6 years and love the city but are looking to change things up in the US by gaining a nicer place (i.e. not small 2 bed apartments!) with some outdoor space for our son to play in (he'll be almost 1 when we move), lower cost of living and cutting down on commuting time.

Our options range across multiple locations, but we've narrowed it down to the following, listed in order of preference:
- San Francisco / Bay Area
- Nashville
- Denver
- Charlotte
- Tampa or Tallahassee
- Atlanta

Since the only place I've been to on here is SF (which I loved apart from the fog ), it's hard to know where to aim for, so any insight into what each offers for a young family would help our choices immensely!

Thanks

I can't help too much as I don't know any of those places well. It may help if you have a budget you can give for housing. If you search on here you'll see that SF/bay area is expensive to live for the criteria you have given.

Not to spoil a dream but there are a lot of hidden costs in America and it certainly isn't as cheap over here as some people seem to assume. Make sure your company is paying your medical as you're probably looking at $1k/month for that alone.

Having said all of that, I love it here and wouldn't have changed coming out here for the world.

Best of luck to you!

We live in SF Bay Area and I love it here, but hell it's expensive. If you are looking to cut down on your expenses I would rule this area out.

I haven't been to any other places on your list, but if I had a choice of living somewhere else I would look at places with an easy/less flying time back to the UK. I know we would have had many more visitors, and gone back more ourselves if we weren't looking at an 11 hour fly.

SF, especially north of the city, is lovely though the rainy season is not so great. Tampa is a nice city as is Atlanta. Don't know the rest but isn't it somewhat dependent upon what business you are in? You'd want to live somewhere that has the most opportunities for your business.

If you like London life you might find it a culture shock in some of those places...and the nice/cosmopolitan areas will not be that cheap.

I agree you might want to narrow it down as to where is best for your business and then give a budget/max commute time and see what people who live in those areas can advise.

If you want a lower cost of living that rules out SFO. After that if it was me Denver or Atlanta as they have direct flights back to the UK. Living where our local airport doesn't, I know what a pain that is becoming when people come for a visit etc.

I would suggest Denver. It's clean(ish), the people are more health-conscious than most other places, there are lots of outdoor activities (skiing, hiking), and it's quite cosmopolitan for a mid-sized city. The cost of living is also a lot lower than some of those other places. And being in the middle of the country with a large airport, you'd find it easy to travel around.

I'd pick Denver. Lovely place.

I am in Tampa, but Denver sounds nice! Tampa is about the size of Bristol. Close to beaches on the Gulf. Plenty of space and property. Not sure on pricing. Can't envision a one year old playing outside much- to hot 9 months a year/bugs/gators etc. Commute is 30-60mins virtually everywhere.

Hi, firstly i think your question is too broad for anybody on here to be able to give you some decent advice. San Fran which you loved apart from the fog, without trying to sound rude is neither here nor there.
And considering you havent visited any of the other states, you may get there and decide that you dont like it/them.

If you have only been to San Fran then it probably would make more sense to use that as a base or at least a start. Then for a better perspective (this is primarily an immigration forum) visit citydata.com where you will get a wealth of advice on things like schools and in particular school districts! believe it or not that does matter in the US, crime in the area that you want to move to, average rent in the area, average house prices, when and if you decide to buy. (you may like an area but later when you want to purchase a home there find that you cant afford to buy in the area you are renting in) all these kinds of things need to be researched or at least you need to do is scratch the surface. head over to City Data for more in depth advice. Good Luck

Welcome to BE and good luck!

Might help if you said what kind of budget you had in mind.

What kind of stuff you like doing? If it's out doors stuff, you might get different suggestions as a place to live than as a holiday.

Don't say how old or how many kids you have either.

There's quite a few threads with info on the states those cities are in and also a few about those cities. From what I've read, the only one that wouldn't appeal personally would be Nashville for anything other than a holiday, then again I don't think I could cope with the humidity and heat of Atlanta/Tampa/Charlotte and the Bay area would be out on shear cost, leaving Denver.

Still, city-data.com is also a good site to check out.

I have visited Denver and it seems nice but much smaller than London. I think OP did say they wanted a change though. I'd go for Denver or SF if budget permits. Nashville also wouldn't suit me and I haven't been to the other places.

Er, a son who will be almost 1

I missed that line, just caught the young family bit at the end

Garden space, lower cost of living and shorter commutes would rule out some of those cities straight off anyway, I'd have thought.

Unless shorter commutes just means time v distance and just living way out in the burbs as opposed to living in the actual city. Guess also depends if one wants to drive the morning commute or have other options too I suppose.

I've lived in Denver for the past 6 years and have zero complaints, in fact the wife and wouldn't really want to live anywhere in the U.S.

Let me know if you need/want any specifics.