yukichon

True to form it seems that there are a lot of Brits complaining, having a hard time or not happy they made the switch ,which for someone like me who is about to take the plunge, makes it quite daunting rather than exciting.
I know it will take some getting used too, especially the sense of humour difference and banter, but there are so many things I'm looking forward to in Colorado.....be great to hear some good positive views from people and what they like about the USA and why they wouldn't go back to the UK.

Lion in Winter

The earwigs here are good.

Opinion is divided on the washing machines though.

Pulaski

Well I'm not planning on going back, for many reasons - my career is established here, I couldn'g afford to buy a house in the UK comparable to the one I own, or at least would not want to tie up that much capital. My daughter is in a good school, enjoying it and doing well. The school had an exceptional track record of getting good students into pretty much any university of their choosing, including Ivy League and Oxbridge, so I have no intention of moving her. I also have my own business in addition to my paid employment, and I doubt I could reestablish that in the UK. ....Oh, and the weather - not too cold in winter, heat mostly tolerable in the summer, no risk of flooding, marginal risk of hurricanes or tornadoes. And little close family back in the UK. Why would I want to go back?

Pulaski

Yeah, Boomhauer v everyone else!

Hotscot

Been living here in California 14 years. Yes it's been pretty good. Travel, outdoors, restaurants, beaches etc.
However I don't really find it superior just different. I'm looking forward to going back home to Scotland and spending years with my wife exploring Europe.

robin1234

I bought my $10 lifetime National Park Senior Pass last year, and it wasn't accepted at the Car Park at Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales..

Lion in Winter

I suppose you could always try your National Trust card at Yellowstone?

robin1234

We're planning a trip to Washington DC this fall, I was certainly hoping my Oyster card will work on the Metro.

paul32x

Personally, I have absolutely no regrets and love it here, it's my home. Emigrated in 2002, became a citizen last year. I do go back to the UK once a year, because I still have a business over there, so I have to see my accountant to do my business accounts, and each time I go back it just reinforces with me how right we were to emigrate. The more I go back, the more anti-citizen I find the UK to be, and the more obnoxious and surly everyone seems to get. Any drawbacks? Only 2, hurricane season and mosquitos!

markonline1

I've only been living in California for 3 months, but I don't miss, not can I see me missing, the UK one bit. The people here are friendlier, the food out is better, the weather is better (although I tend to live in a fog pocket which is a bit of a pain), life just seems generally far more laid back. I gotta say, so far, I'm living my new life here.

treasuredr

For me, there are lots of positives! We enjoy a better standard of living here than we ever did in the UK, I have a job that I enjoy that I hope will take me through to retirement. I have a 15 minute commute with no traffic jams and no parking issues to deal with

I recently decided to become a citizen, so now enjoy dual nationality and the ability to come and go to the UK and USA as I please without all that visa pallaver to deal with.

I have found people friendly and helpful - I really enjoy the great levels of customer service here. I'm still amazed when someone in a store goes that extra mile to help, that level of service had all but disappeared in my home town.

And of course the weather, here in SW Virginia, we enjoy 4 distinct seasons with a great summer. Great light here too, which helps you get through the winter days, very few of those grey cloudy days which I find so depressing. I also love that the air is so clean in this part of the world.

It can be difficult to make true friendships here, but I can live with that as I tend to be self sufficient anyway.

For me, the positives totally outweigh the negatives. The negatives to me are more to do with family being so far away.

guitarmaan

Positives about life in the USA?

Well there are many. Firstly the weather. Going from the UK to Arizona is like a revelation. Endless sunshine, and pleasantly warm evenings.

Secondly we have a house here, space for parking, large yard and pool. Back around London we'd be lucky to afford a grimy one bedroom flat, and with one parking space only (if lucky).

Thirdly, the USA doesn't have the same silly European "war on motorists". We drive to stores and parking is free. No speed cameras on every corner either. Driving is a pleasant way to get around, and the USA isn't in denial over it like Europe. That's very refreshing.

And fourthly, for me Americans are FAR more polite than the British. Also much more positive. There's just something very sour about the British generally, and being in America just brings it home even more. I am British myself, and probably come off as a bit negative to Americans actually. It's a hard thing to shake off. But definitely, I don't get a sense that "life is grim" here in the USA. Americans seem more mature to me in a way.

And last but not least, it's great to walk in stores and hear good music on the sound system. It's personal taste I know, but back in the UK I'd hear the worst "urban" r&b all over the place, and dance music. America hasn't lost it's appreciation for classic rock and guitars thankfully. That's one of the things I love about it here.

Chrisdc

I am pretty sure that if I had stayed in the UK I would have never had the inspiration, encouragement and support to start my own business. In London I was always warned never to leave one job until the next one was in the bag. That seemed to be the prevailing opinion. Even going freelance was considered a massive risk - a dangerous move that would most likely blow up in one's face.

After four years in the US, my outlook on life changed dramatically. I sold my house and started a company with the money. Best thing I have ever done. Until I got married that is :-)

Mummy in the foothills

For me it's nice mild winters and the shops are open what seems like all the time.
I also love In and Out burgers. I'll miss them, but my Cholesterol won't.

GeoffM

Always easier to moan than to praise!

Ok, I'm only a 14-monther, but I see many positives here. That's not to say I don't miss some UK stuff too though. Even in LA I find the driving to be quite relaxed, not the road-rage-ridden-rampage that the M25 can be. You just expect to be cut up every now and again and just get on with it. I barely hear car horns here (train horns are a different matter, related to our location in a valley...). If you go wrong on the freeways, and it's easy to do so with exits close to each other and the need to cross several lanes to get to some exits, no worries because it won't be far to the next exit!

Food quality is a bit poor here but the variety kind of makes up for it. I dislike tomato which apparently is a problem in the UK as anything "spicy" equals tons of tomato sauce. Yet here, not that much is spicy as such, I eat a lot more stuff with tomato in it than I would have done back home simply because here it's used to flavour rather than drench the rest of the food. I even tolerate BBQ sauce which I could never eat in the UK.

I find a lot of DIY-esque things have more standardisation here. If I need to buy a widget, chances are there are only one or two sizes regardless of the brand. In the UK there could be loads of variations, you'd need adapters, pull out the fitting and start again, etc.

As others have said, customer service here is a lot better.

Around the home, scores of sockets. I remember looking around several brand new homes in the UK back in 2006 and more than one literally had a single mains socket per room - not even a double socket, but a single socket. Another house had a master bedroom that, had it had a double bed in the bedroom, it would have been impossible to get into the en-suite bathroom. Here I wonder how to fill the space sometimes. Parking, assuming you're not in an inner city condo, I can get about 7 cars in my garage and on the drive combined! I can do a U-turn in the road without doing a 3-point turn.

Etc etc