Americish

My husband, myself and 3 kids (under 9) are thinking about moving back to the Uk. Mostly because of the terrible education in AZ but the news makes life in Uk sound like doomsday! Electricity bills, storms and flooding, lack of police, nhs collapsing….if you’re still there, is it really all that bad?

neill

"Terrible education" seems to me like something that has a relatively simpler fix (especially in the USA where education does vary incredibly widely even between neighbouring schools) than uprooting your entire existence and restarting again with many more unknowns because of it. ?

You might want to have this post moved to the "Moving back to the UK" subforum for more responses.

tom169

Brits like to complain.

Lion in Winter

If you're on the losing end of the economy, you're on the losing end of the economy - in both countries. Being low-income in the UK is no fun at all, and nor is it in the US. If you are reasonably comfortable economically, I would say you would land in the UK with scarcely a bump. If your situation is marginal, it will be a lot tougher.

I know this sounds like a statement of the bleedin' obvious

civilservant

Nothing is every as bad as the media portray it. That's as true in the UK as the US.

That said, my entire family (Mother, Father, Sister, Brother-in-law, Niece & Nephew) have either decamped to Australia over the past few years or are awaiting a visa to do so. So make of that what you will.

robin1234

Storms can happen anywhere, but you can definitely mitigate - almost eliminate - the danger of flooding simply by choosing carefully where you live. Electricity bills, either you have a prudent buffer in your budget to take account of an extra amount to pay each month, or you don’t. There definitely is a difference in policing. I’ve noticed several times, being in England for six or eight weeks, and never actually seeing a police officer at all. In the US, you see them constantly (in my quiet corner of rural NY.) But then, in my seventy plus years of life, I’ve never needed or sought the services of the police. I’ve occasionally been stopped by police while driving in the US, never in the UK. NHS vs. medical care in the US?

civilservant

I think this is simply because of the different way Policing in the UK is set up. There is only 1 Police Service a county or for several counties depending on size (Avon and Somerset or Thames Valley v Surrey, for example) but in the US you have City Police Departments, County Sheriffs, State Troopers and then Federal Agents.

More resources are devoted to policing in the US is my impression, which I guess is the point you were driving at

Pulaski

I think that might be local variations - if it wasn't for a cop living down the road from me (NC), I can't remember the last time I saw a cop in my neighborhood - probably about three years ago when I heard gunfire that appeared to come from a neighboring house where there was an ugly history of domestic abuse and I called for a check (another neighbor heard the gun fire too, that triangulated to the same house, yet no evidence of gun shots was ever found). In the nearby town I know, having spoken to a cop there, that they are required to patrol some neighborhoods daily, sometimes even on foot. I am fairly certain that there is no "regular patrol" anywhere near my home.

I have been stopped at police checkpoints occasionally in the US, but I don't think I have seen one of those in probably 10-12 years, so I don't know if they still occur or not.

PetrifiedExPat

Out of pure interest why would they do that?? DUI hunting?

civilservant

Usually yes, but it'll scoop up all kinds of violations.

Pulaski

Not sure, but the few (2, maybe 3) occasions I recall were early-mid morning, so I doubt they were looking for drunks. One occasion wasn't far from a prison, so I wondered if they were looking for escapees. Another one in town seemed to focus on the vehicle tags, so I suspect may have just been looking for vehicles that weren't current on their tax and insurance.

I know that Charlotte, NC used to do occasional Saturday night check points, where they would snag drunks by the dozen, but I have never seen a night time checkpoint.

civilservant

You clearly don't like in my part of the world

PetrifiedExPat

I was about to say, thats a generous assumption!

durham_lad

For the last 2 years before I retired, we lived in Baton Rouge and the best route for me to work was through a poor neighborhood. I was stopped twice on the way home from work in the afternoon at a police checkpoint where they were checking documents (tax, insurance and road test), looking over the car for obvious defects and that you were wearing your seatbelt.

Nypool1e

I have to admit I’ve experienced a few misgivings about my imminent return to England. Like everyone else I read about the various problems/issues there are in England, Brexit, supposed shortages, fuel rises, the list is endless it seems. But the same problems or similar can be found in any country. My US friend in Germany has lived in Berlin for 40 years & complains about various aspects of everyday German life. I’ve lived here in NYC for 30 years, there are issues here as you can imagine, I’ve loved being here but it just feels right to return home. I have no illusions, the country has probably changed since I left but all we want my wife & I is a nice, quiet retirement, going to the pub, watching the football/cricket, seeing family, nice & easy lemon squeezy.