UK US Difference
 

Had moved from UK (London) to US (New York City) recently, the difference between the two countries had been mind blowing.

I am sure there had been a thread comparing living in these 2 countries or these 2 mega cities (in recent years)? Someone could point me to, then I'd like to contribute.

But if there hasn't much discussion I would like to start one.

1. Food portion, I've heard it is different, but until I see it...
2. Road, much wider here in US, ofc it is because they built the road within their massive land.
3. Diversity, as an asian I've always thought London is pretty diverse, but NYC is on the next level.

Re: UK US Difference
 

Its all about perspective. If you look for differences you will find them. I see far more similarities between the UK and US, than differences.

Anyway, addressing one of your points, from everything I have ever read, or noticed, having lived in both cities, London has more varieties of ethnic communities than anywhere else, and I would say certainly more than New York, which has a smaller number of large ethnic communities, so perhaps it has "more individuals from minority communities", but that is not the same thing as having a wider variety of ethnic communities that London has.

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Good points. London seems to me the most international city in the world, and as you well point out London has a wider variety of communities.

The differences between the US and UK are there, yet also similarities beyond more superficial differences.

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My intention here is to find the difference, even how subtle it is. I have many friends who had moved back and force from these 2 cities. They chose one place or the other (in different age) because of these differences.

For ethnic communities, I agree that London is a more welcoming place even their sizes are generally smaller. This should be added to the difference too.

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4. Cars, those here in US usually cars are bigger in size. But German cars (which is considered as generally good) are less, as compared to Asian cars. Also here in NY state I found electrical cars (such as TESLA) are much less as compared to London, though in CA there are considerably more. Perhaps due to the petrol price factor.

5. Driving, because of narrow road in U.K., people are generally trained better, more polite while driving. Whereas I found disappointed how generally people just don’t yield nor be patient here when driving around NYC.

6. Car signal indicators on the back, this is so subtle but I do find it extremely annoying. In U.K. every car has an amber indicator light, while in U.S. very common they are red, same as tail lights, makes it impossible to tell when it flashes.

7. Roundabouts, I hate them in U.K., complicated and hard to enter and exit, now I am enjoying we don’t have much in U.S, again due to the land and road size.

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They do exist here in Jersey, and I hate it because no one knows how they work.

Roundabouts are better, but require a modicum of skill and patience which is often lacking.

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Different names for the same things too:
Windscreen = windshield
Boots and trunks
Bonnets and hoods
Discs and rotors
Petrol and gas
etc etc etc

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As an ex-resident of Swindon, I will not have a bad word said against roundabouts. I have two on our estate/subdivision and it could do with two more.

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I grew up no so far away down the M40 - when learning to drive I was prompty dispatched to the magic roundabout. I now have no fear of them for life.

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Agreed!

Also the comment about cars, German I love, Sedans are bigger than whatever Ive driven before in the UK, and love them (Mrs has a SUV). Trucks are not for me but are very much part of the culture here.

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From my point of view, the differences seem subtle, especially as a visitor, but living here, I think there is a gulf between the UK and the US.

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We’ve generally been perfectly happy with small cars in the US, Honda Civics (back when they actually were quite small, 80s and 90s.), Two or three Yarises, now a Toyota Corolla. We did have a bigger car, Subaru Outback, for the years we were driving all over New York and Ontario with our daughter and her ice hockey goalie equipment. (Which smelled pretty bad, as well as being bulky.) High gas mileage is advantageous, whether gas is cheap or expensive.

In England, I don’t currently have a car, but if I did, it would be a very small one. The main factor there would not be fuel economy, but simply the much smaller parking spots, tight corners, and less space on the roads in general.

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Fuel economy would drive any decision for me as well. Remember when I was young and my parents would count out 5 quid to put in the tank. Much better off now but that was hard

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I remember two very odd things about my father and his petrol buying habits. At the time I thought they were perfectly normal, of course.

First, he was totally brand-loyal. Only ever Esso. He assumed different brands had different characteristics, would be bad for the engine. Second, he always ordered an exact number of gallons. Why? Why wouldn’t you just fill the tank?

(Thinking through the second one, I wonder if, back in pre-war days, petrol pumps didn’t have automated calculation of the cost of the transaction, and you had to get an exact number of gallons, so the total cost could be calculated? My father’s driving days started in the late 1920s.)

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I think that years ago, the pumps would not cut-off automatically so "filling the tank" was more difficult and likely to cause a spill. I seem to remember filling my motor-bike for 5 bob in the '60's.

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Yes, I’m sure that’s right, thanks! My wife came up with a third possible explanation. When petrol was rationed, the ration coupons were probably in gallon units. So you had to order an exact number of gallons ..

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That brought back a memory -- my father always filled up with National Benzole!

(And I recall when I used to drive to the country for the weekend from NYC way back when, always putting aside a $5 bill to fill my tank on the way back to the city on Sunday night, and putting in just that five dollars worth! Which did indeed fill the tank in those days.)

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8. Food, it became much convenient for me because I am asian, and there are so much more choices here. However european food here are not very good, and expensive, which, surprisingly I do miss a lot about in London.

9. Land, I am sure it is obvious but just want to speak it out, it is huge. Driving 4 hours up, you are still in NY state, and there are 50+ states. Flying all the way from New York to west coast will cost almost as much time as to London. If you want to measure a distance by looking at how close they are in google maps, you are done, they look so close but cost way long to drive even the road is straight and easy.

10. Service, people normally say service in UK is better, which is generally true, but in places like restaurant, in generally they need to do good because they want the tips.

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Can't seem to get away from Teslas in NJ. I wonder if it's too hard to charge them in NYC? Everyone here has a garage and charger inside.

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I note that we don't seem to mind driving as much over here. I'll happily drive 2 hours somewhere on a Sunday for a ride out, or head 4.5 hours to friends in VA for a night. Whereas in UK most people act like driving more than 35 mins is ridiculous. I know their petrol is more expensive, but it's clearly mindset too.

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It's also a roads thing. Driving across a Town in the UK can take an hour, like trying to drive around Manhattan. For many in the USA, a drive involves big roads motoring around between 40mph to 55mph. Driving in the UK can be far more stressful as a result, it just feels far more draining I think. Add into the equation the fact that Automatic Transmission is almost a swear word in the UK.

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And in the Pulaski household, so including Mrs P. :nod:

We only bought our first automatic vehicle in 2021 (less than a year ago), and have yet to drive more than 75 miles/day or 250 miles/ week in it. I usually only drive it when a manual vehicle isn't available.

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I don't understand this. Perhaps when automatics caused higher fuel consumption. But now 7 speed (and more) automatic transmissions must be more fuel efficient than manual. If i was driving round a track/circuit, then manual every time. For the rest, give me an auto

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We enjoy driving. :)

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Me too!
Especially with the latest "aids" such as adaptive cruise control which maintains a pre-set distance from the vehicle in front. Mind you, one has to remember that once cruise is de-selected, it is necessary to use the brakes again - unless you want to test the autonomous braking!

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Please use the ["Quote] button in the bottom right corner of the post you are replying to as we have no idea who you are agreeing with, and even after reading your post several times, I still can't work out whether you think adapative cruise control is a terrible idea or the best thing since sliced bread. :unsure:

FWIW, I anticipate having some fun in future with autonous cars and their adaptive cruise control and autonomous braking feature. :sneaky:

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Apologies. I was agreeing with your post "We enjoy driving".
And yes, so far I've found adaptive cruise control makes driving more enjoyable but I'm not sure I trust it completely!

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I guess 95% of the 'driving' i do is around town or on a highway/dual carriageway, but it is not really driving, it is getting from A to B. Very different if you are on windy/hilly roads but they seem few and far between around here (Charleston, SC)

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One thing I just remembered in the UK I would fill up with petrol to a round number, be it £20. Now I just let the pump go until the car is full.

Maybe it’s the fact US pumps lock on, or the fact I thankfully have more disposable money, or likely all of the above.

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It's all driving to me. :)

That said, the most common journey I make is to/from little Miss P's school, which involves three separate hilly and bendy sections, and 3-4 roundabouts, crossing them 5-6 times (depending on whether I go there and back on the same route, or do a circuit to avoid a sometimes-tricky left turn at a STOP sign} so even a relatively short drive can have plenty to keep me interested. :)

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Parts of NY, high homicide rate, smell and those rats, yet alone high crime areas. NY, is not typical of the USA, as London, is not typical of England.

Living in other states then its easier to compare, the four regions of the states: East coast, West coast, the south and the Med west. Mid west people are more closer in terms of personality as England in my view.

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I never thought that it would be the case but i ve to admit that I miss Roundabouts.

Here every small intersection of the roads ve these annoying STOP signs, where you ve to stop even if there is no one in sight. Why couldn’t they just ve the mini roundabout to keep the traffic flowing?

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Bloody driving (by others) here in TX seems atrociously bad at most times! But I am in the DFW area...

Sarcasm. I get on well with my work colleagues but I can't have the same fun and banter at work as I grew up enjoying back in the UK.

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Four way stop signs are the worlds worst invention....they were created at a time when society was a lot politer than today, and when there was minimal traffic. In modern times the hazards at multiple lane, four way stops during busy periods are very significant, with a mix of people from rude impatient types trying to jump their turn through to people being too hesitant, to the general 'we all don't really know how Four Way stops even work'. 20 years in the US and I still hate the bloody things, give me roundabouts any day...even the madness of Milton Keynes!

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There aren't many 4WS near me, and most of them are relatively minor, just 2 way roads, but although I hate them, I have noticed that drivers in general have adapted, and most seem to have worked out how to make them reasonably efficient while staying within the spirit of how they are supposed to work even if not quite within the letter of the law. The most common scenario being that two vehicles heading in the opposite direction on the same road can both go straight across simultaneously; also two vehicles on opposite sides of a 4WS can both turn left simultaneously, and a vehicle can turn right while another vehicle is doing one of several things.

Of course the four-way yield, aka "roundabout", is far superior and they have been popping up all over the place, like mushrooms, in my neck of the woods. :thumbsup:

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Just on a trip down to Texas and came across a multiple way Stop which went under a major 4 lane road. There were multiple lanes at each Stop, think of a UK Motorway Roundabout but every entry/exit was a 4 way stop! It took a little while to navigate and a lot of concentration to figure out who had arrived first, given the scale.

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There was an absolute shocker of one about 10 minutes from where I live for years - notorious accident blackspot for the county. In August this year, after years of campaigning, they finally put traffic lights on it, for which everyone is very thankful! Was long overdue - the massive and continual growth here in the Tampa burbs turned it from what was once a backwater to a major bedroom community.

As I mentioned earlier, 4WS's are an obsolete invention from a time when friendly neighbors in the few cars around politely waved each through every morning. Now replaced by Mr Angry in his F350 pickup, who is going first nomatter what!

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To put it in perspective though - some proportion of four-way stops still work fine, because drivers are still considerate and law-abiding. In our area, for instance, small-town northern New York, we have loads of such junctions and I’ve never once seen them abused, even when busy. And yeah, being a Trumpy rural area, a high proportion of drivers are driving pickups. Either mini-roundabouts or traffic lights would be inappropriate for these junctions.

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It has been interesting to see how drivers have learned to cope with roundabouts as they have increased in numbers in NC in recent years. It used to be that many people approached them with extreme caution, but most drivers have learned that you're not required to STOP before entering.

I would estimate that, long term, maybe 1 in 20 people still always stop before proceeding, i.e. even when there is no traffic on the roundabout, and fewer, maybe 1 in 50 will (sometimes) try to yield (slow down) to allow someone to join the roundabout.

The frustration I have with other drivers is that they don't know, because they weren't taught (which is totally understandable when roundabouts are rare or nonexistent), and haven't worked out for themselves, that as you wait to join a roundabout, you can tell when traffic approaching from your left is going to leave the roundabout to your left (down the road you're exiting), or not, by watching the direction the front wheels are pointing.