MarylandNed

I totally agree with this. Not saying this is true for everyone but it was certainly true for me and many other expats I know (not just in the US but also in Canada and Australia). I'm sure it applies to many people in the UK too but it was very difficult for me to find - I never did find it to my satisfaction. I found it much more easily here - not just where I am now but also in other opportunities I explored in the US.

Scouse Express

Yes, let's see;

East Coast - Hurricanes/Noreasters/Tornadoes
Northern Plains and Northern US in General - Frigid Temps & Shatload of Snow
Midwest and Plain States - Tornadoes
West Coast - Earthquakes/Tsunamis/Deserts
Gulf Coast - Hurricanes & Tornadoes

Oh Yes - It's just frickin' peachy over here


JIm

MarylandNed

I guess that's why no Brits visit the US - ever. I guess the hordes I meet in Florida are really just yanks faking Brit accents rather than Brits looking for sun & sand.

celticgrid

Hopefully the above quote was 'just words', because in my opinion what you are looking for does not exist. There's nowhere in the US that is going to 'tick all the boxes', it will always be a matter of compromise. I would suggest an exercise to prioritise those boxes of yours and to figure out which ones are not in any sort of priority category but which are simply a bonus if achieved.

MarylandNed

I totally agree. And that's why these "my country is better than your country" debates are never black & white. Everywhere has its pros and cons for most people. Maybe a lucky few are exceptions and really find Utopia but I think for most people it is a compromise. However, let's accept the fact that while some people are happier in the UK, others are happier in other countries such as the US, Canada or Australia for whatever reason.

margomonts

Yes absolutely there is no where perfect and it is just finding somewhere that the compromises we will need to are acceptable to us. I think we have prioritised what we would like and so the compromises are the things like privatised healthcare...gun laws....freak weather conditions etc I think it's human nature to wonder what if and ask can we do this better? Which is what we are investigating here.

Pulaski

She may have done that already, because if avoiding extremes of weather and other natural disasters, (some parts of) Virginia would be in the top two US states for me.

margomonts

Absoflaminlutely I have!

Pulaski

My back yard here, including the adjoining vacant lot I own, is big enough to fit the footprint of the entire street I lived on in London, including back yards, pavements and the roadway. There were 84 houses on that street!

Jerseygirl

We have 3 acres...although I doubt you could fit the council estate street I grew up in into it.

Sally Redux

It's nice to have space but it's rather meaningless on its own.

margomonts

I don't want to live in the middle of a field just not be in my garden with five other people's houses over looking! And this is in a highly sort after location haahaa!!!!

Pulaski

True, but I'm not in Arizona or New Mexico. My patch is mostly covered in trees, with deer, squirrels, raccoons, rabbits, box turtles, groundhogs, chipmunks, moles, frogs, toads, salamanders, bluebirds, cardinals, and numerous other birds, and at least four species of snake. I've even seen crayfish despite having no permanent water feature on my property. In addition to the variety of deciduous and pine trees, I also have a range of toadstools and other fungus. Watching nature "happen" in my back yard is not meaningless.

margomonts

I agree!

Nutmegger

But have you ever been to Virginia? Research on the Internet and actually spending time in a place are two extremely different things. Which states have you visited in the past? You can't even compare one state to another, the variety of lifestyles are so very different.