glemo

Like others here , i have been living overseas since the 70s. Thus I'm often asked where my favourite place is etc.
Standard answer, people make or break a place.
I.e you could be in paradise ( so called ) meet people who don't gell , thus you don't rate the place and also the opposite , normally less than desirable place - great people - therefore great place.

I moved to Cleveland from Chicago , got the usual "mistake on the lake" burning river stuff.

But I like it, as others have mentioned , nice houses , cars plus all the toys...

However cannot rule out never returning to the UK.

Derrygal

I moved here from Chicago too. Twenty-two years ago - didn't think I would be here that long, but I am!! Cleveland does get a bad rap - but it has some good things going for it - great hospitals, metro-parks, Playhouse Square, world class orchestra. However, the winters are horrible - I live on the East side and I just hate the snow and cold - and this winter has been a bad one.
TBH, I would move back to the UK in a heart-beat but I have children (adults) and now grand-children here. They are really the only reason I am still here.

glemo

And now you have a generator....

WEBlue

Actually no, we've never used one.

We survived Alicia's power outage, then never had another power loss in all the years we lived in Houston. (I think home generators weren't so common then.) Now we live up north, with a wood stove, camping cooker & lantern, and still no generator....

glemo

Sounds idealic, we have one, but since we've had it, we've experienced no need to use in anger, just test / maintenance runs...

WEBlue

What kind do you have, and is it easy to work?

Every time we have a bad storm I wonder if we should get one. The husband says not yet. We're actually new to the country (after Houston we returned to the UK) and only a few of our neighbours here seem to have a generator.

ottotheboar

If you have a generator it should be started weekly, to drag it out from the back of the garage when a hurricane or ice storm is imminent will just about guarantee it will not work.

Redwing

Agreed. I have installed a number of them in industry, although they are much bigger, and they are tested weekly, sometimes under load.

Pulaski

We've just had the coldest weather we've had here in NC. The past two winters have been colder than the previous ten winters, and we've finally started getting our share of the white stuff for this winter, with snow and ice last week, last night, and more coming on Wednesday night/ Thursday morning. ...... I'm glad we don't live further north, but come July and August I'll be glad we don't live further south!

Orangepants

Desperate measures here in SC - I had to chip ice off the surfboard and snow off the palm trees.

MsElui

well we have been here in north Dallas for just over 18 months now and currently are having our 2nd snow day running due to the recent ice storms lol - and we are forecast 2-4 inches of snow tomorrow. Thats NOTHING compared to what you all are seeing in Maine and Boston and even Ohio - BUT its a big dealio here where we supposedly don't see snow ever lol.

A year on from my last post i can honestly say im STILL very happy living here. I didnt want to leave Ohio where i was very settled, but am enjoying here and slowly making friends and will fight DH tooth and nail if he suggests another MOVE. I find kind people around and see people bend over to help others in our town facebook group. Its harder to make friends in general as i wfh so dont see many people some days - but where i do get out - kids school, kids sports, cub scouts, girl scouts etc - I am definitely making connections. Our standard of living here is better than Ohio and HUGELY better than the UK where space was such a stresser, and traffic ruled your life.

london_calling

Some very balanced and positive replies on this thread. I have an opportunity to move to NYC and am contemplating it, but my life in London is also rather good.

I can't stand the "I love love love the USA!! I would NEVER move back to England!" posters though. Encountering any European in the US with that attitude would be a real irritant. If you're too simple to appreciate the wonderful things that exist on both continents, shame on you.

username.exe

Can't say I agree with these sentiments entirely.

I wouldn't put myself in that bracket exactly, but I have met many people (not just in the USA) who up sticks and move, and eventually slot into an entirely different culture where they find they just 'click' for the first time.
If the UK didn't do it for them, no skin off of my nose - as they say here: '...different strokes for different folks'.

london_calling

Possibly, but I do struggle to imagine not fitting into the society where you were born and raised. That's rather sad IMO. It can't be hard to just appreciate the best of both worlds.

Pulaski

Me neither. Liking life in the US, the UK, or Europe are not mutually exclusive feelings, but neither do I see anything wrong in preferring a mix of the pleasures and opportunities of one over the others.