Help! Trying to figure out... (2013, low crime, house prices)
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Hello my USA friends, I need some help. In summary here is the situation:
I live in Australia and fairly well settled in terms of job, lifestyle, security, good weather etc. I have 3 kids who are almost finishing primary education. They are highly technical and intelligent and have shown signs of entrepreneurial skills and desire to challenge them constantly. Although they are physically here their minds are in the USA and needless to say Steve Jobs, BillGates and many other entrepreneurs have inspired them so much. They have bigger dreams than that I cannot comprehend myself. We are factoring kids and their future heavily in to this decision than our own lifestyle that we currently enjoy. We always wanted to give kids the best possible environment to succeed. There is one thing that all of us are seriously missing here. The drive, the motivation to excel, the challenge, and the achievements that give satisfaction to human spirit. Things are easy here. The environment does not encourage pushing boundaries and pushing human race forward. The place slows down everyone – I guess for some it is great! No offence intended.
So we are looking for a move (temporary or permanent) to experience USA.
Our top 3 priorities:
1) A good environment for kids to excel in their dreams
2) Good weather so we can have some outdoor lifestyle
3) Low crimes and low racism
The other priorities (employment opportunities, cost ofliving, house prices etc. are also important but not as important as the top 3).
We generally like reasonably bigger towns, cities (at least 200K population or closer to bigger cities) as oppose to remote or rural.
I am fully aware of healthcare issues in the USA (compared to AUS) and have factored that already. I have visited USA 3 times mostly around those holiday spots but never got to experience the life as a resident.
Given the above, can anyone suggest or share their experiences on a town/city in the USA that fits within our requirements?
Much appreciated everyone.
I'm going to be completely honest with you, there are some good cities, but all cities have crime. of course nothing is worse than detroit, but don't expect to never see crime or hear about murders on the news.
Seattle, Portland, Denver ( no beaches though ) and northern california are good choices.
Employment opportunities are pretty bad everywhere. you will be competing with over 1 million out of work americans, so you will definitely need outstanding skills. On top of that the way resumes, job postings and such work here is pretty stupid. you may be applying for a job that was filled 6 months ago and never know it.
I am going to say Portland or Seattle. great weather, great areas ( portland has a worse economy though ) and beautiful beaches in case you feel home sick ( I'm assuming you live near a beach but I could be completely wrong )
Hello my USA friends, I need some help. In summary here is the situation:
I live in Australia and fairly well settled in terms of job, lifestyle, security, good weather etc. I have 3 kids who are almost finishing primary education. They are highly technical and intelligent and have shown signs of entrepreneurial skills and desire to challenge them constantly. Although they are physically here their minds are in the USA and needless to say Steve Jobs, BillGates and many other entrepreneurs have inspired them so much. They have bigger dreams than that I cannot comprehend myself.[b][b] We are factoring kids and their future heavily in to this decision than our own lifestyle that we currently enjoy. We always wanted to give kids the best possible environment to succeed. There is one thing that all of us are seriously missing here. The drive, the motivation to excel, the challenge, and the achievements that give satisfaction to human spirit. Things are easy here. The environment does not encourage pushing boundaries and pushing human race forward. The place slows down everyone – I guess for some it is great! No offence intended.
So we are looking for a move (temporary or permanent) to experience USA.
Our top 3 priorities:
1) A good environment for kids to excel in their dreams
2) Good weather so we can have some outdoor lifestyle
3) Low crimes and low racism
The other priorities (employment opportunities, cost ofliving, house prices etc. are also important but not as important as the top 3).
We generally like reasonably bigger towns, cities (at least 200K population or closer to bigger cities) as oppose to remote or rural.
I am fully aware of healthcare issues in the USA (compared to AUS) and have factored that already. I have visited USA 3 times mostly around those holiday spots but never got to experience the life as a resident.
Given the above, can anyone suggest or share their experiences on a town/city in the USA that fits within our requirements?
Much appreciated everyone.
Given your criteria (particularly in terms of cities/areas where drive, determination and entrepreneurship are heavily ingrained into daily life) I would recommend the NYC metro area. There are many areas that offer relatively affordable living in proportion to salaries and easy access to one of the world's major commerce centers. I would recommend checking out suburban NYC locales such as Montclair NJ, Flushing (Queens) NY or White Plains NY.
Given your criteria (particularly in terms of cities/areas where drive, determination and entrepreneurship are heavily ingrained into daily life) I would recommend the NYC metro area. There are many areas that offer relatively affordable living in proportion to salaries and easy access to one of the world's major commerce centers. I would recommend checking out suburban NYC locales such as Montclair NJ, Flushing (Queens) NY or White Plains NY.
Just to add to this, look into Nyack NY, the Half Hollow Hills school district area on Long Island and perhaps southern Orange County NY. A little tidbit, the Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown area of NY has some of the smallest pay gaps between Whites and minority groups, as well as being one of the most integrated metros that are in the top 100 in population. Orange and Dutchess Counties in NY make up this area. This may be due to the proximity to NYC, the presence of the US Military Academy/West Point and having some big companies like IBM.
I'm thinking Silicon Valley in California, since your kids are into computer stuff.
I just moved from Santa Clara after living there 10 years. I only moved away because I couldn't afford to retire there on my social security. But, it's a great town with good schools, in the heart of Silicon Valley, and safe (low crime), and clean. Great weather. Diverse population. 30 minutes to the beach at Santa Cruz. Most of the other towns in SV are also safe with good schools.
So many learning opportunities here for your kids. These just scratch the surface:
Before you go much further in this you should research immigration laws ….. it isn't easy to just move here. In order to work legally you generally have to find an employer willing to sponsor you who will say that the company could not find anyone qualified in the U.S. I also understand you can come and start a business or invest if you have enough cpiatal (the buy your way in option). There are some other categories as well, but I believe those are the most common for people looking to move here for employment. I'm not saying I agree with all this, but you did not mention anything about your immigration status in your post so I wanted to make sure you were aware of the issue.
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