Living in the USA (Page 2 of 4)

Detroit Michigan area has a LOT of colleges and a great music scene. Not a ton of employment, but colleges are good enough to get you a job elsewhere in the US. Live music every night of the week in cities engulfed by Detriot like Hamtramck... though the places are rarely packed with fans. 17 is a little early to think about getting a career job, and colleges offer a lot of financial aid plus you can get student loans.

If you like guitars there's a place called Galloup school of guitar lutherie where you learn to work on and even build guitars. So if you ever wanted to become a guitar tech. or luthier, that is the place to go.

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You would like Chicago or New York, but the prices for everything are outrageous.

I've lived in Milwaukee, and while jobs are ok, the music scene is lacking to my expectations, but it is the beer capital of the USA.

I've never lived on the west coast (LA, SF, Seattle) but I hear from folks that moved there that cities in the midwest have nicer, more friendly and helpful people. Who knows for sure.

just my two cents

I can't thank everyone enough for the wonderful replies!! I have read and thought about all of your input and yes I've still got a lot of time to think about it or still change my mind

NSB_EST.1979, I would have graduated from University at that point having done audio production (either for video games or for music) so colleges aren't necessary for me...really just good employment is one of my highest priorities

Robin, that was actually a rather interesting article...and the truth is I hadn't thought about Canada but after that it is definitely a possibility!

Again, thank you all for your great input

Another quick question and a hard one to answer because of its generality but what is the American view on English people moving there? Is it frowned upon? Welcomed?

Thanks!:)

Rockfarmer, yeah that makes sense I guess, I was just worried about not fitting in!

Robin, thankyou for your compliments! I do enjoy the occasional outing with my friends and family but I'm not such a pub/dance club/nightclub kind of guy haha! And also thankyou for the good wishes..I will keep in contact my friend:)

Jane, thankyou! Does a few hours not count as a long journey in the U.S.? In England it'd be a journey half way across the country

Brack, yeah I've heard that American girls love the English accents

J Dawg, it's going to be either audio for gaming or games computing, need to make my mind up in the next year or so! My ideal situation would be to live in a nice apartment in a city, earning enough that I'm comfortable and not always worrying. Would it be fair to say San Francisco is classed as a pricey place to live though?

Thankyou again, everyone!

As someone who has dated American women in the past .... one thing that is going for us Brits, is the accent. I made lots of friends.

Ok, wanting to live in the USA and actually living there are two different things. US immigration makes it very difficult to live and work in the USA, unless you rae Irish! Basically there are the following options:
1 - Marry in
2- Work for a company hat has a us base and get relocated. Probabaly the cheapest option.
3 - invest 1 million dollars into a redevelopment program - good choice, instant green card and if done properly you get your dosh back after around 5 years (maybe by way if property).
4 - have a very special talent, like brain surgery or virtuoso ability. A tough way in but works.
5 - invest in an E2 business, investment starts at around $100,000.00, this is what we did. This is a verypopular choice but many fail. The E2 visa gives you no rights at all. We were paying around £100k per year in business/personal taxes, employing locals and running a very succesful business. However we had no rights and no right to stay, your kids have to leave the country at 18 or get a working visa (impossible at that age).  The catch is that you renew your visa every 2 to 5 years. I saw many running succesful businesses and had the visas revoked  with no reason given and no right of appeal. Businesses lost, families broken and locals out if a job. It is shameful situation that is being taken up politically.
The USA is great place to be if you have money and a good standard of living. Healthcare is a joke and the standard is much lower than in the UK, despite us all thinking the usa is years ahead. It is also horrendously expensive. The NHS is a dream compared to it. We were forced to leave due to health care, we had what was considered excellent insurance, paying some $1200 a month. We had some major claims for our son Alex (over 1 million dollars) and the insurance campany just turned on us, trying evry loophole to get out of the contract. There was no way I was staying under that stress, so we old up and came back.
We were in Florida, which has its problems, schooling is appalling and attitude towards the disabled in school is victorian and oppressive, although we did improve things while we were there. Apparently this is a Florida thing.
That said we loved living there, standard of living was great and if you are willing to work, the money is good and we met some lovely people. Boy did we have a good time, boats and fast cars are very affordable. I would go back but only with a green card or a solid working visa that can lead to a green card.
I have friend and fellow director who moved over just after we did, pretty much doing the same thing, they were lucky to win the Green Card Lottery (something us brits cannot apply for). They are having a blast but just forked out 10k for a broken arm!
I am in no way knocking the USA, just pointing out some realities of being an expat. if you are prepared there are no surprises, we speak the same language but it is a completely different country.
Your young, so I say go for it, the older you get, the harder it becomes. Travel, see the world and enjoy.