Living in the United States

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

If I had to live there, I'd be all over Louisiana. Love the Bayous and owning a boat where you could cruise up and down them all day would be awesome.

Failing that, New England area I think. Looks like a beautiful part of the country.

I second Louisiana, so beautiful. The only way I would do it though is if I won the lottery as I have a thing for plantation homes.

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

I second Louisiana, so beautiful. The only way I would do it though is if I won the lottery as I have a thing for plantation homes.

Ahhh, slavery. The good old days.

[_Q_]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

I second Louisiana, so beautiful. The only way I would do it though is if I won the lottery as I have a thing for plantation homes.

Louisiana is great if you enjoy living in third world conditions, but without the charm and history of the third world. Add to that sky high health care costs, institutionalized racism, and a fear of leaving your home after 8 pm makes the place quite lovely.

[BigNumbers]

Originally Posted by _Q_

Louisiana is great if you enjoy living in third world conditions, but without the charm and history of the third world. Add to that sky high health care costs, institutionalized racism, and a fear of leaving your home after 8 pm makes the place quite lovely.

Yikes... Sounds like lots has changed on your view of the area since you posted this:

Originally Posted by _Q_

Just a bit of an update on my move to Louisiana...

It's been a hectic couple of weeks, but since this past Wednesday I've moved out to suburban New Orleans. I'm just starting to settle in now. Went and checked out downtown New Orleans and the French Quarter yesterday for the first time. It was absolutely incredible. I feel so lucky to have been given this opportunity. I can't wait to start my new job on Monday!

Honestly, anyone that's been laid off, if you have the chance to move out of Calgary, do it and don't look back. There is definitely life outside the Alberta oil patch. At the end of the day, Calgary will always be home, but moving somewhere like this temporarily isn't bad at all.

Now I'm off to enjoy the 23 degree weather and some fresh oysters

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by _Q_

Louisiana is great if you enjoy living in third world conditions, but without the charm and history of the third world. Add to that sky high health care costs, institutionalized racism, and a fear of leaving your home after 8 pm makes the place quite lovely.

I have no idea what Louisiana is like to live in but as the birth place of both blues and jazz I'd hardly describe it as without history.

[dobbles]

I often dream about places in Canada that would be nice to live.

I grew up in a small stereotypical rust belt town in illinois. It was a decent enough place. Having spent the last 6 or 7 years in south Carolina and Oklahoma, red America has taken its toll on me and I have zero faith left in this countries future.

[OldDutch]

Cons:

Vacation Time. Some people start with 1 week and have to work a year to get it.
Sick Time comes out of vacation time.
Large city expenses. Yes the dream of that 3500 sq McMansion for $250,000 is real if you live 90 mins from work in the middle of nowhere.
Maternity is 90 days
Crime
Segregation of class and race
Health Care insurance
Working is life (social norm)

Pros
Better Tax Rate
American $$$
Junk Food
Cheap Cars
Gourmet Food
Cheap clothes
Cheap home

Not exhaustive but you get my thoughts. People are similar, but unless your going to get a ballin' job with Canadian benifits you are worse off IMO.

[squiggs96]

I would live in San Francisco in a heartbeat if a decent situation came up.

Secondary options would be Seattle and San Diego. I'd consider Chicago, but not sure I'd want to live in winter again.

I'd retire to Hawaii and/or Pinehurst, NC.

[Zarley]

Originally Posted by bizkitgto

The problem these days is that we're not that far behind them culturally.

Yeah, I'd agree. The infiltration of idiot culture from the south is one of the most unfortunate trends in Canada today. Be it shows like Ancient Aliens, the marketing machine masquerading as a sport (NFL), or reality TV, or cable "news" that doesn't show any news (CNN); this type of garbage is making people stupider.

I wish we had stronger cultural institutions to provide resistance to this, but perhaps it's unavoidable given the inter-connectedness of the English speaking world today.

[OMG!WTF!]

I lived all of the 90's in the states and those were the days. We waylaid the Iraqis then it was all economic expansion from there. I'll live there again for sure but just as a part timer. They would never allow me to take one of their jerbs. I'd probably get a nice trailer in Palm Springs. Or a van outside of Tuolomne. Or Kingman, the stupidest city in America....slightly below average in Arizona. I'd go play my bucket drum kit on the strip in Vegas once and a while. They've got motels there for five hundred a month. And breakfast for $1.99. Put that in your culture pipe.

[Drummer]

I've got 3 different friends from high school (that Ive kept in touch with on Facebook) that have moved to the US. One went to The Woodlands, TX which seems like the "perfect" place to raise a family. He now has 2 kids both born there. Works oil and gas. Built a 4000ish SF house for $300,000. Right in town too.
Second friend moved to San Francisco about 10 years ago and got a job in programming. She rents and lives with her partner in Oakland which is supposed to be a very rough area. I've never seen her post or talk about bad experiences there. She is a massive supporter of woman's issues and really wishes she could vote. Has said she has no plans to come back to Canada unless her work visa runs out and she has to leave.

3rd friend was a dancer and ended up in the LA area and is now a co host on one of the major US tv stations reporting on entertainment news. She'll never leave, is living the good life.

[FireGilbert]

I could do it if the right job opportunity came up and I could negotiate at least four weeks vacation. Americans have been getting a bad reputation lately but other than the irrational love of guns their culture is not that different from other western countries and most Americans are normal friendly people just trying to get through life. I also love American low and slow BBQ, think its awesome pot is being legalised, and like the idea I could buy a four bedroom house for the same price as a parking spot in Sydney.

[Inferno]

I don't have anything against the US but I think I'm too proud to be Canadian to leave. I was born here, I want to die here(though there's no guarantee), and if I do ever have kids I want them to be born here.

If I had to though I would probably stick to the west coast.

[Lanny_McDonald]

If you're into materialism, America is da ####! If you're into anything else, the place quickly become unbearable. If I could find a good paying job north of the border I'd head back to Canada and never look back. As my brother likes to say, "there's only one thing wrong with America, and its Americans!" Yes, there are some really nice people down here, but you have to weed them out of the thousand ignorant rednecks who embrace their religion and gun culture as the center of their lives, and it just ain't worth it.

[_Q_]

Originally Posted by New Era

If you're into materialism, America is da ####! If you're into anything else, the place quickly become unbearable. If I could find a good paying job north of the border I'd head back to Canada and never look back. As my brother likes to say, "there's only one thing wrong with America, and its Americans!" Yes, there are some really nice people down here, but you have to weed them out of the thousand ignorant rednecks who embrace their religion and gun culture as the center of their lives, and it just ain't worth it.

Out of curiosity, which part of the US do you live in?

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by _Q_

Out of curiosity, which part of the US do you live in?

Currently, the southwest. Have lived, short and long term, in all four corners of the country. The SW has been my favorite, but the tension which exists in the culture is unbearable. Even in ultra-liberal California. Agree with you on Louisiana, and the SE in general. The geography is nice, but the politics and values are completely screwed up.

[Northendzone]

I think I would like to live in san diego (climate, Mexican food) or bend, Oregon (close to losts of great mountain biking and it gets real warm in the summer and I believe they do get some snowfall (but not 100% sure).

I also enjoy whitefish, but I suppose at the end of the day it is somewhat similar to fernie

[EldrickOnIce]

Will be moving to Chicago area this spring or summer. Wife has a fantastic job offer there, both in terms of opportunity and compensation. That's the lure of the US, as it pertains to certain global companies anyway. Her after tax income, including conversion to CDN$ (but not including increased buying power), will be 2.5 times her take home here in Quebec.
To be honest, I'm not sure what I think about the move. I am not tied to a work location so can work from anywhere, but...
It will be interesting, I guess. As New Era talks above, this is about materialism. Which is not such a bad thing, I guess.

[FireGilbert]

Originally Posted by New Era

If you're into materialism, America is da ####! If you're into anything else, the place quickly become unbearable. If I could find a good paying job north of the border I'd head back to Canada and never look back. As my brother likes to say, "there's only one thing wrong with America, and its Americans!" Yes, there are some really nice people down here, but you have to weed them out of the thousand ignorant rednecks who embrace their religion and gun culture as the center of their lives, and it just ain't worth it.

I know Americans take materialism to another level but is it really much different than the rest of the first world? Sydney is an incredibly materialistic city and although I can't speak on the present day so was Calgary during boom times.

[Erick Estrada]

I would move to the US in a heartbeat but it would have to be to a city that doesn't get snow and cold as I can stay here for that. I've never had a bad experience in my US travels and find people there in a lot of cases more polite and easier to deal with (especially professionally) than Canadians. Don't get me wrong I'm fully aware a country with a population over 300 million has a lot of nut jobs, not a fan of citizens toting guns, but I really dislike winter and am not an overly patriotic person so outside of maybe health care there's not a lot that I would miss from this country.