Calling US-based mumsnetters

[StathLetsFlats]

I am looking for a change. Tell me where you live and why I should move there. I am currently living in NYC and, although I know this is an unpopular opinion.. but NY is like an inferior version of London. I can’t move back to London (Brexit) so would like a complete change for a couple of years, maybe somewhere a bit cheaper and a bit warmer! But definitely with cool things going on. Any ideas?

[TannatTart]

I live in Charleston SC - great restaurants, beautiful architecture, nice beaches, and mild winters. Housing on the peninsula is quite expensive, and traffic is maddening though.

[edgeofheaven]

Population-wise NYC is larger than London. In area London is probably larger because it's very spread out and low-rise housing.

Exciting is a matter of opinion, I think they are among the two most culturally vibrant cities in the world and few places - maybe Tokyo or Hong Kong (although perhaps not lately) can compete. If NYC is boring to you honestly hardly anywhere else in the US will be better!

[Mesacasa]

Bentonville, Arkansas!

[StathLetsFlats]

I did not say it was boring. I said I wanted something completely different to London.

[StathLetsFlats]

Well not completely different, I still want a buzz and fabulous restaurants etc. I just crave a change and better weather than New York. (Less rain, less snow, less humidity)

[TannatTart]

Ah, well perhaps not CHS - we have ALL the humidity 😁, but we do have an excellent fish and chip shop!

[StathLetsFlats]

That is a shame Tannat I loved Charleston.

[edgeofheaven]

Would have be be a city in California or Texas/Southwest to avoid snow and humidity. I have friends in Portland and Seattle and there is genuinely a LOT of misty rain throughout the year.

[IJumpedAboardAPirateShip]

I live in LA and am from London. It took me about 6months but there is a lot I love about LA and one of those things is that as a city it’s so different from London I can’t really compare.

The weather is generally great, we had a bit of rain this spring but it never goes below 11-13degrees and that’s rare, likewise September can be scorching 38+ but not for long, otherwise very temperate.

There’s lot is culture - I’m a theatre maker and the theatre is disappointing but there’s loads of gigs in all sorts of cool venues, from stadiums to the Hollywood Bowl to old converted music halls, lots of incredible galleries and museums and it being the centre of the movie industry you can always see any major movie as well as small art cinemas priding themselves of showcasing indie, foreign and old films (I saw Walkabout on a big screen at the Egyptian theatre in Hollywood last month and the Sundance short film shortlist in a brew-cinema this month) . During awards season you don’t need to do much more than join a cinemas Facebook group to see free screenings of Academy nominated films.

Healthy lifestyle - surfing, hiking, cycling, yoga, sunrise raving, gym options for any type of fitness

Landscape - obviously we have the beach (beaches really, Malibu is different to Santa Monica is different to Venice is different to the South Bay. You can surf, paddle board and boat in the ocean and swim without a wetsuit Third to half the year. We’re surrounded by mountains for stunning hikes and nature (Santa Monica mountains with all their gorgeous canyons) and its only 2-3hours to other mountain areas like big bear and Idyllwild where we go for our Christmas fix of snow. Then of course the deserts - Joshua Tree is only 2 hours away. It’s pretty cool being surrounded by such different landscapes.

Food - something for EVERYONE. From the dirtiest diner to British pubs to the best vegan food on earth, the food is pretty amazing and we have access to fresh fruit and veg all year around from a 50-100mile radius.

Areas: it’s very spread out but that means there’s so many mini cities within the city with their own identity, food, community, culture, which is really really cool and makes up a little for being so fucking far away from the rest of the world.

People - LA is a transient melting pot, to the point where it’s surprising to meet a true born and bred Angeleno!

“Close” to Hawaii - it’s still a 5-6hour flight but it’s closer than anywhere else in the world!

Oh, and it’s staunchly Democrat!!

There are of course bad bits - it’s really far from Europe (which i hate) and like anywhere in America just far from anywhere else, though you can drive to Mexico in 2 hours and fly to Canada in the same amount of time.

It is very spread out so you tend to become close friends with people who live near you and if you live east of the 405 freeway you never go to the beach!!

Traffic is insane, all the time. You learn the routes and when to travel but if you can afford to you should live close to your place of work because rush hour is several hours long and just awful. And getting worse.

Public transport isn’t great, fine in some areas and they’re trying to get it better but the city is so spread out often it’s quicker and easier to drive.

The homeless problem is a problem and in the last year or two has got a lot worse. It used to mainly (very sadly) be mainly people who really ought to be supported by the state in mental health institutions, people with psychotic illnesses. There has been a recent influx of groups of homeless drug addicts - again who should be supported and getting help but nothing happens so all that results is tent cities under freeways and on residential streets, a rise in petty crime, drug taking and selling at all times of day, and no help for the homeless themselves at all.

It’s expensive - especially the closer to the ocean you live. If you can earn a good living (we’re seriously talking over £100K equivalent) you’ll be fine but if not...well see above about the homeless issue....

So there you go - swap one coast for the other! I for one LOVE New York though so maybe we should just swap

[StathLetsFlats]

I would love to try California for a while, I think the weather is so much nicer than the east coast. It is also the only place outside of NY my daughter will agree to. (She doesn’t even live with me!) but I don’t know if I want to swap one expensive city for another.

[IJumpedAboardAPirateShip]

Our groceries are cheaper than NYC...and you get more space for your money in housing

[StathLetsFlats]

And you can buy wine in trader joes can’t you?

[pumkinseason]

Trader Joe's has plenty of wine. I think that it is somehow related to Aldi. Anyway it has lots of European food.

[StathLetsFlats]

I have trader joes here, I love it. But you can’t buy wine (or any other alcohol except beer) in grocery stores in NY. Another bloody reason to leave 😂

[Episcomama]

Minneapolis? Great arts scene, parks system is apparently one of the best in the country.

[edgeofheaven]

@StathLetsFlats you can't buy wine in supermarkets in Pennsylvania or Connecticut either so then I won't suggest Philadelphia - which has a really cool growing restaurant scene.

[StathLetsFlats]

My list of demands keeps getting longer.. 😂

[LilyAraminta]

If California sounds appealing, maybe look into Santa Barbara/Montecito. Perfect weather, great restaurants, arts and non-profit heavy, gorgeous beaches, easy drive to LA, super quick flight to SF (there are charter flight companies that serve people who commute to either during the week--I believe one is called Surf Air). It's not packed full of large corporations by any means, but a surprising number of companies have offices there so it's not a complete struggle to find good jobs.
It's pricey, but not on the level of NYC or London.
Since you are from London, the two UK related things I can tie to Santa Barbara are

1. The polo fields that William and Kate visited on their trip to CA are there.
   
2. A simply stunning Rosewood hotel just opened in Montecito and the Rosewood London is my favorite city hotel, so the two are associated in my mind

[IJumpedAboardAPirateShip]

You can’t buy wine in Trader Joes?!?!

[mathanxiety]

Not in NYC.

[mathanxiety]

I was going to suggest Chicago but you've been there and done that.

Raleigh Durham/ Chapel Hill in NC might suit.

[WAGatha]

You can't move back to London because of Brexit? Oh pleassse. 🤫

[Ginfordinner]

"You can't move back to London because of Brexit? Oh pleassse. 🤫"

I wondered about that as well.

[mindutopia]

I used to live in NYC (I'm American, but I live in the UK now). It's honestly quite difficult to find anywhere suitable in the US once you've lived in NY. The rest is pretty substandard to be fair (if that's what you're used to). Fwiw, I actually like NYC more than London. I think it's much more interesting. But if you must move, I would consider California. San Diego is very nice (LA less so). San Francisco and the Bay Area generally are nice, but you have to be able to afford it. I think housing costs are probably more than in NY. I've lived in both and I still prefer NY personally, but it's easier in SF with children. Places like Portland and Seattle are also very nice, similar to SF in many ways, but not so tech guru overpriced and not quite so pretentious. That's pretty much all I would recommend. I wouldn't go anywhere in the middle bits or the south, personally.

[pumkinseason]

it. But you can’t buy wine (or any other alcohol except beer) in grocery stores in NY. Another bloody reason to leave 😂

That is terrible, Chicago has shocking winters but my local supermarket sells wine and has two bars in it.