crikey there's a lot of anger and vitriol on this thread, interesting to see responses coming from people who've actually lived in the US compared to those who "google"
I live in LA and I normally spend a lot of my time disparaging the US but this thread has def made me want to defend my actual experience of living here.
Obviously so much of it depends where you live (now that the threads seems to have moved off the specifics of OP"s potential destination). Where I live everyone is a liberal and a democrat, I know nobody who owns a gun, community spirit (food trains for ill, elderly and new parents, greeting people as you walk past them in the street, lending neighbours tools and ladders etc) and political activism is strong, everyone is friendly and no not in a superficial way. It actually took me a while to understand the cultural nuances and differences but something that Americans have which I will eventually take home is a can-do attitude - yes sometimes this manifests into an "I'm alright Jack" state of mind - but actually living in a city full of freelancers working incredibly hard every day to get the next job, I've found nothing but helpfulness, people will ask what you need and if they can't provide it they'll pass you onto someone they hope will. You're expected to ask for what you want and not to be offended if someone genuinely can't help you - there's none of the pussyfooting apologetic nature of asking for help you get in the UK and therefore none of the feelings of personal attacks if you're rejected.
Yes health insurance is a pain and added expense (actually a LOT of things are a lot more expensive for us here, especially food - a pain considering most of our fruit and veg comes from within a 50mile radius but that's the hipster tax for you I suppose) but if you can get a decent coverage from your company it helps.
There are def things that frustrate and annoy me - I don't watch American news because it always sounds like a bad advert for an action movie, a lot of children are mismanaged and run riot in places with no discipline and don't have the same manners British children tend to, cost of decent food IS high (and because of the frankly disturbing farming practises I do pay the extra to make sure the food we buy is reputable, humane and sustainable).
Believe me - for every misconceptions about America and it's citizens, you can bet your bottom dollar they have the same about the British, so for those on the thread intent on US-bashing and being offended at those of us who defend the country we live in, just know that we frequently do the same the other way around. Defending one country over the other isn't saying it's better - but you can't actually compare living experiences with what you read on the internet about America's reputation.