Reasons you wouldn’t move to US

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Dh has been offered a job in the US. The increase in salary would put us into a completely different wealth bracket but I really don’t want to move.

• fear of home invasion with guns
• school shooting - guns in general I guess
• American exceptionalism attitude annoys me
• Being away from family
• Not having Europe on doorstep

Can I ask if you have any other reasons

This.

The US/American bashing around here is quite sad really. It’s the only country that is ever bashed, like every other country is perfect. The US is huge, it is very diverse unlike many other countries. I see that as a plus to be able to meet and work with people from different backgrounds.

And someone said it was ugly, how can an entire country be ugly. There are mountains, rivers, canyons, cities forests etc. there’s a lot to see here, lots of different foods to choose from from different cultures.

I grew up as a POC in Germany, travelled to France, Italy, and Austria and I experienced more racism in those countries than I have in my 30 years in the US.

people should stop making sweeping statements about an entire country, it’s basically the same as making statements about a certain race or culture of people.

Every state, city has its own characteristics and of course depending on who you are will make it make a difference how much you enjoy living/visiting that place.

Genuine question to those in the US or with lots of experience, do you have wheelie bins?

Something popped up on YouTube of a mayor demonstrating the new bins that would be in the city.

I don't know why but I assumed the US would have had them for years. And yes I know different states, different cities within states and even districts are different.

The US/American bashing around here is quite sad really. It’s the only country that is ever bashed, like every other country is perfect. The US is huge, it is very diverse unlike many other countries. I see that as a plus to be able to meet and work with people from different backgrounds.

Again, the whole point of this thread is to give the OP reasons to not go.

Why not start a thread of good things about the USA?

Well said

For me it’s the guns and food regulation that puts me off. I don’t even want to go there on holiday. I love Europe

To your second point - I don't have any urge to create a 'why you should move to America thread' - happy for the OP to take genuine negative points to make her argument in her personal case.

However... feels wrong to let multiple inaccurate statements stand without pointing out they are wrong.

To your first point.

There's no way to answer 'do Americans have wheelie bins' because of the vastness of the country plus the way different local, regional, state, authorities manage any particular area.

For any Mumsnetter currently living in the USA - their bin/trash service might manifest in a multiple of different way.

Wheelie bins exist here - they can be purchased at any general hardware store.

Some local authorities who do trash collection use them, some do not.

Where I live there is no council trash collection. You have to arrange and privately pay for it.

We have to leave our bags (on their own) on the side of the road at a certain time of day each week. The next village over - most people use a different collector who likes wheelie bins left out at the side of the road.

When we were in the city we had specific boxes.

For New York - who knows why they have never decided to use the bins vs piles on the pavement each week. Clearly it's been an ongoing discussion and negotiation. It will be interesting to see how it works in that diverse city.

Yes, we have wheelie bins. I believe that story was about NYC, and the coverage made it seem like all Americans had just discovered them, because Eric Adams (the mayor) made it sound like a revolution. Plenty of places use them -- everywhere that has the newer trucks with the lifts. There is some convoluted reason NYC didn't do it before. I forget what it is. For certain, anywhere that contracts out to Waste Management or Republic Services, which are massive, have wheelie bins. We have one for the rubbish and one for the recycling.

Also everyone likes to make a fuss about the sugar in American bread but to be quite honest supermarket sliced white is shite quality in both countries. It has to do with the process used to make industrial type bread.

I recently saw someone having a big go at the Scottish Greens - before they were ejected from Government in Scotland - because of their proposal to force people to sort their recycling out from their trash, and then to resort the trash into different categories. There were fines proposed for people who failed to sort correctly. People were up in arms about this, saying it was somehow unreasonable

This kind of measure was in place in Philadelphia when I lived there as a child in the late 70s/early 80s, and also in Manhattan when I lived there in the late '80s and early '90s and in San Francisco when I moved there in 1994. And it really wasn't controversial at all, people sorted or they took their chances and paid if they got caught. There are places in the USA where such laws do not exist, but overall they are very standard and routine and have been for fifty years.

The very expensive healthcare would put me off but if the whole family is covered by your husband’s employer that would be an incentive. Also, does your husband’s increase in salary cover the higher cost of living and tipping culture?

I live in Scotland and have five different bins, four for recycling. I know from threads on here some people in Scotland have more bins than that. Was this proposal different from the bottle deposit scheme that appeared to work in conflict with some existing recycling schemes or a different one? Don’t remember hearing about this one if the latter, not sure how it would work with the communal on-street recycling bins for the use of people in tenement flats, they’d have to be made secure.

Both lovely, IMO. It's where you live in the US that matters as far as services and safety. Albeit, school shootings can happen everywhere, but random violence varies by state and neighborhood.

Re Bins, in some areas of Upstate New York I'd be surprised if they had wheelie bins as they have twice weekly bin collections because of the bears. Actually at the resort I stayed on the owners on the other days took the rubbish to the dump themselves because of bears.
But that's not a problem in NYC. In Chicago apartments used to have huge shared "dumpsters" 30 years ago, and I think sorted waste for recycling even then.

Even elsewhere, raccoons are a problem! I remember a story a few years back about Toronto trying to invent raccoon-proof bins. The raccoons beat them. There's a reason they're nicknamed "trash pandas".

This is a weird old thread though. The NHS stuff doesn’t even fully apply to people in the UK, we have a two tier system as it is as lots of jobs provide access to private healthcare. I used to have it with a previous job now me and kids access via DPs job. Last year the GP thought I had one thing wrong and would be seen quickly on the NHS because she thought it was something that was potentially serious for women. Used DH’s policy and had that condition ruled out and a second one investigated and dismissed before I had anything more than a letter from the NHS saying they knew I was there and would get to me at some point.Relying on the NHS alone at the moment (as I would without DH) means quick treatment for some things and long waits for others and having access via work policies makes a big difference.

Although, in the America threads, no-one ever mentions the wildlife. People save that for moving to Australia. 😂

The US/American bashing around here is quite sad really. It’s the only country that is ever bashed, like every other country is perfect.

Not true. If OP was planning to move to Australia or NZ - or in fact probably anywhere outside the UK, or at least Europe, - then the same sort of rubbish would be recycled. Mainly from people who visited for a week 30 years ago, or whose neighbour's son's friend's colleague lives there, which apparently makes them an expert.

I started a thread on mumsnet years ago about relocating to Spain and I was ripped apart for my "naivety" thinking I could move to Spain! I have fluent Spanish and would be going able to support myself, I have not grown up with the NHS, so I don't see why I couldnt 'move to Spain". People who knew nothing about me assumed that I would be unable to do what they had done, ie, move to Spain. Perhaps some ulterior motives at play? Who knows.or people who emigrated want to believe that not everyone can emigrate. I've done it once already. It is true it's not for everyone.
But a lot of contariarism. If that's a word.

Yes -- oz in particular! Everything turns into poisonous spiders and no culture and sexism.

Canada doesn't even get a look in except for people to be told it's boring.

Yes I remember some threads getting quite nasty about Australia, everyone is racist and sexist without any culture or intellectual curiosity, etc.

No country in the world can be reduced to a soundbite really.

No-one? Is it just me?

NeverDropYourMooncup · 10/07/2024 18:45
The heat
The cold
The weather
The need for a car to function at all
The medical expenses
The poisonous, bitey things

and they wouldn't want me, anyway.

I dont think the OP will meet poisonous bitey things in CT:) not of the animal variety anyway.

OK I missed that one -- but it is less common! It's true there's less dangerous wildlife in the Northeast, although raccoons can carry rabies and there are black bears in the more rural areas. Also opossums, which mostly look scary. But no alligators, or moose (except in the very northern parts, like Maine), or rattlesnakes. (If you want something very American: When we were living near Philadelphia, one of DH's co-workers was a hunter. He brought bear chili to the office potluck.)

There are parts of the US (North America more generally really) that aren't all suburban sprawl and where you need a car much less. But there's plenty of the UK where you need at least 1 car especially when you've got children. Transport is often not planned for those needs, it's a real issue.

Bear!! Was it greasy?

In Canada I had some things with caribou meat, it was so delicious. I wish I could get it in the UK.

Not copperheads or rattlesnakes? Or black widows? I also include things that are just bitey, like turtles, fire ants or ticks. Or the bigger animals that I really wouldn't fancy coming across.

In truth, I was thinking in general terms rather than just one state, though; I'm sure that for anybody who has grown up there, it's all fine. But realistically, I reckon I'd have been one of the failures, not successes; everybody assumes that they'd be the comfortable/wealthy/privileged, not the poor.

Guns
Religiosity
Healthcare
Racism
no thanks