Uk to Australia to California

[anothersuprise]

Hi all I have posted before but had to NC as my story could be quite outing!
Looking for you lovely peoples advice

We moved to Sydney from the UK at the beginning of the year for DH work, as it turns out it's not worked out (workwise) and now the company want to send us to California or back to the UK.
I'm just wondering if anyone has experienced similar places of living and what the similarities and differences are?
We are not keen on returning the the UK just yet as we gave up so much to move to aus, so are keen to try California.
Things we like about living in Sydney-
Sunshine
Beaches
How clean it is
How friendly everyone is
How naturally kind everyone is
Laid back way of life

What is the lifestyle like in California? We are looking around an hour commute from L.A poss Orange County?

Brief research tells me quality of life would potentially be better as cost of living is less but would appreciate any experiences or advice
Thank you in advance!

All the positives will be the same.
The negatives will be:
Traffic, traffic and more traffic.

Also will you get a work visa in the US or just your DH?

Is it really busy then?
Yes we both work for the same company so we will both be working out there

Oh both working for same company is good news you'll be able to target your house search easier. Do you need schools?

Recommend you head here britishexpats.com/forum/usa-57/
and do a search there's loads of recent info.

Negotiate UK , not US annual leave otherwise you won't have any time to enjoy exploring.
The traffic is terrible, it has to be seen to be believed- where do you need to be for work that will make a big difference.
I'm amazed that all LA people aren't all mentally stressed out from the traffic jams - maybe they are!

No schools required!

Thanks will check out that site

Jeez how bad is the traffic? Our office is near Irvine if that helps?

We don't have cars in Sydney, is there anything we need to do to be able to drive there?

How bad is the annual leave?

Thanks for all your replies so far it really helps

We live in Bay Area but it is hugely expensive, I think Southern is less so, but still a lot.

You will need a car, public transport is awful. You will need to take your California driving test to drive here.

Check out if you will need an EAD card if you go on your OH's visa as these can take a few months to come through, so this might be an issue for you working straight away.

Traffic is awful here - you need to take that into account when working out your commute.

I recently moved to LA from NYC and love it. Weather is fantastic, people are nice and the cost of living is lower than it was in NYC. The key thing in SoCal is to plan where you live around your commute. If you do that the traffic won't impact your life. I actually found the traffic in NYC way worse than it is here. You will need two cars as it is a driving culture (everyone has electric cars these days). Irvine is suburban but very nice so you could live close to work and avoid traffic. It is clean and well laid out with excellent schools. Only thing is it is a bit bland as a result and you will pay a lot for a house, most new developments with average size homes on very small lots have houses that sell for over $1m, but most are in communities with beautiful parks, pools etc. I am working from home today sitting on my deck enjoying the sunshine and counting my blessings that we took the plunge and moved here

My husband and I did the opposite, SolCal to Aus, many moons ago (and are now back in the UK).

US Cons:
Traffic is terrible
Politically nuts
Have to drive everywhere
Terrible sliced bread

US Pros:
Lovely beaches
Much better shopping
Disney (live in the right place and you get 'locals' price!)
Good customer service
Huge options for trips/vacations
Don't have to wait ages for films in the cinema
Being able to turn right on a red light
Great Mexican food
Reasonably consistent weather

We loved SolCal and Aus, they're different but both good. With regard to annual leave, just negotiate it...my husband had 4 weeks leave in the US.

To be honest, I think we had the same amount of money in the US and Aus. It just sort of balanced out, although we were there a decade ago.

It was also great in terms of visiting family. 11hours LA to LHR, and plenty of East Coast placed to meet. And yhe scope for travel is so much better. Budget airlines, drives etc, mountains, desert, city...

Very different to Sydney, but Avery good different.