Tips and issues on moving to the US?

SSH · Fri 09/12/2011 04:54:17

Hi folks, your long-lost SSH here...

So, not happy with moving me from Edinburgh to Beijing to Singapore, my company is "offering" me another move, this time to Colorado Springs. So I know some of you folks live around there or have moved from other countries to the USA, so I'd be grateful if anyone can share their experiences here...

Darth Mandarb · Fri 09/12/2011 15:44:35

I can't really offer advice on moving to the States... but I will say that if you had to pick a spot to move to that's a great one! It's beautiful there! The winters are harsh, but I'm sure harsh winters aren't new to you coming from Edinburgh!

I've always wanted to live there (or anywhere in Colorado really).

Best of luck!

Ponch · Fri 09/12/2011 15:47:57

Quote from: Darth Mandarb on Fri 09/12/2011 15:44:35
I will say that if you had to pick a spot to move to that's a great one! It's beautiful there!

Very true. Garden of the gods is gorgeous!

Welcome to America, SSH. Please enjoy our crappy beer and feel free to buy a gun or two while you're here.

Snarky · Fri 09/12/2011 16:22:26

When I first moved to the Chicago area, I lived in a soulless suburb that had seemingly been erected all at once thirty or forty years ago. Each subdivision consisted of a single model home, cloned a thousand times over. It felt completely unreal, like a golf course, and there was nothing around for miles apart from a highway and a huge shopping mall. I hated it.

Then I moved to Evanston, a small university town with a 180-year history; walkable, with genuine neighborhoods and quirky old houses. It's not perfect (there's literally a right and a wrong side of the tracks in that town), but I was much less alienated from my environment.

So my advice is: take your time finding a good place to live; get an understanding for the character of the different neighborhoods, suburbs and towns before you settle anywhere. And try to find somewhere with a history, that has grown organically over time, and where life doesn't revolve around the nearest Wal-Mart or shopping mall complex. (Since Colorado Springs is about 50 years younger than Evanston, you're probably not going to find anywhere with roots quite as deep anywhere outside of the city center, but I would still think the difference between somewhere with an 80-year history and somewhere with a 30-year history is pretty big.)

LUniqueDan · Sat 10/12/2011 03:53:28

Watch your back, shoot straight, conserve ammo, and never, EVER cut a deal with a dragon.

Baron · Sun 11/12/2011 01:43:08

Become a Republican! If you sign up now you should still be able to vote in the primaries.... Other than that, keep your Colorado Lows to yourself (you'll understand later this winter

)

SSH · Sun 11/12/2011 07:10:30

Ah yes the republican primaries, what a choice!

The boring guy who believes Jesus had a day trip to America
The philandering pizza guy who thinks that 999 tax rates are a good idea and didnt know China had nukes
The philandering ex-speaker
The crazy lady with a gun
The crazy Texan with a gun
A libertarian with no chance of getting elected
The ex-ambassador who also believes Jesus had a day trip to America

Forgive me if I missed any...

Anian · Sun 11/12/2011 12:28:04

Quote from: SSH on Sun 11/12/2011 07:10:30
Ah yes the republican primaries, what a choice!

The boring guy who believes Jesus had a day trip to America
The philandering pizza guy who thinks that 999 tax rates are a good idea and didnt know China had nukes
The philandering ex-speaker
The crazy lady with a gun
The crazy Texan with a gun
A libertarian with no chance of getting elected
The ex-ambassador who also believes Jesus had a day trip to America

Forgive me if I missed any...

Actually I think Cain said he's out of the race...but yeah, it's more of a republican primates than primaries. I mean, we got some crazies in politics here but it's a small number compared to sleazy robbers and nepotists.

Snarky · Sun 11/12/2011 13:00:21

Quote from: SSH on Sun 11/12/2011 07:10:30
Ah yes the republican primaries, what a choice!

The boring guy who believes Jesus had a day trip to America
...
The ex-ambassador who also believes Jesus had a day trip to America

Come now. Of all the things to make fun of Romney for, you go with "he's a Mormon"? I thought you were more religiously tolerant than that.

The mythology of Mormonism may be ridiculous, but is it any more absurd than a three-headed bastard zombie god who impregnated his own mother and told his followers to drink his blood? That's some HP Lovecraft shit right there!

SSH · Sun 11/12/2011 13:58:04

No

Tuomas · Sun 11/12/2011 14:04:23

Just as bad as any fundamentalist. At least they might make it so, that polygamy became legal in the states

I see nothing wrong with being a mormon, seeing as how you're always going to get an overly religious freak there with God making his decisions in his stead.

SSH · Mon 12/12/2011 08:39:37

Anyway, before we turn this in to a religious debate, thanks for the inputs folks!

poc301 · Mon 12/12/2011 11:07:33

My wife's family is from Colorado Springs. Several of her aunts/uncles and her grandmother still live there. It has the friendly midwestern USA feel to it from what I've heard (I have never been there). I am born and raised on the east coast of the USA, right outside of Washington D.C., and I can tell a big difference in the people I've met who are from the midwest and Colorado Springs. They are genuinely more friendly, open and honest and just more pleasant to be around. I have no idea why, but it is a nice place to be.

I think you'll enjoy it. I do know there are some areas in Colorado Springs with crime problems, so make sure you ask around and scout out living areas before settling on a place to rest your head.

-Bill