Best things about living in the States?

Duggys Housemate

dave2pvd wrote: »

Or even within states: Orlando, Miami, Gainesville, Key West. Tell me they are culturally similar. And no, weather is not culture.

These are the city differences you get anywhere, like London to Bristol, or London to Edinburgh, or Dublin to Belfast. Or London - Cornwall. Some of the distances are London to Paris, or greater, and the cultural differences there are immense ( language, history, housing, newspapers, laws, economic systems even). Thats all in a hours journey.

The thing is, because America is culturally similar enough to travel without worrying about language, or missing Jay Leno tonight, people - including immigrants, do travel more.

You get that with Australians too. A friend in Perth says that she skis in Australia, and thats not possible in Ireland. Well, maybe not in Ireland, but certainly in Europe, and at a closer distance than Perth to NSW.

I think you could "do" the US in a few years of travel, largely because there s little need to visit every small town. Visiting Europe would be impossible in a lifetime , though, because there is more need to visit the small places, Wells, or Bath, or York, or St. Ives, etc. because of the 2,000 years of history involved in these places. Go to Bath to see the Roman ruins. Go to York to see a walled city. Modesto? Not so much going on there.

Fr Tod Umptious

Duggys Housemate wrote: »

These are the city differences you get anywhere, like London to Bristol, or London to Edinburgh, or Dublin to Belfast. Or London - Cornwall. Some of the distances are London to Paris, or greater, and the cultural differences there are immense ( language, history, housing, newspapers, laws, economic systems even). Thats all in a hours journey.

The thing is, because America is culturally similar enough to travel without worrying about language, or missing Jay Leno tonight, people - including immigrants, do travel more.

You get that with Australians too. A friend in Perth says that she skis in Australia, and thats not possible in Ireland. Well, maybe not in Ireland, but certainly in Europe, and at a closer distance than Perth to NSW.

I think you could "do" the US in a few years of travel, largely because there s little need to visit every small town. Visiting Europe would be impossible in a lifetime , though, because there is more need to visit the small places, Wells, or Bath, or York, or St. Ives, etc. because of the 2,000 years of history involved in these places. Go to Bath to see the Roman ruins. Go to York to see a walled city. Modesto? Not so much going on there.

i would kind of agree with that.

I am not being small minded here or anything but I do not think that there are a massive number of places of interest that one could visit compared to Europe.

Back in the day I used to get a weekly e-mail on low cost air fares from Boston available for the coming weekend.

There were often places like Columbus OH, Indy, or Detroit on that list.

Now no offence to anyone from those towns but they were never really places I would want to hop on a plane and visit.

HavingCrack

Duggys Housemate wrote: »

These are the city differences you get anywhere, like London to Bristol, or London to Edinburgh, or Dublin to Belfast. Or London - Cornwall. Some of the distances are London to Paris, or greater, and the cultural differences there are immense ( language, history, housing, newspapers, laws, economic systems even). Thats all in a hours journey.

The thing is, because America is culturally similar enough to travel without worrying about language, or missing Jay Leno tonight, people - including immigrants, do travel more.

You get that with Australians too. A friend in Perth says that she skis in Australia, and thats not possible in Ireland. Well, maybe not in Ireland, but certainly in Europe, and at a closer distance than Perth to NSW.

I think you could "do" the US in a few years of travel, largely because there s little need to visit every small town. Visiting Europe would be impossible in a lifetime , though, because there is more need to visit the small places, Wells, or Bath, or York, or St. Ives, etc. because of the 2,000 years of history involved in these places. Go to Bath to see the Roman ruins. Go to York to see a walled city. Modesto? Not so much going on there.

In fairness you're moving the goalposts here. Your original argument related to culture, now you're changing it to history and tourism, completely different things. History and tourism aren't interchangeable terms with culture.

InTheTrees

Duggys Housemate wrote: »

I think you could "do" the US in a few years of travel, largely because there s little need to visit every small town. Visiting Europe would be impossible in a lifetime , though, because there is more need to visit the small places, Wells, or Bath, or York, or St. Ives, etc. because of the 2,000 years of history involved in these places. Go to Bath to see the Roman ruins. Go to York to see a walled city. Modesto? Not so much going on there.

That's pretty funny.

If your only criteria for visiting a place is to witness its human history then you would be correct.

I read it completely differently though and look at the endless wilderness and empty space as easily taking a lifetime to explore.

While back in europe there's barely a square mile of unspoiled wilderness that isnt highly managed.

frag420

Ok Im sold.................

Having spent 3 months in San Fran in 2005 and loving it I think I want to spend more time in the US.

Im thinking Cali. Im thinking somewhere with good surf, work(in advertising), a chilled out way of living.................any suggestions?

eire-kp

Oh god the things I like about the states its a long list!

First of all the difference between different parts of the country. Its amazing travelling South to north from the arid deserts of Arizona to the plains of the Dakotas.

The food...my god id murder a full rack of ribs now if I could get some here:D

How friendly people are in rural areas. My car broke down in South Dakota and 10 people stopped to see if i needed help.

How proud certain people are of their state in particularly Texans.

The nothing is to much trouble attitude when it comes to sports and recreation.
Low water level in the river on a holiday week..no bother just open up the damm up stream etc:)
The Irish accent..it got me out of a few speeding fines etc:pac:

dave2pvd

Duggys Housemate wrote: »

These are the city differences you get anywhere, like London to Bristol, or London to Edinburgh, or Dublin to Belfast. Or London - Cornwall. Some of the distances are London to Paris, or greater, and the cultural differences there are immense ( language, history, housing, newspapers, laws, economic systems even). Thats all in a hours journey.

You're entirely focused on tourism.

I tried to point out what I thought were some obviously culturally different cities. But you don't understand that Miami is very culturally different from the other 3 cities I mentioned? This underscores your lack of cultural awareness to me.

Also, I found your earlier comments a bit odd:

Duggys Housemate wrote: »

1) it is over policed
2) some parts are very dull. I am looking at you Modesto
3) California is over rated.

Over policed? All 50 states? More so than Europe? Surely, you're kidding?

Some parts of anywhere are dull. America certainly doesn't lead the world on dull. (Although Indiana comes close).

Would you clarify the last part?

InTheTrees

frag420 wrote: »

Ok Im sold.................

Having spent 3 months in San Fran in 2005 and loving it I think I want to spend more time in the US.

Im thinking Cali. Im thinking somewhere with good surf, work(in advertising), a chilled out way of living.................any suggestions?

I lived in Santa Cruz for years.

Famous for its chill...

frag420

InTheTrees wrote: »

I lived in Santa Cruz for years.

Famous for its chill...

Whats it like work wise.

Have only heard good things about that place although never got to it when I was in San Fran.

InTheTrees

frag420 wrote: »

Whats it like work wise.

Have only heard good things about that place although never got to it when I was in San Fran.

Its 10 years since I lived there. (In seattle now.)

Fr Tod Umptious

eire-kp wrote: »

Oh god the things I like about the states its a long list!

First of all the difference between different parts of the country. Its amazing travelling South to north from the arid deserts of Arizona to the plains of the Dakotas.

The food...my god id murder a full rack of ribs now if I could get some here:D

How friendly people are in rural areas. My car broke down in South Dakota and 10 people stopped to see if i needed help.

How proud certain people are of their state in particularly Texans.

The nothing is to much trouble attitude when it comes to sports and recreation.
Low water level in the river on a holiday week..no bother just open up the damm up stream etc:)
The Irish accent..it got me out of a few speeding fines etc:pac:

Bingo

Broke down on the Mass Pike (Boston) in gridlock during a snow storm in 1999 and every second car offered me their phone to call a pickup truck or the state police.

Broke down again just off the express-way entering Madison WI, before I knew it two cars had pulled over to give me a jump start.

Broke down just off the off ramp of the M18 heading for Ennis Co. Clare on a June bank holiday Monday evening.
In an hour waiting for a tow truck one person stopped to offer help, and two Garda cars passed me.

HavingCrack

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Bingo

Broke down on the Mass Pike (Boston) in gridlock during a snow storm in 1999 and every second car offered me their phone to call a pickup truck or the state police.

Broke down again just off the express-way entering Madison WI, before I knew it two cars had pulled over to give me a jump start.

Broke down just off the off ramp of the M18 heading for Ennis Co. Clare on a June bank holiday Monday evening.
In an hour waiting for a tow truck one person stopped to offer help, and two Garda cars passed me.

Where has this idea of the friendly/helpful Irish people with their great hospitality come from? Americans put them to shame by a long, long way.

frag420

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Bingo

Broke down on the Mass Pike (Boston) in gridlock during a snow storm in 1999 and every second car offered me their phone to call a pickup truck or the state police.

Broke down again just off the express-way entering Madison WI, before I knew it two cars had pulled over to give me a jump start.

Broke down just off the off ramp of the M18 heading for Ennis Co. Clare on a June bank holiday Monday evening.
In an hour waiting for a tow truck one person stopped to offer help, and two Garda cars passed me.

Obviously the cars in America are not one of the best things about living there eh:D

InTheTrees

frag420 wrote: »

Obviously the cars in America are not one of the best things about living there eh:D

:pac:

I know. I'm never getting a lift from father tod.

crapmanjoe

frag420 wrote: »

Whats it like work wise.

Have only heard good things about that place although never got to it when I was in San Fran.

I went there for a day on the beech on a sunday last summer, nice town but felt v touristy and was a small bit isolated (traffic coming out of the place was a nightmare) and i cant imagine there would be a whole lot to do there work wise but ur not far from the main parts of the Bay area either.

Duggys Housemate

dave2pvd wrote: »

You're entirely focused on tourism.

I tried to point out what I thought were some obviously culturally different cities. But you don't understand that Miami is very culturally different from the other 3 cities I mentioned? This underscores your lack of cultural awareness to me.

Claiming that I am talking "tourism" is your straw man. Culture could apply to living somewhere. But we are talking about moving around a place. If we are claiming that there is a lot to see in the US, the bits to see should include culture and history, and also involve moving about to see the stuff - clearly this is being a tourist, even if it is an internal one. So saying, there is a lot of differences in Florida, is making the same "touristy" point as I am making.

in fact the US is fine for tourism, its the fact that you run out of interesting places when you live there is what bugs me. I live in Western England and have yet to run out of interesting villages to see at weekends, and I haven't started on Wales.

Over policed? All 50 states? More so than Europe? Surely, you're kidding?

Not at all. You just have to look at American's incarceration rate. I never drove home from work, ever, without seeing someone pulled for something. Sometimes that was just a ten minute drive. In general two to three people were pulled. Cops followed me on more than one occasion, even though my tax was ok. Probably trying to catch me doing something to pull me.

Ireland is probably under-policed, but where I was was over policed.

Some parts of anywhere are dull. America certainly doesn't lead the world on dull. (Although Indiana comes close).

Would you clarify the last part?

California? L.A. is a nightmare, San Francisco is an ok medium sized city, San Diego lacks soul and has very little industry except the army, San Jose has one street, and inland - well inland anywhere in the US is dull enough. With the exception of the mountainy areas.

Listen, I paid huge money in a part of silicon valley - before I lived in San Francisco - and I paid that money so I could walk to a pub, and two restaurants. Most people live in driving distance from anywhere interesting.

InTheTrees

Duggys Housemate wrote: »

If we are claiming that there is a lot to see in the US, the bits to see should include culture and history

Huh?

You can visit the United States and go hiking in places where no human being has ever walked before. Places completely devoid of human culture or history. None.

You dont have to experience the history or culture at all.

Hazys

I think its crazy for people to say america doesn't have varied culture.

There is no continent, not to mention country with such a diverse and varied set of races, religions, languages spoken and different ethnic cultures as the US.

To say culture is based on the types of shops are similar in each city, the same shows is on tv in every city is a bit silly...there is a McDonalds in every city of the world and nearly every person in the 90's grew up on Friends and the Simpsons regardless of what country you lived in.

As for history, it obviously doesn't have the longest history but it has been one of the most polarizing nations in the world which took part in some of the most world defining events from World Wars to Slavery.

irelandrover

Hazys wrote: »

There is no continent, not to mention country with such a diverse and varied set of races, religions, languages spoken and different ethnic cultures as the US.

America is a really interesting place but this has to be a joke.

HavingCrack

irelandrover wrote: »

America is a really interesting place but this has to be a joke.

To be fair, a continent is incorrect but there's no other country that is quite the melting pot of different cultures, religions, ethnicities and nationalities that the US is. None of the European states come anywhere near it. The only real comparison is Brazil.

Hazys

irelandrover wrote: »

America is a really interesting place but this has to be a joke.

I presume you think the continent part is a joke.

I disagree mostly because i used the word diverse. There are people from every country in the world living in the US in reasonably sized amounts, who carry a lot of their heritage and culture to the US (obviously it wont be to the same extent as their home country).

How many continents are that diverse that they have communities from every country in the world living there?

InTheTrees

Hazys wrote: »

There is no continent, not to mention country with such a diverse and varied set of races, religions, languages spoken and different ethnic cultures as the US.

Yes there is: Asia.

And actually Europe is way more diverse with its indigenous people and even more so with the immigrants.

Come to think if it North America is possibly right behind Antarctica and Australia as being the least diverse.

...maybe i'm wrong though.

Duggys Housemate

Hazys wrote: »

I presume you think the continent part is a joke.

I disagree mostly because i used the word diverse. There are people from every country in the world living in the US in reasonably sized amounts, who carry a lot of their heritage and culture to the US (obviously it wont be to the same extent as their home country).

How many continents are that diverse that they have communities from every country in the world living there?

There is no need if the continents themselves are home to the myriad cultures you are talking about. In their home places. Impose the contiguous US on EurAsia, starting with the Canadian, Washington border ( North West) just north of Ireland, and you will get the North East corner past St. Petersberg, the South West well into Africa, South East to the deep Middle East. Thats hundreds of different cultures.

The US is not even the only culture with immigrants anyway, and the immigration is not the generic culture of the US, its like praising England for London's Arab community. That is not English culture, although it is there. By American culture we mean what is unique to America, and it is less diverse than most anywhere else - China excepted perhaps - in terms of area in the world.

InTheTrees

Hazys wrote: »

How many continents are that diverse that they have communities from every country in the world living there?

Most of them really.

Honestly you sound like an isolated american with little experience outside of the US.

Have you ever been to London? There's just as varied a bunch of ethnicities and cultures as anywhere. New York is similar I guess but I'd challenge you to show me a more diverse city in the USA.

Hazys

Duggys Housemate wrote: »

There is no need if the continents themselves are home to the myriad cultures you are talking about. In their home places. Impose the contiguous US on EurAsia, starting with the Canadian, Washington border ( North West) just north of Ireland, and you will get the North East corner past St. Petersberg, the South West well into Africa, South East to the deep Middle East. Thats hundreds of different cultures.

The US is not even the only culture with immigrants anyway, and the immigration is not the generic culture of the US, its like praising England for London's Arab community. That is not English culture, although it is there. By American culture we mean what is unique to America, and it is less diverse than most anywhere else - China excepted perhaps - in terms of area in the world.

The US's culture is that it is a nation of immigrants. If you take away the immigrants from the argument then can only talk about native americans.

To me, american culture is a venn diagram. With 100's of different cultures on the perphiral joining together to in the middle to form a common american culture (Jay Leno, Starbucks, Baseball, etc). If you only want to zone in on the "american" culture, you miss out on all the other influences that formed it and still exist today. Those influences are extremely diverse.

Most countries in the world are infulenced by American culture. Thats probably why it donest seem different or special when you look at it because if you live in Ireland you are doing things that should be considered uniquely american but are now part of Irish culture.

Hazys

InTheTrees wrote: »

Yes there is: Asia.

And actually Europe is way more diverse with its indigenous people and even more so with the immigrants.

Come to think if it North America is possibly right behind Antarctica and Australia as being the least diverse.

...maybe i'm wrong though.

Europe or Asia does not have more immigrants as percent of population as the US and it is certainly not as diverse. Large scale immigration really has only existed in the last 200 years and there was one place that all immigrants went to.

InTheTrees wrote: »

Most of them really.

Honestly you sound like an isolated american with little experience outside of the US.

Have you ever been to London? There's just as varied a bunch of ethnicities and cultures as anywhere. New York is similar I guess but I'd challenge you to show me a more diverse city in the USA.

I'm no yank and i have been to London many times, never lived there tho.

InTheTrees

Hazys wrote: »

Europe or Asia does not have more immigrants as percent of population as the US and it is certainly not as diverse. Large scale immigration really has only existed in the last 200 years and there was one place that all immigrants went to.

*yawn*

I'm out...

neil.p.b

Back on topic - I live in Chicago, best things about it -

Public transport - its only when you live somewhere outside dublin/ireland that you realise just how ridiculous it is that public transport stops back home at 11.30. Also the reliability - busses and trains on time and every 10 minutes.

Weather - The winters here can be pretty rough but the summers are good (as with most of America). From mid-May through October i'll pretty much have +20degree days everyday. The weather is one of the major things, i can't emphasize how nice it is to get proper summers and how it affects your mood.

Gullible/Trusting - Telling Americans stories from leprechaun farms to not having Wednesdays due to the recession to not having internet or airports so we have to get the boat to the UK to fly anywhere or check facebook! Never gets old.

Prices - Food and alcohol - Very nice small Italian i go to, starter and main for about 12 euro compared to about 20e at home at least. 1.75l of Smirnoff for 15euro! The list goes on.

Sports - Something on everyday. Not a big fan of baseball (it's awful) but thankfully the euros are on to fill the gap until NFL starts up again.

travelledpengy

Public transport

Being able to plan a beach day in the summer

Chilled out people

So many sports

Women in the Summer lol

Drink specials

The food mmmmmmm

no pavees

cheesehead

Interesting read. Saw where Hazys and InTheTrees had a difference of opinion, but neil.p.b. got back on topic.

One could argue some of the things neil.p.b (and others) like about the US are directly tied to what Hazys and ITT were discussing.

The US holds a tremendous Demography edge over just about any other first world nation (higher birth/fertility rates) and supplements this with high immigration (12% of Americans are immigrants, compared to approximately 17% of Canadians and 24% of Australians - depends on the source used) The US does hold a massive volume advantage of immigrants (40 million vs 7 million Canadian/4 million Australian/6 million UK - granted, InTheTrees, 31% of US immigrants are from Mexico!)

Combine this demography edge with superior geographic resources:
Energy: Minimum 100 year supply of coal/natural gas. Significant wind/solar resources.
Farm - Perhaps most productive agricultural land in the globe
River system - For transportation. Mississippi is a very cheap shipping option for getting grains to ports for export. More important in past than today. Navigable river systems is a big advantage for moving goods thru the interior of the country.
Cheap infrastructure - Could build road/rail system throughout nation without having to build thru a lot of expensive mountains. Granted coast have mountains but the middle of the country was cheap to build (brazil struggles with this)
Access to both oceans with plenty of ports

These two advantages lead to many of the things neil.p.b(and others) like about the US. Reasonable prices, much leisure activities (sporting events), decent (?) public transport, wide and accessible retail options, etc...

That said: I like the peanut butter!