Where?

dobman88

So, I have just found out I am going to work for Ri Ra Irish pubs. I know there is already a thread about them on here but I was wondering if anyone can give me some advice on which city to choose. http://www.rira.com

I have narrowed it down to Charlotte, NC. Atlantic City, NJ. And Atlanta, GA. I discounted Vegas because it is Vegas, even though it is my dream holiday destination, I wouldn't fancy living there for a year. Also Vermont because it would be cold.

I am 25, male, into sport and would prefer somewhere warmer than home if that info helps.

Any advice appreciated.

pgmcpq

Atlantic City is a bit of a pit once you move beyond the casino strip, and I find the casino's are just depressing - not everyone agrees.

iusedtoknow

I would go for Charlotte - close enough that you can get to the south and to the north east pretty easily, plus it's a nice town in itself. Bear in mind though, any of those places have a lot of climate extremes

atlanta/Charlotte will be humid as hell in the summer.
Vegas is hot but AC and lower cost of living make it pretty tolerable
Vermont would be my ideal - nice summers and pretty winters

Plus, having lived in Spain for years, i learned to love cold weather. You can dress for the cold weather and get warm easily, you can only strip down so much for the warm weather, and it is harder to get and stay cooler

InTheTrees

Yes, las vegas is weird. But my GF has family living there and its not so bad for living once you get off The Strip. There's millions(?) of people living comparatively normal lives there... And with the other choices being charlotte, atlantic city (same as vegas but more shabby) and Atlanta, I think i'd take Vegas.

crapmanjoe

dobman88 wrote: »

So, I have just found out I am going to work for Ri Ra Irish pubs. I know there is already a thread about them on here but I was wondering if anyone can give me some advice on which city to choose. http://www.rira.com

I have narrowed it down to Charlotte, NC. Atlantic City, NJ. And Atlanta, GA. I discounted Vegas because it is Vegas, even though it is my dream holiday destination, I wouldn't fancy living there for a year. Also Vermont because it would be cold.

I am 25, male, into sport and would prefer somewhere warmer than home if that info helps.

Any advice appreciated.

Agree that Atlantic city is awful - stay clear

Id do Vegas as first preference probably followed by Charlotte and Atlanta. Vegas is actually very nice outside the strip, the heat does take some getting used to but every where is AC'd to the max. Only problem with all the listed cities are that you are going to need a car - public transport is virtually non existent.

InTheTrees

And you get much more of an "outdoors" life out west.

Amazing landscape and scenery all around. And the heat? Its way better than the heat in Atlanta which is the humid kind where you cant breathe. The Vegas heat is Mediterranean rather then tropical so its much more bearable. 110degs in Vegas is okay, 110degs in ATlanta or Charlotte is unbearable.
And they say it only takes five days to get used to big temperature changes.

dobman88

Thanks guys. Everyone says Charlotte is really nice and not overly warm. tbh, the main reason I discounted Vegas is because I think I would just get caught up in the Vegas life and spend/gamble all my money I was leaning more towards Charlotte for the same reasons that iusedtoknow outlined above, they also have an NFL team

If anyone can give an idea of cost of living, nice areas, nice location etc. of any of the cities it would be appreciated. The more info I have the better life-changing decision I can make

InTheTrees

I bet the tips in Vegas are amazing too.

:eek:

rockinrobin7

Hi!

i have also just been offered this job! I am really stuck in relation to what places to pick!
i have done a small bit of research on Atlantic City, it seems to be nice and not too expensive??
Is there anyone who would recommend it??
My Friend lives in Yonkers New York, it doesnt seem to be that far from Atlantic City, I would love to be able to visit her often! anyone know what the best transport would be to get to and from Atlantic City and Yonkers NY?

I would appreciate any advice!

CaliforniaDream

I live in Vegas.
Unless you're a degenerate you won't get caught up in the gambling aspect. Living here you tend to spend the majority of your time off strip. You go there to work, that's it.
For a sports person it's great here. Because everyone is on different schedules you can find leagues every day at different times. And because our winter is so mild it's perfect for outdoor sports. In summer you can find late evening or indoor leagues.
It's cheap to live here and you're never bored.

dobman88

CaliforniaDream wrote: »

I live in Vegas.
Unless you're a degenerate you won't get caught up in the gambling aspect. Living here you tend to spend the majority of your time off strip. You go there to work, that's it.
For a sports person it's great here. Because everyone is on different schedules you can find leagues every day at different times. And because our winter is so mild it's perfect for outdoor sports. In summer you can find late evening or indoor leagues.
It's cheap to live here and you're never bored.

Thanks californiadream, I found out that there is a 3 year waiting list for Vegas though so that's out. I think I am gonna go for Charlotte or Atlanta with AC being my 3rd option.

Anyone living in Chrlotte or Atlanta know about nice areas, cheap rent etc etc. All advice appreciated

@rockinrobin7, good luck wherever you choose, have a blast there

gstack166

Is this job offer on the J1 OP?

dobman88

gstack166 wrote: »

Is this job offer on the J1 OP?

Yeah, I thought it was a PCT Visa but it is on a 12 month training J1. Are you doing it also?

Aprilmay

I live in Charlotte, I have been living here since 2011 and moved directly from Ireland to Charlotte. We love it. There's lots of Irish here and there are a couple of other Irish bars and restaurants owned by an Irish couple round the corner from RiRa.
Anyone I have spoken to that has worked in RiRa's never wants to leave Charlotte when there time is up. Its a really clean city.You can drive to the mountain state parks or Go to the beach (its a couple of hours but worth it) You have the football team, NASCAR hall of fame (if you're into that!) The National Whitewater center is close by where the Olympic team train (great spot)

We also have GAA teams (Men & Womens), The mens team won the Championship in Atlanta this year.

I'm working in Real Estate and to say Charlotte is a hot city right now is an understatement. Metlife amongst others are relocating to Charlotte and Raleigh, we have people coming from California (its too expensive for families) and NYC (too much property taxes) moving here. Even older who people that once sought out Florida are moving to Charlotte because we seasons on sorts!

Every day we have people relocating from CA, NYC, New Jersey, LI, RI and CT.

Check out Forbes its constantly in the best lists thats how we ended up choosing here and not other places.

Good Luck!

mmaniac

I live in Atlantic city and as people have said there are some not so nice areas but no more than anywhere else I've lived. We have good Irish community here and I work for Ri ra aswell. Cheap enough to live with good nightlife and great public transport.

dobman88

mmaniac wrote: »

I live in Atlantic city and as people have said there are some not so nice areas but no more than anywhere else I've lived. We have good Irish community here and I work for Ri ra aswell. Cheap enough to live with good nightlife and great public transport.

Do you want a lodger?? lol. Thanks for the great feedback folks, really helps. And aprilmay, great post, thanks for that. Always helps to have loads of info off people that are there when moving halfway across the world :pac:

rockinrobin7

dobman88 wrote: »

Thanks guys. Everyone says Charlotte is really nice and not overly warm. tbh, the main reason I discounted Vegas is because I think I would just get caught up in the Vegas life and spend/gamble all my money I was leaning more towards Charlotte for the same reasons that iusedtoknow outlined above, they also have an NFL team

If anyone can give an idea of cost of living, nice areas, nice location etc. of any of the cities it would be appreciated. The more info I have the better life-changing decision I can make

Hi dobman,

So have you picked your first choice?
Have you had any info of where the best place is to pick?

dobman88

rockinrobin7 wrote: »

Hi dobman,

So have you picked your first choice?
Have you had any info of where the best place is to pick?

Hey, no I haven't given them my pick yet. I sent n e-mail with a couple of questions so as soon as I get their reply I will give my choices then.

As for the best place, I guess its all about what you want. I'm probably going to choose Charlotte because it is different than most people and it is warm and everyone I have spoken to has said good things about it. More than likely choose Atlanta and AC as 2nd a 3rd choices.

rockinrobin7

mmaniac wrote: »

I live in Atlantic city and as people have said there are some not so nice areas but no more than anywhere else I've lived. We have good Irish community here and I work for Ri ra aswell. Cheap enough to live with good nightlife and great public transport.

Hi MManiac,

I am really considering going to Atlantic City!
I would love to know a bit about it! How cheap is it? How long have you worked for Ri Ra?

mmaniac

Hi,
I'm fairly new j1er having been here since July. It's cheap to eat and drink and rent where I live anyway which is a nice area aswell is very reasonable. Have a jitney bus that runs 24/7. Nice and close to Philadelphia which I love.

rockinrobin7

dobman88 wrote: »

Hey, no I haven't given them my pick yet. I sent n e-mail with a couple of questions so as soon as I get their reply I will give my choices then.

As for the best place, I guess its all about what you want. I'm probably going to choose Charlotte because it is different than most people and it is warm and everyone I have spoken to has said good things about it. More than likely choose Atlanta and AC as 2nd a 3rd choices.

Yeah Charlotte seems to be a very nice spot!

Thanks!!

rockinrobin7

mmaniac wrote: »

Hi,
I'm fairly new j1er having been here since July. It's cheap to eat and drink and rent where I live anyway which is a nice area aswell is very reasonable. Have a jitney bus that runs 24/7. Nice and close to Philadelphia which I love.

What are the people like to work for? What would your hours be like?
Sorry for all the questions, would just like to know a bit about the place before i decide!!

Thanks for your help!

mmaniac

rockinrobin7 wrote: »

What are the people like to work for? What would your hours be like?
Sorry for all the questions, would just like to know a bit about the place before i decide!!

Thanks for your help!

Hours vary week to week but you normally do 2 mornings with 3 nights. Days off change every week and they are good when you need time off. I have had no problems with anyone once you do your work they take care of you.

DeadbeatDancer

dobman88 wrote: »

So, I have just found out I am going to work for Ri Ra Irish pubs. I know there is already a thread about them on here but I was wondering if anyone can give me some advice on which city to choose. http://www.rira.com

I have narrowed it down to Charlotte, NC. Atlantic City, NJ. And Atlanta, GA. I discounted Vegas because it is Vegas, even though it is my dream holiday destination, I wouldn't fancy living there for a year. Also Vermont because it would be cold.

I am 25, male, into sport and would prefer somewhere warmer than home if that info helps.

Any advice appreciated.

I also got offered the job. Really looking forward to getting over there now. I'm big into my sport too and live music, so I'm looking into Providence, Rhode Island. I was in contact with someone that lives reasonably close to the place and she said that whatever can't be found in RI, it can be found in Boston (only 30mins away) and NYC is only a 3 hour train journey away. The Gillette Stadium is just a half hour away from the pub, apparently. It's also reasonably close to the Canadian border and I'd love to visit on my time off.

Ideally, like you, I would love somewhere with a bit of heat but I'm willing to give this up if there's stuff in the area that interests me a lot.

How far along in the process are you? I only got my offer on the 7th of October.